Mr. Scudamore tends to crosspost rather widely, but can usually
be counted on to read misc.health.alternative among the rest.

+-------- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---------+

Obviously another anti-breastfeeding, formula-pushing pharmashill.

+-------- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---------+

On Jun 16, 9:45 am, "JOHN" <j...@nospam.com> wrote:

But the worldwide average is nowhere NEAR four years. There would have
to be millions of children being breastfed until 8 or so to make up
for all those who are weaned before a year. See Katherine Dettwyler's
essay on the topic, at http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html.

"One often hears that the worldwide average age of weaning is 4.2
years, but this figure is neither accurate nor meaningful. A survey of
64 "traditional" studies done prior to the 1940s showed a median
duration of breastfeeding of about 2.8 years, but with some societies
breastfeeding for much shorter, and some for much longer. It is
meaningless, statistically, to speak of an average age of weaning
worldwide, as so many children never nurse at all, or their mothers
give up in the first few days, or at six weeks when they go back to
work. It is true that there are still many societies in the world
where children are routinely breastfed until the age of four or five
years or older, and even in the United States, some children are
nursed for this long and longer. In societies where children are
allowed to nurse "as long as they want" they usually self-wean, with
no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age."

--Helen

sounds about right,

3-4 years is an average of 3.5 so that isn't far away when you consider the
proliferation of bottlefeeding and the effects of the food industry etc in
most western countries and in the third world

so solids at 2 years isn't exactly the child abuse using restraints that DC
Sessions was making out

On Jun 16, 9:45 am, "JOHN" <j...@nospam.com> wrote:

But the worldwide average is nowhere NEAR four years. There would have
to be millions of children being breastfed until 8 or so to make up
for all those who are weaned before a year. See Katherine Dettwyler's
essay on the topic, at http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html.

"One often hears that the worldwide average age of weaning is 4.2
years, but this figure is neither accurate nor meaningful. A survey of
64 "traditional" studies done prior to the 1940s showed a median
duration of breastfeeding of about 2.8 years, but with some societies
breastfeeding for much shorter, and some for much longer. It is
meaningless, statistically, to speak of an average age of weaning
worldwide, as so many children never nurse at all, or their mothers
give up in the first few days, or at six weeks when they go back to
work. It is true that there are still many societies in the world
where children are routinely breastfed until the age of four or five
years or older, and even in the United States, some children are
nursed for this long and longer. In societies where children are
allowed to nurse "as long as they want" they usually self-wean, with
no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age."

--Helen

Interesting she says here, 5.5-6, 2.5-3.5, 5-7, 6-7, and 6, then says
natural weaning age predicted is 2.5 to 7.  But most interesting is: Studies
have shown that a child's immune system doesn't completely mature until
about 6 years of age.

1. In a group of 21 species of non-human primates (monkeys and apes) studied
by Holly Smith, she found that the offspring were weaned at the same time
they were getting their first permanent molars. In humans, that would be:
5.5-6.0 years.

2. It has been common for pediatricians to claim that length of gestation is
approximately equal to length of nursing in many species, suggesting a
weaning age of 9 months for humans. However, this relationship turns out to
be affected by how large the adult animals are -- the larger the adults, the
longer the length of breastfeeding relative to gestation. For chimpanzees
and gorillas, the two primates closest in size to humans and also the most
closely genetically related, the relationship is 6 to 1. That is to say,
they nurse their offspring for SIX times the length of gestation (actually
6.1 for chimps and 6.4 for gorillas, with humans mid-way in size between
these two). In humans, that would be: 4.5 years of nursing (six times the 9
months of gestation).

3. It has been common for pediatricians to claim that most mammals wean
their offspring when they have tripled their birth weight, suggesting a
weaning age of 1 year in humans. Again though, this is affected by body
weight, with larger mammals nursing their offspring until they have
quadrupled their birth weight. In humans, quadrupling of birth weight occurs
between 2.5 and 3.5 years, usually.

4. One study of primates showed that the offspring were weaned when they had
reached about 1/3 their adult weight. This happens in humans at about 5-7
years.

5. A comparison of weaning age and sexual maturity in non-human primates
suggests a weaning age of 6-7 for humans (about half-way to reproductive
maturity).

6. Studies have shown that a child's immune system doesn't completely mature
until about 6 years of age, and it is well established that breast milk
helps develop the immune system and augment it with maternal antibodies as
long as breast milk is produced (up to two years, no studies have been done
on breast milk composition after two years post partum).

And on and on. The minimum predicted age for a natural age of weaning in
humans is 2.5 years, with a maximum of 7.0 years.

For instance, breast milk is low in iron, and the baby's
stored iron starts to run low at about six months.

The nutrients in breast milk also change over time:
"Between 7 and 25 mo of lactation, levels of zinc, calcium,
vitamin B6, and vitamin C tended to decrease" (Karra et al.
43 (4): 495 -- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition;
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/43/4/495)

+-------- D. C. Sessions <dcs@lumbercartel.com> ---------+

wife:

Of course they have different nutritional needs! which is why god made
womens' breast milk to adjust to the age and needs of the child drinking it.
when a baby is first born the nutritional make up of the mothers milk is
totally different to that of a baby of 3 months, six months etc, etc.
The bottom line is that a mothers milk is the perfect nutrition for her
baby, and as her baby develops, so does the milk, just as the quantity
of milk she produces adjusts to the needs of her baby

can't honestly remember if she showed any inerest in food, but if she
had then i certainly wouldn't have denied it her. i am sure she probably
had apple to suck on etc when she was teething but never ate food on a
regular basis unitl approx 2. can't remember exact dates as she is now a
beautiful, healthy 11year old with a very high IQ, more energy than any
other kid i know, an amazing zest for life and with my hand on my heart
i can tell you she has never had a drop of medicine or an antibiotic in
her life - the proof of the pudding is in the eating!