Most people who are around Families.com for any length of time know where to go if they have a breastfeeding question. Especially one that’s out of the ordinary. It’s true, I’ve been nursing for what will be 9 years in March. . .although not the same child. I have nursed twins, I have tandem nursed singletons. I even had one child stop nursing only to start again four months later. . .which I allowed. I consider the minimum age for weaning two years, (following recommendations by WHO) and I’ve mentioned before that I actively encourage breastfeeding until this time. The longest I’ve nursed a child was 3.9 years, and the shortest is 18 months when I weaned our third when I found out I was carrying twins. I’ve even nursed through pregnancies. So extended nursing isn’t really that weird to me, nor does it gross me out.
But comments abound this week all over the internet as everyone weighs in on one Australian study that reported that many women there nurse until 5, 6, or 7 years of age. Psychologists are concerned that breastfeeding that long fosters a lack of independence and self soothing ability. One psychologist even said that “breastfeeding past the age of 3 is totally inappropriate” while noting that the breastfeeding relationship must be for the mother.
I personally find that my own children lose interest after a certain point and once they are to a certain age and lose interest, I do not purposefully rekindle the interest to keep going. However, I highly doubt that any mom out there nursing for that long does it solely for her benefit. Anthropologically speaking and sociologically speaking there are some very interesting reasons why it is more normal to breastfeed that long than it is to wean earlier.
Historically speaking, breastfeeding was how children were protected from diseases which in turn ensured the survival of our species. They were breastfed until the maturation of the immune system which is around 6 years of age. Incidentally, the maturation of the immune system, coincided with losing the “milk teeth” also between 5 to 7 years of age.
Kathy Dettwyler, Ph.D. in studying primates, and weaning behavior suggests the following as “normal”:
There is a correlation in the natural world between how large the adult will be (approximately) and the length of gestation relative to weaning age. Applying the same formula to humans that is seen throughout the mammalian world, weaning between the ages of 5 and 7 is normal.
Another study suggests that weaning for mammals occurs when the child reaches about 1/3 of their adult weight. . .again at about age 6.
My purpose here isn’t necessarily to convert someone who is convinced that breastfeeding after age 2 is inappropriate. However, it disturbs me that we’re so harsh towards women who do allow extended breastfeeding. I do hope, that by providing clear biological, and anthropological evidence that our culture can be more accepting of those that choose to nurse for longer periods of time–even if that’s not our choice. Bottom line is that naturally speaking, it is ‘normal’ for children to wean between the ages of 5 and 7. In fact far more natural than weaning before age 2.