Posted on 07/10/2002 5:53:23 AM PDT by chance33_98
How Old is Too Old to Breast Feed Your Child?
How Old is Too Old to Breast Feed Your Child? How old is too old to be breast feeding your child? A controversial case out of Illinois has re-ignited the debate. A young mother there is still breast feeding her eight-year-old. Should she be forced to stop?
Lynne Stuckey said she has been unfairly persecuted for doing something that is perfectly natural: breast feeding her son. But there's a twist - her son is now eight-years-old.
"I did nothing wrong with nursing my child. Kyle is my only son and I'm going to continue nursing him as long as he needs that and until he weens himself."
But child protection authorities did not agree. Her son Kyle was removed from her home for nearly six months and placed in foster care. Lynne and Kyle have undergone counseling and are reunited. Tuesday on Good Morning, America , she showed her face for the first time, saying accusations that the breast feeding was some kind of molestation are absurd.
"You don't nurse your child for yourself when that's something they are needing for comfort. When you do that, you're putting your child first."
An expert on Tuesday morning's show basically agreed, saying it's normal in some cultures for children to breast feed until they are five or six. But it may time for Kyle to be weened.
"There reaches an age when you have to help your child find more mature ways to comfort themselves," said the expert.
"This is a normal thing and people need to know that, and Kyle is a wonderful child," Stuckey said.
By speaking out, Lynne Stuckey said she fears the state may again move to take her child away. The American Academy of Pediatrics said roughly 20% of children are weened by age one, and the vast majority of toddlers are weened by age two.
I found an interesting website with articles written by a Texas A&M professor (anthropology and nutrition). She says that the average age of weaning around the world is 2.4-7 years old, and not always for nutritional purposes. It makes sense that G-d designed it this way because most children around the world have poor resources and dangerous water supplies. Thankfully, they don't have to contend with Freudian academia and they don't know that their toddlers are all obsessed with sex (/sarcasm).
Some excerpts: 4. One study of primates showed that the offspring were weaned when they had reached about 1/3 their adult weight. This happens in humans at about 5-7 years.
Studies have shown that a child's immune system doesn't completely mature until about 6 years of age, and it is well established that breast milk helps develop the immune system and augment it with maternal antibodies as long as breast milk is produced.
In terms of the benefits of extended breastfeeding, there have been a number of studies comparing breastfed and bottlefed babies in terms of the frequency of various diseases, and also IQ achievement. In every case, the breastfed babies had lower risk of disease and higher IQs than the bottle-fed babies.
Clearly, babies born in the U.S. don't have to contend with all the diseases and parasites and contaminated water that babies in Third World countries do. We have more supplementary foods that we can generally trust to be safe and clean. We can get our children immunized, and get them antibiotics for infections when necessary. The fact that we *can* does not mean that breastfeeding is unimportant. Breastfed babies still have the "edge" over bottlefed babies, even in a squeaky clean environment with wonderful medical care. They get sick less often, they are smarter, they are happier. Another important consideration for the older child is that they are able to maintain their emotional attachment to a person, rather than being forced to switch to an inanimate object such as a teddy bear or blanket. I think this sets the stage for a life of people-orientation, rather than materialism, and I think that is a good thing. I also can't imagine living through the toddler years without that close loving connection to a child going through enormous changes, some of which are very frustrating to the child.
From her supporting references page: Greer, F.R. and R.D. Apple 1991 Physicians, formula companies, and advertising: A historical perspective. American Journal of Diseases of Children 145:282-286. (This article talks about the history of collusion between doctors and the infant formula industry. The formula industry gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to doctors and hospitals to promote their products, sponsors doctor's attendance at medical meetings, etc. The use of infant formula also causes more infant sickness, thus benefitting the doctors financially. No one gains financially when mothers breastfeed and children are healthy, except the parents who don't have to pay for formula or medical care).
Another website about breastfeeding has a page: BREASTFEEDING AND THE BIBLE (Hint: late weaning is the norm)
I feel sorry for my grandmother and her generation. They didn't even get the opportunity to try to breastfeed because the medical community convinced them that the bottle was much better.
This doesn't sound to me like, as you said, 'She was just pushing her son to suck on her titties
But, something else happens, sometimes. The mother holds too long to the suckling child. It is a mental illness of the mother, not the child. But, he very likely is feeling like there is something wrong with him, that he is not like other children. And removing him from the household re-affirms that. He was incarcerated away from his mother. He has done something bad, and he is bad. They both need psychological help at this stage, not government agencies removing him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.