Weaning
Breastfeeding is a symbolically charged topic. In the ideal world, the perfect earth mother breastfeeds regularly and with ease, mother and child basking in peace and glory as in a Renaissance painting. Breast milk has a host of beneficial qualities, from preventing infection to allegedly boosting IQ scores, and most would agree that it is not only normal, but good and preferable to breastfeed for at least a couple of months after your baby is born.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding — no teats or pacifiers — for nine months, though this might be difficult to live up to for most mothers. Opinions diverge once your baby is one year old. Dr. Sears encourages you to think about breastfeeding "in terms of years, not months." BabyCenter® encourages breastfeeding beyond the year mark, yet terms it "extended breastfeeding" (which is admittedly less than normative-sounding). Most sources, even those in favor of breastfeeding toddlers, acknowledge that breastfeeding at age two might elicit stares and snide comments about the mother. Yet anthropologist Katherine Dettwyler asserts that if we were free of social conventions, we would follow the gorilla's example and wean our children at six years of age.
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