I can't recall reading anything specific about how long !Kung mothers and
children breastfeed, especially last-born ones.  I have read a number of
ethnographic studies that report the last-born child nurses longer than
earlier children, sometimes much longer.  In Mali, when ever an older person
admitted to nursing til 6-7-8 years, they always turned out to be their
mother's last child.  Now, children are lucky to get 2 years in Mali, even
if they are the last one.  And the old ladies Tsk! Tsk! the young mothers
who don't want to nurse their children longer than 2.

Kathy Dettwyler
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