Breastfeeding into Toddlerhood

When my daughter Ella was born I was so excited to begin my first time journey into motherhood and nursing. A week into my nursing adventure I came down with my first bout of mastitis.(little did I know it wouldn't be my last) I ended up in the hospital with 103.00 fever and very sore nipples. I continued to nurse my daughter through the mastitis, and when I had recovered from it, I had decided to stop nursing. It had kinda traumatized me. At the time I didn't have much help with nursing nor did I know much about breastfeeding in general.(if I knew then what I know now I would have never stopped breastfeeding Ella.) So with that said, my daughter ended up on Hypoallergenic formula. I ended up swearing that when I do have another child I will be determined to Breastfeed no matter what! On Dec 2005 I found out that I was pregnant with my second child. A week before my son Avery was born I got mastitis, Yes I am the only one on the face of the earth who gets it while being pregnant. You would think that would be a clear warning sign. So on August 17, my son was born, and I decided to breastfeed him. He was a very lazy nurser and barely nursed the first two days of his life. Then finally after a couple weeks of nursing we both finally got the hang of it!!! Yes I made it through my first month of nursing and we both couldn't of been happier. To make a long story as short as I can make it, My son is now 17 months old and yes I am still breastfeeding. It has been so wonderful, and so challenging all at the same time. I have had 5 bouts of mastitis and have survived every time. You would think that I would of stopped nursing, but its much easier said then done. I absolutely love nursing my son, I do get a lot of comments from people and family asking me why I am still nursing my son, that he is to old and that he doesn't need it anymore. I just say well ya know, he loves it and I don't see him wanting to stop any time soon, and I leave it at that.

I just want all of the mothers out there to know that it is not wrong to nurse your baby past 12 months. It is completely normal and extremely healthy for your baby.
There is also a lot of information out there for woman who have questions about nursing and who need support. I will be taking a Breastfeeding counselor course in January with the Nursing Mothers Alliance in Malvern. I am very excited about that.
Hope you enjoyed reading my blog. I better get to bed before my son wakes up.