Karleen wrote:

<< Not directly breastfeeding related but certainly a relevent cultural

difference was the way in which children are carried everywhere. >>

My dh and ds (10 years at the time) spent two weeks in China 3 years ago.
Being the man he is, he noticed just how much attention is paid to children
everywhere he went (they travelled a lot) and that they were always in
someone's arms. He felt that children were highly valued. He did not, however
see any babies nursing. He also noted that it would be extremely dangerous
<not> to carry babies/toddlers as there are no real traffic laws and little,
if any regard for public safety. We are currently discussing a return trip
this year and the issue of us all going and bringing our will-be 4yr old is a
huge one for him. My now 13 yr old said we must never put his brother down
anywhere except in the hotel room.
    I have also extensively discussed bf with our wushu (kungfu) coaches, who
were raised in China and whose own daughter was born there. They told me that
bf for 3 years was the norm when they were children (40 years ago), and that
babies are stilled nursed by most women--for 10 mos-1 year. They have the
benefit of seeing both rural and urban practices as they come from rural
areas, but lived as adults in urban areas.   BTW, most of the discussion has
been about how odd it is that I would "still" be nursing my 3 1/2 yr old in
this day and age (he nurses in public whenever/wherever, so they see him a
lot) . Their point is that nursing til 3 was the unenlightened approach and
while, of course bf is good, only for a year.
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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