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….”

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…..”