I have to disagree with the "Mile by Mile" person.  I think in order to get
people nursing the minimum of one year recommended by the AAP and AAFP or
the minimum of two years recommended by the World Health Organization, we
have to get them thinking in terms of that being something doable.  When
Karen G. talks about 7 year olds nursing in Australia, and I talk about 9
year olds nursing in the US, you do of course get gasps and some "tsk tsks"
even, but you also get people who say "Gee, knowing that some kids nurse
that long makes two or three years seem like a short time!"  That's what we
want . . . to get people to understand that of course everyone thinks it is
normal to nurse your child until they are two or three or four years of age,
and why would anyone in their right mind wean before age two, knowing the
health risks.

Bottom line for me is -- empower people to make the decisions that are right
for them by giving them the complete and unvarnished truth -- that babies
should nurse for several years -- and then give them the support they need
in order to achieve this.

Any breastfeding is better than none, and six months is much better than six
weeks.  But until we all accept that several years of breastfeeding is every
child's birthright, we'll have people continuing to think that they've been
a great success when they nurse for six weeks, and have done something truly
amazing when they nurse for a year.

Around the world, and throughout world history, women have nursed children
for several years, while also raising the crops, herding and milking the
animals, washing the clothes at the river, etc. etc. etc.  It isn't such a
huge thing to ask someone who has hot running water and electricity and a
car and enough food to eat and a roof over their heads and no one shooting
at them - to breastfeed for several years.

Kathy Dettwyler, climbing down off the soapbox as the air is too thin
www.kathydettwyler.org

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