{"id":327734,"date":"2025-08-06T16:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T20:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oviahealth.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=327734"},"modified":"2025-10-01T13:20:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T17:20:49","slug":"how-long-should-i-breastfeed-3","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.oviahealth.com\/guide\/327734\/how-long-should-i-breastfeed-3\/","title":{"rendered":"How long should I breastfeed?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There\u2019s no hard and fast rule about how long a baby should breastfeed. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first 6 months of life, and continuing on after that up through the first year, for as long as both mom and baby want to continue. The World Health Organization recommends continuing to breastfeed through two years, for as long as mom and baby want. Obviously, you and <span class=\"pronoun-baby\" data-pronoun=\"baby\">Baby<\/span> can stop breastfeeding anytime you want, so usually, parents wondering how long to breastfeed are wondering how long there are health benefits to breastfeeding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The immune system benefits that are transmitted through breast milk don\u2019t have a definite end-date, which makes answering the question of a cut-off date difficult. During the first few months of their lives, babies\u2019 immune systems are the most immature, and so may benefit the most from the shared immunity that comes from breastfeeding. Shared immunities and antibodies can still help protect older babies and toddlers as they grow, though. Additionally, breast milk has antimicrobial components that help to fight against infections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After parents start to introduce complementary foods and early solids, usually around 6 months old, breast milk consumption often starts to go down on its own, although some babies continue to feed as much as before. Every family&nbsp;who breastfeeds is unique. Whether you and <span class=\"pronoun-baby\" data-pronoun=\"baby\">Baby<\/span> breastfeed right up until the switch from breast milk to cow&#8217;s milk at age one or beyond, or the switch happens before a year old as <span class=\"pronoun-baby\" data-pronoun=\"baby\">Baby<\/span> transitions to formula, having breastfed will always be an important early chapter in your lives together, and as your baby grows, you\u2019ll find different ways to keep <span class=\"pronoun-them\" data-pronoun=\"them\">them<\/span> growing steadily and healthily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Reviewed by the Ovia Health Clinical Team<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sources<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><div style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement. \u201cBreastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk.\u201d\u00a0<em>Pediatrics<\/em>. 129(3). Web. March 2012. Web.<\/div><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><div style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBreastfeeding: Frequently Asked Questions.\u201d\u00a0<em>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/em>. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, June 16 2015. Web.<\/div><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><div style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow long should a mother breastfeed?\u201d\u00a0<em>La Leche League International<\/em>. La Leche League International, January 9 2016. Web.<\/div><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><div style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow to decide when to stop breastfeeding.\u201d\u00a0<em>NCT<\/em>. NCT, 2016. Web.<\/div><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u201cLearning to breastfeed.\u201d&nbsp;<em>Women\u2019s Health<\/em>. Department of Health and Human Services. Web.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone agrees that breastfeeding has health benefits, but how long do those benefits last?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":237461,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ovia_author_name":"","ovia_author_prefix":"","ovia_author_image":"","ovia_content_type_id":"242","ovia_product_mode":"2","ovia_days_from_signup":"","ovia_days_from_lmp":"","ovia_days_from_baby_birth":"","ovia_days_from_enroll":"","ovia_health_module_days_from":"","ovia_article_for_email_days_from":"","ovia_health_module":"158","ovia_legacy_id2":"","ovia_ttc":"","ovia_article_subtype":"","ovia_health_symptom":"","ovia_partner_id":"","ovia_partner_custom_group":"","ovia_legacy_category":"","ovia_legacy_category2":"","ovia_content_url_id":"327734","ovia_include_share_buttons":"","ovia_fertility_goal":"4","ovia_secondary_module":"","ovia_trimester":"","ovia_child_age":"","ovia_share_image":"","ovia_more_menu_image":"","ovia_button1_url":"","ovia_days_from_postpartum":"262","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"fert-category":[20132],"preg-category":[],"parent-category":[],"fert-tag":[],"preg-tag":[],"parent-tag":[],"class_list":["post-327734","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","fert-category-breastfeeding-support"],"yoast_head":"<!-- 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