Breastfeeding Paper!

Published

Hello everyone,

I am new to this website and thought I would just throw this out there. I am a second year student at SJSU and am currently researching a paper on breastfeeding and when is the proper age to stop. I watched a 60 minutes episode about women who are still breastfeeding their 5 or 6 year olds...some even close to 8 years old. At this point it is clear that its not for nutrition, as these children are enjoying pizza and ice cream...

here is one video I found http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxv6R9fUO74

I was just wondering if anyone else out there has any other resources that they can throw my way. I'm finding most information for children around 2 years old...

Thanks in advance!

Kathy Dettwyler, who is an anthropologist (i think) has written alot on the subject of age of weaning, nursing older children, etc. Some links for you:

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/dethowlong.htm

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsurvey.htm

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detcancer.html (the longer a woman lactates, the greater the reduction in cancer risk...somehow no one ever mentions *that* to women deciding whether to bf, or when to wean!)

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/dettoddler.html

Poke around her site at http://www.kathydettwyler.org/dettwyler.html and you can find those articles and more, with supporting references and more info.

I havent looked at these closely but there are a whole bunch of links at kellymom: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-links.html

More info and supporting links here: http://www.aceks.com/mikboy/extbfg.htm

And of course the WHO recommends "exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is the recommended way of feeding infants, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods for up to two years or beyond. " and the AAP recommends "exclusive breastfeeding for approximately the first six months and support for breastfeeding for the first year and beyond as long as mutually desired by mother and child." Both organizations seem to recognize that there is no set upper age at which one "should" wean their child, and of course if allowed to wean naturally all children eventually DO.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say your paper is about the "proper age to stop"...there IS no proper age to stop. Is this an opinion paper or more research oriented? Are you writing about the public's perception/cultural expectations about the proper age of weaning? Or are you writing about the *biological* age at which weaning would naturally occur (that is, how long human children are "supposed" to nurse)...because those are all way different. And where you live and who you know will determine these things too...a mom in Sweden will have a whole different "take" on "proper age of weaning" than a mom in the US who has little support for breastfeeding an infant let alone a toddler or older child. I post over at the discussion boards for Mothering Magazine, and you'll find there that it would be uncommon for a mother to intentionally wean a baby as young as two years old, however in more "mainstream" circles, a two yr old might be considered "two old to nurse."

i would say most older breastfed kids don't nurse as long as 7 or 8 years, but 3 or 4 yrs is quite common. Its been a long time since i've nursed a kid (my older son who is 12 weaned at 3.5, not completely naturally, long story, and my one yr old is adopted, he was a foster child when he came so nursing not an option though i considered relactating for him, we do "bottlenurse" though)...but i could try to rustle up some more resources for you if you want.

Katherine

wow! thank you so much for taking the time to reply. These links all look great. I really appreciate it.

I definitely am going to do more research about different countries and how attitudes and beliefs towards bf are different. I dont have a definite idea of where this paper is going to go but hoping to get more of an idea after reading about it.

thanks again!

Breastfeeding a newborn isn't ONLY about nutrition so of course breastfeeding a 6yr old isn't either. It is important for society to realize that it is natural and better in EVERY way. I know I am perhaps too passionate about the subject (haha) but I would encourage using your paper as a way to open some eyes. Especially for nursing students. It is our job as nurses to educate our patients (new mothers). There is a real lack of knowledge out there. :)

I know this isn't helpful b/c I have no links other than those already mentioned but I saw Breastfeeding and HAD to respond.

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