Fact: Until recently, the usual age of weaning around the world was between four and seven years. Nursing toddlers are among the most independent and well-behaved of all toddlers.

The practice of nursing beyond 12 months of age is known as 'full-term' breastfeeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends one year 'and beyond'; the World Health Organization recommends two or more years, and the best anthropologic evidence indicates that humans were designed for weaning anywhere from age four to seven. Sadly, the present norm of breastfeeding is only up to six months.

We had just eaten breakfast at the beautiful old Mendocino Hotel, near our home on California's rugged Mendocino coast. My daughter—about 11-months of age at the time—and I went to the lady’s room. Walking in, we heard voices rising from one stall to another: “What age do you think she is?” And a curt response, “Well, it doesn’t matter. She's much too old to be nursing.”

I had been nursing Siena whenever and wherever she wanted. Now we stood quietly, with me preparing a suitable response to offer when the voices emerged from behind the closed doors. I wanted my response to convey the emotion that stirred in my heart upon hearing this. I wanted to communicate my sadness that such a damning mythology has come to enshroud a very natural and loving exchange between mother and child. I wanted to communicate my longing that as women we could join together to heal this enculturated misunderstanding. I wanted to communicate my belief that nursing was one of the very best things that I could be doing for my daughter at this time.

I could say, very gently of course, “Do you know that until recently, the usual age of weaning around the world was between four and seven years?” Or perhaps, “Do you know that nursing toddlers are among the most independent and well-behaved of all?” I wanted to say it right. I didn’t want to attack them—make them wrong. I knew that would just activate their defenses and eliminate any possibility of their hearing. And after all, a year ago I would have felt just as they did. Siena was a “big baby” now.

Breastfeeding Good for Babies and Toddlers
Dealing with Breastfeeding Critics

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