The U.S. has the lowest rate of exclusive breastfeeding of any country in the world

The U.S. has the lowest rate of exclusive breastfeeding of any country in the world.

UNICEF and the World Health Organization recommend exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life and “continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond”.

The sight of a fully mobile child who can speak in multiple syllables drinking from their parent’s nipple elicits an “ick” for many, both in and out of the parenting community.

Some worry that extended nursing causes inappropriate attachment between parent and child.

A 2020 review of the literature, looking at the limited studies of breastfeeding and attachment, found no support for the idea that breastfeeding for longer durations leads to problems with attachment.

Parents, and birthing parents in particular, need more rest than anyone I know in the U.S. has gotten.

Parents don’t live in a hypothetical context where we can make choices based solely on biological necessity.

The man on the street reacts with an ick, one in a taxonomy of icks that we direct to any behavior that does not directly support productivity.

Today , I am getting ready for my mammogram, the one I put off for four and a half years because I was still nursing.