Words: Lianne Carolan
I feel like I’ve had to muddle my way through my breastfeeding journey as best I can but as someone who is still breastfeeding her 3-year-old I’d love to share a bit of an insight & my top ten tips for breastfeeding your toddler.
1. Boundaries are totally okay.
It’s totally okay for you to put boundaries in place to limit the number of feeds your toddler takes. Remember, you don’t have to feed on demand into toddlerhood if you don’t want to!
2. Your supply will adapt to changes.
Don’t stress if your toddler is going to be starting in a childcare setting. From around 10 months most babies can comfortably go all day without milk. They will likely eat more at nursery than they do at home with you, and then have all of their milk when they get home. Your supply will adapt to the change.
3. Don’t be embarrassed breastfeeding your toddler in public.
It’s really common to feel self-conscious breastfeeding your toddler in public. The natural age for babies to self-wean without being encouraged, is between 2 & 7 so don’t feel embarrassed. I realised that breastfeeding my toddler in public is just the same as feeding a newborn in public. Perfectly fine & nothing to be embarrassed about.
4. Trust your instincts.
As our babies get a little older, you might find support from friends and family waning, and you might find people wanting to blame everything on them being breastfed ‘still’. Not sleeping through then night? Because they are breastfed! Wants to stick by mum in new places? Because they are breastfed! Refusing to eat? Because they are breastfed. Just remember to trust your instincts, breastfed or not, all toddlers have times when they are clingy, wont sleep, won’t eat etc!
5. You can ask your child to stop.
If your toddler is a nipple twiddler, or a hair puller whilst they are feeding, I want you to know that you can ask them to stop! I know that they will probably tantrum, but little habits like this can be really draining and make you feel like ending your breastfeeding journey there and then! Be kind to yourself.
6. Gain support from loved ones.
It can be so helpful to have a partner that is on board when it comes to breastfeeding your toddler. If you have a partner who is less than supportive, or doesn’t understand why you are doing it, it can be really helpful to drip feed them the benefits! Explain that if they are poorly and won’t take water or food, how you will still be able to give them nutrients with your milk. This can help them get on board!
7. Ensure others know what you’re comfortable & not comfortable discussing.
Telling my relatives that I didn’t want to discuss breastfeeding, or answer questions about how long I was going to breastfeed for was so beneficial. I was sick of being asked and it was making me feel like I should be stopping feeding, when really, I knew that we weren’t ready.
8. Get involved with breastfeeding groups.
Getting involved in breastfeeding groups where people post about feeding a toddler and having Instagram friends who feed their toddlers has been a huge benefit too! It’s helped normalise breastfeeding a toddler for me and see that we are all going through the same things together.
9. Look after yourself with supplements.
This might just be me but I started taking a really good food state vitamin and mineral supplement, vegan omega 3, a calcium supplement. I felt better almost straight away!
10. Realise that you’re doing something amazing!
Remember that you’re doing an amazing thing by breastfeeding into toddlerhood, it is totally normal, and every time someone sees you doing it you’re helping to normalise it, which is pretty darn cool!
Words by Lianne Carolan, founder of breastfeeding brand Sienna Apparel.