Every mother knows the struggle of listening to friends or family members throwing their statements of “you should really stop breastfeeding now” or “Isn’t this bad for your child at this point?” We’ve heard it all. If a mother and child are both comfortable with breastfeeding and seem to have no problems, then why should she stop?

Many studies recommend to breastfeeding for up to 2 years if possible. Yet some mothers choose not to stop breastfeeding early and average stop around 6-7 months. How long a mother wants to breastfeed her child is completely up to her, but to be safe you should breastfeed for at least 5-6 months. From there you can always decide whether you want to continue or stop.

The real question is, does long-term breastfeeding benefit my child more than children that are breastfeed for only 6 months? Well, this all depends on the child itself as well as the mother. It depends on how healthy the mother’s diet was during pregnancy and how a mother’s diet is when she breastfeeds for longer time. It is not very easy to have a clean diet filled with vitamins and minerals for a very long time such as 2 years. This is why many mothers decide to do the minimum and eat slightly healthy which benefits the child a lot as well.

Breast Milk is the most natural way of feeding your child. How long you decide on breastfeeding your child and being able to maintain a healthy lifestyle as well as a healthy diet is completely up to you.