For baby, after a couple of months, Mummy might be there for feeding, but Daddy's there for fun, breastfeeder Margaret McGuigan tells Fiona Murdoch.

Breastfeeding, the most natural activity in the world, has come close to extinction in this country, says Monaghan mother-of-four, Margaret McGuigan. "It really has become a lost art," she says. "For the past two generations the majority of mothers have not breastfed; yet it is the natural thing to do."

While pregnant for the first time 10 years ago, McGuigan read everything she could lay her hands on about pregnancy, childbirth and baby care. Convinced by the arguments in favour of breastfeeding, she decided to give it a go.

"The list of advantages was so overwhelming I didn't see how I could choose not to breastfeed," she says. "The only supposed advantage of bottle-feeding was that you could be separated from your baby. But I wasn't having a baby so I could be separated from it!"

She went into hospital breastfeeding determined not to let a bottle or dummy anywhere near her baby. As a result, she has breast-fed all four of her children - Patrick (10), Johnathan (8), Philip (3) and baby David (8 months).

The only problem McGuigan faced when breastfeeding her first was a sense of isolation: "Although everything was going well, I felt I was the only one doing it. I didn't know anyone else who was breastfeeding."

By the time Johnathan came along she did know a few other breastfeeding mothers. However, once he reached 12 months a sense of isolation began to return because everyone else had weaned their babies before their first birthdays.

"We live in a bottle-feeding culture and breastfeeding beyond a year was not something I had encountered," McGuigan says. "I was unsure whether or not I was doing the right thing."

She decided to follow her instincts and persevere. Three months later she heard about a conference being organised by La Leche League (a breastfeeding support group): "It was such a welcoming feeling walking into the hotel because babies of all ages were being breast-fed - I had a realisation that this was a normal thing to do.

"I learned that breastfeeding past a year was a good way to avoid temper tantrums which usually happen when a baby is tired or hungry. If you're breastfeeding, you can just pick them up, cuddle them in and feed them - which helps them calm down or fall into a blissful sleep."

From the day of the conference McGuigan put all thoughts of weaning from her mind, deciding instead to let her baby wean himself when he was ready. This approach worked successfully not only for Johnathan, but for his younger brother, Philip. Baby David is still happily at his mother's breast.

"I learned from La Leche that you don't have to make a plan because nature takes its course," says McGuigan. "Like walking or potty training, they'll let you know when they're capable of being weaned.

"Breastfeeding is a special way of connecting with Mummy and they decide for themselves when they are ready to break that. Johnathan became a very confident child because he was never pushed away."

"It took me a while to realise that it isn't just about nutrition - that it's also about warmth, comfort and reassurance," she says. "Breastfeeding makes it easier for a mother to bond with her baby and the benefits carry through for years: even now my older boys enjoy lots of hugs."

Does Daddy ever feel left out? "Mother and baby have a very intense relationship for the first couple of months, but after that Daddy becomes the other special person in baby's life. Mummy might be there for feeding, but Daddy's there for fun.

"Michael has never felt left out. He has simply had a different role and has always helped wind the babies, hold them and change their nappies."

McGuigan finds breastfeeding extremely convenient: "I might not have had as many children if it wasn't for breastfeeding being so easy. You just lift the baby and he feeds - nothing else has to be done.

The La Leche League annual conference takes place on March 1st to 3rd in Westport, Co Mayo. It will be addressed by the Department of Health and Children's first ever breastfeeding co-ordinator, Maureen Fallon.