Salma Hayek on Extended Nursing
I’m psyched to have something in common with Salma Hayek. No, it’s not that I’m almost as gorgeous as she is. We both nursed our babies longer than the one year most pediatricians recommend.
If you go by the advice in many baby books, age one is when moms should be weaning their babies, and the majority of moms who choose to nurse do wean before 12 months. It speaks to how unusual it is to nurse past one year by the fact that it has a name – “extended nursing”.
Salma’s daughter, Valentina Paloma, is over 13 months old and still nursing, and Salma gave an interview to the Times Online saying how much she loved nursing, and had no intention of stopping soon.
In many cultures around the world, babies are allowed to nurse as long as mom and baby want, and baby is allowed to wean when they are ready. Nursing until age 2 or 3 is very common in other countries, and perhaps that’s actually the most natural thing to do.
I nursed my son until he was 18 months old. At that time, we moved house, we had so much going on
that he was too busy to nurse, and then he forgot about it. It was nice, because I was getting to the point where I was ready to be done nursing, so it worked out wonderfully for both of us.
Here’s where me and Salma diverge, and you’ll have to forgive me for being a teeny bit smug here. She slammed the myth that breastfeeding helps you loose weight, citing her tummy on Oprah (Watch the video – she looks awesome. Meh.) Anywway, I dropped all 60lbs of pregnancy weight and then some nursing, right now I weigh less than I ever have. I can’t gloat too much, she’s a glamorous, rich, beautiful Hollywood star and I’m not!
But I love to hear that she’s nursing her daughter because she enjoys it so much, in total disregard of Hollywood’s standards and ignoring the pressure to be skinny and gorgeous.
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Jessdel27 says...
I nursed my son until he was one week shy of his 3rd birthday. In my native Jamaica it was not uncommon and is still practiced in some areas where nursing goes on until the child is around 2. My friend’s son will be 3 in April and he’s still nursing.
Secret Mommy says...
These stories make me so happy to hear! When I was pregnant, I kept thinking, “Oh, if I can stick with nursing for 3 months I’ll be happy.” Because I come from a family where all women tried it, but none that I know of continued on past 3 months.
Now my babe is almost 7 months and I know we are not stopping anytime soon. Though I have not lost ANY weight from it,;) he and I both find nursing an important, rewarding part of our relationship, and I feel happier knowing that he’s getting what’s very best for him.
Kudos to Salma! (And I also read recently that Gwen Stefani is a fan of “extended nursing.”
Sarah says...
It’s so nice to hear when celebrity moms promote breastfeeding! I think it’s bringing more awareness to how important it is to our babies’ health to be breastfed.
I don’t have a definite timeline on how long I’ll breastfeed my daughter. She’s 5 1/2 months old now and we both really enjoy the bonding time we have while nursing. As far as weightloss goes, I lost all 30 pounds of my baby weight within the first 10 days of my daughter’s birth! I’m now down 55 pounds since she was born, in part to breastfeeding, in part to being more health conscious due to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding made me SO HUNGRY in the beginning…as soon as I was finished nursing the baby, I had to go get something to eat IMMEDIATELY! Now I’ve mellowed out
But I was really surprised that I was able to lose that much weight while eating like I’ve never eaten before!