How Long To Breast-Feed

The normal nursing period of mammals, and that includes humans, is directly related to the time it takes for their young to develop. Mammals that grow rapidly and mature early have short nursing periods. Likewise, mammals that grow slowly, such as humans, have long nursing periods.

Shelton has divided the periods of feeding in a person's life into three parts. The first one is the infant period. During this period, the only food necessary to sustain normal life is breast milk. This period lasts until the infant has a mouth full of teeth—not just one or two teeth.

The next period is the transition period (discussed in next section on feeding) where baby is fed both breast milk and solid foods. This period begins when baby has the anatomical and physiological equipment (full mouth of teeth and adequate digestive juices) to digest solid foods and it ends with weaning from the breast.

The third and final period is the adult feeding period. This begins with weaning and continues until the end of life.

Most books and articles on the subjects of how long to breast-feed recommend feeding solids by the time a baby is three to six months old. They say as soon as baby begins getting teeth he is ready to handle solid food. This is obviously not so—how can anyone chew with only one or two teeth? So mother mashes, chews, and blends baby's food so that he may swallow it. But why? Breast milk is already in a form that baby can handle. When baby is ready for solids, he will have the tools to handle them.

Many doctors or books will advise mothers not to rely solely on nursing for her baby's nourishment once the baby reaches nine months to a year of age. They say mother's milk is no longer nutritionally sufficient to baby's needs and they need to supplement it. But why would nature do such a thing?—make baby's food insufficient before he is ready to deal with other foods. If mother is healthy, her milk is healthy.

The human infant is helpless much longer than any other animal. Therefore, there should be a longer nursing period. By about the age of three most children are ready to wean but some may wean earlier and others later.

By about the age of two a child has most of his teeth and has digestive enzymes to break down foods properly. By now mother's milk has insufficient amounts of iron and other nutrients as milk has already done its duty. This is a good time to include fruits and nonstarchy vegetables into the child's diet. However, this does not mean abruptly ending breast-feeding. Combine the two for as long as seems right for both you and your infant.

I realize that nursing babies for long periods such as three years, as a rule, is not an acceptable act in this culture. Many people will frown upon you and make snide remarks about it being sexual as the child is so old. Don't let this disapproval cause you to prematurely wean your child. Avoid situations and people that make you feel uncomfortable about nursing your toddler. Just remember you're raising your child as nature intended—in the best way possible.