As a general convention, issues are discussed when people start questioning the traditions being followed for long, or show an increased interest in it. The same has happened with the idea of breastfeeding. As a rule, mothers breastfed their infants for a year and sometimes longer, till the birth of the second child. But these days, due to paucity of time and as a matter of convenience, some mothers choose to shift to powdered, bottled milk as a substitute for breast milk. The crux of the matter here is to popularise breast milk simply because there is just no substitute that can be available for it.
There are two aspects why breastfeeding is important for the mother as well as for the child. One is the nutritional aspect while the other is the psychological aspect. While the nutritional aspect is no doubt very important, that which some think can be substituted, the psychological bonding which develops between the child and the mother is unparalleled and does not have any alternative.