World Breastfeeding Week 2006

This week, from August 1st to 7th, is World Breastfeeding Week. It's an opportunity to celebrate the health benefits and natural beauty of lactation. Congratulations to anyone who nursed their child or children in the past and to anyone who is currently nursing.

Judah is still nursing at 17 months, and while that may seem strange to some people, it is actually very natural and extremely healthy. It is now recommended to nurse until 2 years and beyond. I am leaving weaning up to Judah, a concept called self-weaning or child-led weaning.

Kathy Detweyler, an anthropologist who has taken a special interest in breastfeeding practices and the age of weaning, has written quite extensively about breastfeeding. In her article A Natural Age of Weaning, she writes, "In societies where children are allowed to nurses 'as long as they want' they usually self-wean, with no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age" (A Natural Age of Weaning). According to Detweyler, "the mimimum predicted age of natural weaning in humans is 2.5 years, with a maximum of 7.0 years" (A Natural Age of Weaning). She indicates a number of other interesting facts about the natural age of weaning, which you can check out here.

The Kellymom website, which is devoted to educating mothers about breastfeeding, lists multiple reasons to nurse beyond one year of age: toddlers benefit nutritionally, immunologically, and socially, just to mention a few. I find the amount of vitamins and minerals present in the breastmilk to be impressive:

In the second year (12-23 months), 448 mL of breastmilk provides:

• 29% of energy requirements
• 43% of protein requirements
• 36% of calcium requirements
• 75% of vitamin A requirements
• 76% of folate requirements
• 94% of vitamin B₁₂ requirements
• 60% of vitamin C requirements

Isn't it amazing how God designed a woman's body and her ability to provide her children with all of these nutrients, even as they grow past infancy?

If you're interested, you can check out the entire Kellymom article here.