So today I learned that gorillas nurse their young until they are 3 or 4....

[georgimama]

That's it really. Was at Bristol Zoo and the lovely keeper gave a talk about all their gorillas. They have a 23 month old baby and he is still nursing and apparently will continue to do so until he is about 3 or 4.

I just thought that was lovely. Seriously cute gorilla baby.

[mabanana]

iron age people did early weaning!

[SharpMolarBear]

[expatinscotland]

i learned there's a weed that can grow through concrete.

gorillas are soooo minging.

eewwwww.

i have a pathological hatred of primates and apes i can just barely stand.

[SharpMolarBear]

What do you mean about a weed that can grow through concrete?

[edam]

I'm just getting an error message from that link. Shame as it looks interesting.

[edam]

But humans should arguably feed for longer than primates because our babies are born neonate i.e. far more vulnerable than infant gorillas or chimpanzees. missing fourth trimester of pregnancy and all that.

[expatinscotland]

it's called 'superweed'.
knotweed

[SharpMolarBear]

I didn't understand the relevance to the thread (not being argumentative, genuinely baffled ) Or did you just throw it in as an interesting fact?

[SharpMolarBear]

for people like me to give you the inquisition about?

[expatinscotland]

well, today the OP learned that horrid stinky gorillas nurse for ages.

today i learned that of a horrid weed that grows through concrete.

both need to be eliminated, IMHO.

[SharpMolarBear]

Oh I see!
[lightbulb]

[mabanana]

again iron age breastfeeding

Or google iron age breastfeeding!

[tiktok]

mabanana, i have no idea of the maths behind the 'worldwide average' figure, but I can assure you that there are cultures now and in the past where weaning from the breast happens/happened above three and four....but infant feeding is always culturally mediated. It is a social act, and its acceptance, its frequency, the length of time it's done for, who it is done by may differ according to social context. It is a myth to assume that all non-industrial societies breastfeed/breastfed without a thought, for years and years - they didn't and they don't.

[mabanana]

Yes, I do know that breastfeeding varies according to context, and I won't put the rolly eye person in here, even though I do feel a tad patronised! I'm all for breastfeeding and people can do it forever if they like, and I do know people breasfed for much longer in the past (as in the link I posted) but I would be interested if anyone can find a single society where weaning commonly happened/happens over the age of four. Even in the most rural parts of Africa today the highest figure I could find for breastfeeding at two was 61 per cent. And that is unusual. The 'worldwide average' thing is just so obviously wrong - given that the average in lots of Western countries is about five minutes!

[edam]

Seem to remember in Romeo and Juliet there's a reference to Juliet having been nursed until she was three or four. FWIW.

[MegBusset]

I have a friend from Mongolia who says that in her country it is common for children to be breastfed up to the age of five or six.

[tiktok]

Gosh, mabanana, you're sensitive if you feel patronised by that!

Blimey.

It is going to be hard to get definite historical stats, for obvious reasons, but (for instance) breastfeeding was common up to puberty in the Chinese imperial court (see the film 'the Last Emporer' for an example). Often when things are normal, they are just not recorded in any way. Today's bf stats are not really interested in age of weaning beyond two - there is no public health imperative for this, especially, so it wouldn't be surprising if stats show us nothing much at all. You have to look at ethnographic studies like Dettwylers to really see what's happening.

[expatinscotland]

yes, but didn't juliet's mother also mention that she was only 26 to juliet's 13 as well?

[georgimama]

Honestly, I wasn't trying to start some big row about extended (or "natural term") Bfing, I was just telling you about the cute gorilla. Did anyone see me write "gorillas nurse until 3 or 4, obviously we all should too."

No? Thought not.

Jeez, this place sometimes.

[SuperBunny]

at how this thread turned out. Thanks for sharing, georgi.

[pointygravedogger]

well, you put it under breast and bottle feeding, georgie. I am very surprised that you are surprised by the reaction.

I wouldn't have expected anything less.

[InTheDollshouse]

mabanana, I was responding to "I have never seen a scrap of evidence that it is the norm anywhere for children to be breastfed until three or four."

[georgimama]

Well the gorilla was breast feeding.

Obviously even the most inane comment on this topic can start a fire fight. I shouldn't be surprised but I still am.

[onwardandupward]

I was walking past a gorilla enclosure one day, where there was a gorilla nursing her baby, and I saw a mum of a baby (maybe 9 months old or so) stop and sit down on a bench and feed the human baby. now that was a lovely moment. I gave the human mother one of these smiles as I passed. But of course I treated the horrid stinky gorilla with the contempt that it deserved

[mawbroon]

At least the keeper maybe knew what he was talking about georgiemama.

I remember once watching the goat being milked at the kids farm and wanting to heckle the woman.

She was telling everyone that they had to milk the goat often because she was making enough for twins.

I wanted to shout that it was because they were milking her that she was making so much milk.

But I didn't.