"The best thing for a woman, her baby and her family will not always be to breastfeed for 5 years," says anthropologist Kathy Dettwyler

We're interviewing anthropologist Kathy Dettwhyler, a world-wide specialist in the cultural and ethological aspects of human breastfeeding.

We talked about how natural weaning would happen between two and a half years and seven. Today we are going to delve into the reasons that a mother can have for weaning before the natural moment in which your child would do it and also the strategies to avoid involuntary weaning if your desire is that breastfeeding be prolonged without interference.

Cultural factors, even if we want to avoid them, will influence us. But, if a mother wants to offer her child a breastfeeding that is naturally prolonged, what can a mother do, in our culture, to respect natural weaning and not cause a premature one even if it is not desired?

Well, first, everyone must respect the mother's choice to do what she feels is best for her, the baby and the other family members. And this may not always be breastfeeding for 5 years!

You may wean early to get pregnant again and give a brother to the first child before the mother's fertility declines too much. It may be that the mother wean early because she has to go to work and cannot continue the breastfeeding process during work. Weaning can be anticipated because the mother is pregnant again and has a large decline in production or her chest hurts when the small breast.

But if a mother wishes to avoid doing something involuntarily for early weaning?

If a mother wishes to avoid doing something involuntarily for early weaning and wants to continue breastfeeding her child for as long as the child really wants, then there are some things she can do:

• You should offer the child the breast before and after the solid meal.
• It should be available to the child during day and night.
• You should try to limit the times I say "Not now, wait a bit."
• It is also important to recognize that children may be on a "breastfeeding strike" when it seems they do not want to breastfeed and not confuse that strike with weaning.

Can you explain how to recognize "breastfeeding strikes" and act when they happen?

For example, many babies are so interested in the fascinating world around them when they turn 4 months that they find it impossible to concentrate on their own breastfeeding. They are continually detaching themselves from the nipple to look around, get distracted by any noise they hear or with anyone passing by.

Then there are some mothers who need to go to a dark and quiet room to be able to breastfeed at this age.

Again, later, when the child is learning to crawl and then walk, he may be so busy exploring as to bother breastfeeding, and the mother could interpret this as "the baby does not want to breastfeed anymore."

Does the colecho help in these cases?

If, in that case, if the mother and the child are collecting, then he can increase the number of times and the duration of the shots during the night and compensate. But if the baby sleeps alone and is not allowed to breastfeed at night, it may end up being prematurely synthesized during this stage.

In addition to these two situations, which I experienced personally, I also had a lot of trouble breastfeeding because my son, at ten months, bit me several times.

Yes, another situation is the bites. Sometimes a baby can bite the nipple and the mother will complain and remove the breast, which can scare the baby. Then he won't want to breastfeed anymore because he doesn't want mom to scream again. This is a typical reason for a "breastfeeding strike" that can last several days.

But if the mother continues to offer her breast, especially when the baby is sleepy and half asleep this "strike" can be overcome. When my little son did this to me with 10 months, he used to put me in a hot bath, turn off the lights and simply snuggle it in his chest until he was half asleep, and then let him suck. We did this for a few nights in a row and then he returned to his usual breastfeeding habit.

Personally Kathy Dettwyler She is also a figure of great importance to me, so being able to interview her has moved me and makes me very proud of my work.

When I started asking myself questions about how much I would breastfeed my son, I started researching in the history and anthropology books, and when I discovered his data and reflections, I realized that what I would do would be to let my son wean naturally.

I'm fascinated by interview anthropologist Kathy DettwylerIt seems that he is explaining, step by step, the challenges of our breastfeeding and also its processes. Already she greatly influenced my decision not to provoke the weaning of my son and let him suck as long as he wanted, now, once again, I realize his wisdom and experience. Will follow.