Ohhh, I love this stuff!  Kathy, I thoroughly enjoyed your post.  I think
that I would have taken well to anthropology.

>>She says that she doesn't believe tandem nursing is common in
>>other cultures at all, and is bothered when moms try to say that because
other cultures tandem nurse, then it is "okay" to do it here.

Kathy D. responds:
>Mothers in the United States should not
>need to resort to the logic of "they do it in New Guinea, or Africa, or
>_______, therefore it is OK for me to do it here."

Nor "They do it in the US now, therefore it is OK for me to do it."

This is what I came to when my now 30 year old daughter was a nursing
toddler.  People would sometimes ask me why I was still nursing her.  I
said, "I have already surpassed the acceptable age for weaning in my
culture[3 months or so], so I am operating from my insides now, and it's
all up to me and my baby.

That is one difference in US women breastfeeding today.  It is socially
acceptable, therefore they are doing it. But accompanying that "acceptance"
comes *when, where, and how long,* and, unfortunately, the belief that a
mom should breastfeed for as short a time as "needed."  In the "old days"
(1968) women who breastfed were somewhat underground so it was easier for
us to grow into the full experience of nurturing a baby at the breast--and
enjoying it thoroughly.

Thank you Kathy for your response to this question.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee
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