Read the article and a few of the comments and placed one myself. ;o)

Bye,

Marianne Vanderveen IBCLC, Netherlands

I read through a small part of the numerous comments, but find it 
interesting that many people say that if breastmilk is so healthy and 
mothers want to continue giving it to their children, they should pump 
instead of feed at breast. An awarded midwife recently said: "Breastfeeding 
has as little to do with milk, as sex with semen." Let that sink in, please, 
all those who want to eliminate the bodily process. Positive touch and 
closeness with others is what keeps us healthy, as it downregulates stress. 
All those who are so 'apalled' by extended breastfeeding: do you no longer 
have sex with your partner, once your family is complete or during the years 
you don't want to have another baby yet? You never hug and cuddle those you 
love? Babies can be breastfed, adults can have sex. When being a baby would 
end at, say, one year of age, then how will the older child get the close 
physical proximity that is *so* beneficial and necessary for growing up and 
becoming a stable person with a positive self-image? When all is well, the 
mother-child connection is the closest anyone will ever have in his or her 
life. You will never again be so completely surrounded and nurtured by 
someone else the way you are when you are inside your mother's body. Read 
about extero-gestation: a mother mimicking the safety that the baby had 
inside the womb, on the outside of her body by carrying the baby and 
breastfeeding. That closeness slowly grows from dependence to independence 
to mutal dependence. Extended breastfeeding can very well be a part of that. 
Those who say it's a mother controlling her child, don't know how 
breastfeeding works. You cannot force a child to breastfeed. Breastfeeding 
is not milk transfer; it's a relationship, one that, when functioning well, 
gets a child off to a good start in life, one that literally embraces a 
child's needs and can help him grow into a stable, loving adult with a 
healthy, non-sexualized mind.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 5:57 AM
Subject: [LACTNET] Got to read ....


> _http://www.parentdish.com/2009/02/19/breastfeeding-how-long-is-too-long?icid=
> 200100397x1219143362x1201327199_
> (http://www.parentdish.com/2009/02/19/breastfeeding-how-long-is-too-long?icid=200100397x1219143362x1201327199)
>
> Laura
>
> LLL  Breastfeeding Helpline - US
> 1 877 4 LA  LECHE

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