We Are All Mom Enough!

I am so proud of my friend Dionna who took part in a photo shoot for the Time magazine last week. Dionna is passionate about breastfeeding and she works hard to normalize breastfeeding past infancy through her websites.

Dionna breastfeeding her nurslings

Photo by Martin Schoeller for TIME
The Time's headline " Are you Mom enough?" caused quite a stir last week and I really appreciate Dionna's peaceful responses. All mothers, whether they breastfeed or not, want the best for their offsprings  and we are all mom enough. Nursing past infancy is not every mother's choice. It is not for everyone but it is a choice that needs to be respected. You might know, I tandem feed both my children ( 5yo and 2yo) and want them to self wean when they are ready.
If you'd like to learn more about extended breastfeeding, please read this  post from Dionna's blog.
Nursing a toddler or an older child is very different from nursing a baby. They don't breastfeed as long or as frequent but  they like that close relationship with their mother. I also want to quote Hobo Mama here:
"You breastfeed day by day, not a year’s leap at a time. Nursing [my son] today, at 3-years-old, is different from breastfeeding him at 2-years-old by only one day, one moment. He didn’t become a gangly toddler overnight, so I had plenty of gradual time to adjust my vision of what a nursling looks like, each day.”
So you see, nursing past infancy simply does not feel extreme to us. Why does my son still nurse?He nurses because I am his warm, safe place.This is what works for us. You may do things differently. Neither of us is more extreme or better than the other."I couldn't have explained my feelings better than Hobo Mama. We are all Mom enough!
I am leaving you with a beautiful video that Dionna has put together using photos of breastfeeding mothers from across the globe. You may come across familiar faces ;)