It's no secret that breast milk has a lot of benefits. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), breastfeeding a newborn can protect a baby against many different diseases and health conditions, like respiratory tract infection, diabetes, and even childhood obesity, while providing them with valuable nutrients. There are also health benefits for a mother who breastfeeds her newborn, like a decreased risk of ovarian and breast cancer and an earlier return to pre-pregnancy weight.

The AAP recommends that infants be breastfed exclusively for the first six months of their lives, and that a mother continues to nurse even after introducing their child to solid food until the baby is a year old. The World Health Organization takes breastfeeding a step further, recommending that mothers continue to nurse children to age two — or even older.

One of the most natural bonds between a mother and child is that which is formed while breastfeeding. In our culture, it is common for most women to stop nursing when their child is a year old. Some moms, like model Coco Austin, continuing breastfeeding their children until they become preschoolers.

Nursing children until they are 4, 5 or 6 is much more common around the world than in North America. But does breast milk have the same benefits for older children as it does for babies?

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The Nutrients In Breast Milk Don’t Stop Being Beneficial

A mother’s breast milk contains nutrients like protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals that are important for a newborn. And once a woman begins producing breastmilk, those nutrients stay the same. So whether a child is six months old or six years old, since they’d be ingesting the same breastmilk from their mother, they’d getting the same antibodies and immunity protection from the breast milk, according to Very Well Family.

Certified lactation counselor Robin Elise Weiss, in an interview with Parents.com about extended breastfeeding (which means lasting longer than the first year of your child’s life), likens breast milk to the nutritional benefits in vegetables. “Spinach, whether it's your first serving or your 1,000th, is still good for you.”

But because older children are getting most of their nutrients from solid food, unlike an infant, those kids will likely only want to drink — and need to drink — a small amount of breastmilk.

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Should A Mom Pump Milk For Her Older Child?

Since a child’s immune system isn’t fully developed until they reach the age of 7 or 8, there is reason to believe that infants aren’t the only ones who would benefit from the protective qualities in a mother’s breastmilk. The AAP suggests that breastfeeding should continue for as long as both the mother and child desire to do so.

The Mayo Clinic reports that breast milk is in fact beneficial for children beyond infancy as it offers balanced nutrition and an immunity boost. “There’s no age at which breast milk is considered to become nutritionally insignificant for a child,” says the organization.

And for as long as you breast-feed (or offer your child expressed breast milk), “the cells, hormones and antibodies in your breast milk will continue to bolster your child’s immune system.”

In short, the AAP and the WHO have not set limits on how for how long breast milk is beneficial for young children to ingest. However, the action of breastfeeding itself carries a social stigma in our Western culture.

Moms may not want the public shaming that often accompanies breastfeeding an older child, so pumping and feeding them breast milk in a sippy cup could be a good workaround.

If you do decide to share your breastmilk with your older child, there is one very important thing to keep in mind, however. Your older child is already receiving nutrients from the food that they eat and the liquids that they drink, unlike your infant. So make sure that your baby’s needs for breastmilk are being met first before giving your milk to your older child.

And no matter what you decide to do when it comes to breastfeeding and what you do or don’t do with your breastmilk, remember that the choice is yours and yours exclusively. So do what you feel is best for your family, and don’t pay a lick of attention to what others around you have to say on the matter!

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