The length of time you ought to breastfeed is usually culturally specific and determined. Whereas in the United States, nursing beyond a year is often considered unusual (or “extended” breastfeeding), in many developing nations breastfeeding up to age two and beyond is regarded as normal. To understand more, visit the breastfeeding diet web page.

Some people will say that you should only nurse as long as is it is convenient for you as a woman. However, given the numerous research that report that long term breastfeeding your baby confers numerous health, intellect and other important benefits to your child, I would recommend that you may want to try to breastfeed for as long possible, even if does not seem to be as convenient as bottle feeding your child.

Breastfeeding is not always easy. For mothers who work, a lot of effort will need to be put into pumping milk during work hours. Even those who do not work often find continually breastfeeding your baby a child to be tiring, since an infant who is breastfed will generally need to feed more often than one who does not.

However, preparing bottles demands a lot of effort too and has additional costs too. Ironically, you may have to work more hours to bottle feed your infant, since bottle feeding is actually quite an expensive undertaking. Even though it may seem that bottle feeding is easier initially, once you consider in the additional work hours to pay for formula and all the supplies essential to bottle feed plus factor in the additional hours you may have to spend taking care of a sick child (since breastfed kids are generally healthier), you will quickly see that breastfeeding your baby in the end may be much easier.

Given the health and emotional benefits, economic advantages and the overall time savings that breastfeeding your baby affords, I would reason that you should breastfeed as long as possible! If you aren’t suffering from a significant illness that puts your infant at risk (such as HIV/AIDS) or are taking prescription medication that poses a danger to your child, you should try to seek whatever support you can get to enable you to nurse your child for at least for a year, ideally longer.