Extended Breast feeding

What are your thoughts on Extended Breastfeeding (breastfeeding beyond 1 year of age)?  Typically how long were your children breastfed?

Clearly, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation of 12 months is an arbitrary time period.

Most children wean as they get better at eating solid foods. Our children seemed to loose interest between 9 to 15 months. One of our daughters did nurse until 2 years old. After a year, she nursed only a couple times a day and was even able to skip days.

In my practice, I do not tell mothers to stop nursing.

Follow up - posted November 2011

He nursed until he was 15 & 1/2 months. As much as I wished he would have hung on a little bit longer, he was just less and less interested. Once he reached the stage of getting into everything, he realized it was more fun to be running around, than to sit still with Mommy. 

It saddened me to close the door on that phase, but luckily he still wants to (and now asks to) be rocked at night before bed time. Which is the perfect time for us to read a book. Hopefully I can hang on to that precious Mommy-Son time for a long time to come! ;)

Written January 2011 by
Dr. Gordon, Orlando Pediatrician