This is my second child I'm nursing (at 18 months), so being that "freaky, militant breastfeeder" is not new to me. It almost feels like a superpower: the ability to calm a frantic toddler by whipping out the secret weapon. What I'm surprised at lately is that I'm finding so many other superheroines around.
In Canada I had 2 friends who nursed kids past two. Here in Florida, I'm now hanging out with a friend who EBFed her son to over a year, and I just reconnected with a long-lost friend from elementary school on Facebook. Guess what? She's nursing and even pumping on business trips for her 15 month old! Girls, I think it's time to think about taking over the world.
But we are, in a way, even without doing anything extra. Toddler nursing, especially when done in public, sends a message to young people that breastfeeding is normal. If kids and teenagers grow up seeing women nursing children, they will be more inclined to do it themselves.
It broke my heart when my 20-year-old cousin got pregnant unexpectedly, chose a scheduled C-section because she was so terrified of labor and birth (another story), and shoved a bottle into her baby's mouth first thing. She never even considered breastfeeding him. Probably thought it was "gross".
So, ladies, keep breastfeeding your kids, and what's more, do it openly! We are superheroes of sorts. By breastfeeding our kids, we can actually save the world by creating children who are healthier in body, mind and spirit, and by encouraging others to do the same. In the words of one of my online breastfeeding buddies: keep breastfeeding, don't be a weaner.
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