I found this article PDF interesting with the history as well as the different cultures view points of breastfeeding.

In reading the book Baby Matters  I understand a little more of my own culture I see how we are influenced by marketing from Formula company’s as well as our culture becoming more needful of our perceived ‘own time’.

What is in the PDF
When should weaning from Mother’s milk occur?
When are we naturally intended to begin weaning?

When is our natural final weaning?

How have humans weaned through the millennia?

What do the “experts” say?

What does the research show?

If we read this quote from the World Health Organisation site
“….Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. As a global public health recommendation, infants should be exclusively breastfed(1) for the first six months of life to achieve optimal growth, development and health(2). Thereafter, to meet their evolving nutritional requirements, infants should receive nutritionally adequate and safe complementary foods while breastfeeding continues for up to two years of age or beyond. Exclusive breastfeeding from birth is possible except for a few medical conditions, and unrestricted exclusive breastfeeding results in ample milk production….”

I found both the book and the PDF very interesting as well as the recommendation’s from the World Health Organisation…which I would also like to note that the WHO writes for everyone and the last bit of the quote is written for our western culture which is affected by the ‘lack of milk’ syndrome.

This has also been somthing on my mind

“… Weaning is not a negative term, nor is it something that you do to a child. Weaning is a journey from one relationship to another. The Hebrew word for wean is gamal, meaning “to ripen.” In ancient times, when children were breastfed until two or three years of age, it was a joyous occasion when a child weaned. It meant the child was filled with the basic tools of the earlier stages of development and secure and ready to enter the next stage of development. A child who is weaned before his time may show anger, aggression, habitual tantrum-like behavior, anxious attachment to caregivers, and an inability to form deep and intimate relationships. We call these traits diseases of premature weaning….”

I’ve also been reading a bit in other blogs as friends are waiting for their next baby and still breastfeeding…and hoping that they will still be breastfeeding two…to keep that bond going. 

 Nature’s norm and breastfeeding

“…Such frequent suckling may indeed be nature’s norm, reports Sheila Kippley in her book, Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing, as it is true of both chimps and gorillas as well as representative of a number of human cultures living in natural conditions. The Gainj of New Guinea nurse their infants at an average interval of 24 minutes. For their 3-year-olds, the average interval between nursings is 80 minutes. It is interesting to compare these practices to the standard recommendation given to new mothers today of 8 to 12 nursings in a 24-hour period….”

“…Breast is the central focal point of your baby’s life.  It is NOT just a food source but a source of comfort and security.  It is soft and warm to feel and to baby’s mouth, which a bottle certainly isn’t.  Baby feels safe and secure at Mommy’s breast.  All nursing mothers can vouch for the fact how well breastfeeding calms down a fussy baby.  Breast is baby’s natural pacifier and ’security blanket’….”

I love the photo on this site. This is what Ara does…some times she’s a bit rough but most of the time she’s in her own little world…and then she will flick a look up at me.

“…Caring for a new baby is much harder and much easier than you think it’s going to be. Harder, because your baby will need you much more than you realized. Easier, because many of the rituals of the bottle-feeding generations are disappearing. Here are some of the things you DON’T have to do:…”

Click to read a few on this web site 

Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D. is an Anthropologist who specialises in breastfeeding

So how long?

Her website is pretty bad but it does not mean she doesn’t know her stuff…check out the cv

Diane Wiessinger a very well known and respected lactation consultant talks about what is best.

This is the la leche leaguearticle

This is Diane’s own web site…yes OK the website needs my husbands help and maybe we  one day might be able to help out.

There is lots of help on Jack Newman’s Site  for breastfeeding

“….Human milk changes during a feeding. One of the ways in which it changes is that the amount of fat increases as the baby drains more milk from the breast. If the mother automatically switches the baby from one breast to the other during the feed, before the baby has “finished” the first side, the baby may get a relatively low amount of fat during the feeding. This may result in the baby getting fewer calories, and thus feeding more frequently….”  

“….Do not time feedings. Mothers all over the world have breastfed babies successfully without being able to tell time. Breastfeeding problems are greatest in societies where everyone has a watch and least where no one has a watch….”

“…..Feed the baby before he is ravenous. Do not hold off the feeding by giving water (a breastfed baby does not need water even in very hot weather) or a pacifier. A ravenous baby will “attack” the breast and may cause a very active letdown reflex. Feed the baby as soon as he shows any sign of hunger…..”

“…There are two principles at the base of understanding breastfeeding and understanding how to help new mothers breastfeed. One is that babies learn to breastfeed by breastfeeding. The other is that there is much more to breastfeeding than the breastmilk alone. As important as breastmilk is, breastfeeding is that much more….”
Dr. Jack Newman

Lots of breastfeeding help here

This is a PDF which I recomend printing out if you can.

Never sleep alone

“….. While recent cultural implements such as cribs, mattresses and bedding did not evolve to protect and feed infants throughout the night, protective maternal behaviours including bodily contact between the mother and infant during co-sleeping most certainly did…..”

After all, mother infant co-sleeping represents the most biologically appropriate sleeping arrangement for humans and is both ancient and ubiquitous simply because breast feeding is not possible, nor as easily managed, without it….”

This information led me to realise that if I wanted to breastfeed my baby it was best that she sleep with in arms reach or co-sleep.