Liz (I think it was Liz) wrote:

>after all, we can't
breastfeed puppies

But OF COURSE we can!  Women in some parts of the world do it, deer too, and
piglets, and probably other animals.  Helps save many an orphaned baby.  I
can just see the "National Enquirer" headlines now: "Woman arrested in New
York for nursing a puppy in public!  Puppy nursing not specifically
protected by recent legislation -- woman moves to Nevada where protection
for breastfeeding in public is not limited to human babies."


By the way, the standard demographic definition of "infant" is "Birth to one
year" as in such statistics as Infant Mortality.

On the other hand, the standard zoological/anthropological definition of
infancy has traditionally been "From birth until the eruption of the first
permanent teeth."  This would be about 5.5-6.5 years for humans, and of
course harkens back to the fact that all non-human primates are weaned at
about the same time their first permanent teeth are erupting.


I have heard over and over again, after I give presentations on my research
showing that nursing until 6-7 years is probably the species-normal behavior
for humans, that people say "Gee, nursing for 2 or 3 years suddenly doesn't
sound so long".


Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University