Thoughts

More thoughts on breastfeeding:

Thought (1)

Allah subhannahu wa ta'ala says in His Qur'an:

"The mothers shall give suck to their children for two whole years..." (2:233)

and

"The bearing of the (child) to his weaning is thirty months." (46:15)

In addition, Anas relates this hadith from al Tabarani:

Sallama, the nurse to the Prophet's (sallalahu aleyhi wa salaam) son Ibrahim said, 'O Messenger of God, you have brought tidings of all good things to men, but not to women.' He said, 'Did your women friends put you up to asking me this question?' 'Yes, they did,' she replied, and he said,' Does it not please any one of you that if she is pregnant by her husband and he is satisfied with that, she receives the reward of one who fasts and prays for the sake of Allah? And when her labor pains come, no one in the heavens or the earth knows what is concealed in her womb to delight her? And when she delivers, not a mouthful of milk flows from her, and not a suck does she give, but that she receives, for every mouthful and every suck the reward of one good deed. And if she is kept awake at night by her child, she receives the reward of one who frees seventy slaves for the sake of Allah.'"

Thought (2):

"But I want my baby to become independent.

And breastfeeding makes the toddler dependent? Don't believe it. The child who breastfeeds until he weans himself (usually from 2 to 4 years), is generally more independent, and, perhaps, more importantly, more secure in his independence. He has received comfort and security from the breast, until he is ready to make the step himself to stop. And when he makes that step himself, he knows he has achieved something, he knows he has moved ahead. It is a milestone in his life.

Often we push children to become "independent" too quickly. To sleep alone too soon, to wean from the breast too soon, to do without their parents too soon, to do everything too soon. Don't push and the child will become independent soon enough. What's the rush? Soon they will be leaving home. You want them to leave home at 14? If a need is met, it goes away. If a need is unmet (such as the need to breastfeed and be close to mom), it remains a need well into the childhood/teenaged time.

Of course, breastfeeding can, in some situations, be used to foster an overdependent relationship. But so can food and toilet training. The problem is not the breastfeeding. This is another issue.

Thought (3)

Clearly, Allah subhannahu wa ta'ala has designed breast milk for our babies. The fact that the superior benefits of breast milk and breastfeeding are constantly being discovered should be sign enough for the Muslima. If artificial baby milk was really "just as good" as breast milk, then all or most of the benefits of breast milk would be present in formula. If artificial baby milk was just as beneficial to the mother-child relationship, then the above ayat and hadith (among others) would not be so clearly pro-breastfeeding.
The existence of the milk mother (the one who suckles a child more than five times becomes as another mother to him) in Islamic law testifies to the fact that Muhammad (sallalahu aleyhi wa salaam), who himself had a milk mother named Halima, realized how extensive and important the bonding between a nursing woman and a baby is. And we know from the hadith in Bukhari that the mother is the most deserving of her offspring's attention, because of the care that she gave him when he was a child. "

Hmmm.....give that a thought!