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The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that babies breastfeed to two years at the minimal.
"A child who has been breastfed for at least two years has an advantage over one who wasn't given breast milk over similar duration," Dr Supa Tunje, a paeditrician at Adora Children's clinic in Kitengela, says.
Even for working mothers, Tunje says, it is imperative that express and store milk for the baby.
According to Manaan Mumma, a nutritionist, what a baby feeds on in the first 1,000 days of its life is critical.
"The health of a baby is shaped within these days, which coincide with the first two years of life," she says.
She further adds: "A child will only reach maximum height and optimum growth if they are fed as recommended by WHO: that they breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life and then supplement breast milk with food at least until they are two years old."
Children, who are not fed well, curtailed breastfeeding and lack of balanced diet, Manaan says, are at higher risk of contracting illnesses and stunting in growth.
Can breast milk be substituted with formula milk?
"No," argues Dr Tunje. "There is nothing that matches breast milk. It is the best form of nutrition a baby can ever have. Breast milk, unless there are medical reasons, should not be substituted for anything else."
The only time doctors ask that mothers do not breastfeed is if there is an imminent risk of the baby contracting disease, like HIV.
"The reason we insist on two years of breastfeeding is because most of the baby's brain development happens in the first two years," Dr Tunje says.
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