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"Thoughts on Breastfeeding" offers an exceptional collection of
informative essays by anthropologist, researcher and author Dr. Kathy Dettwyler.
Because of Dr. Dettwyler's academic background, her writing is a valuable resource
for attachment parents who are being challenged by friends and relatives. Engagingly
written, with numerous references to research findings, the essays cover not only
breastfeeding issues and concerns, but also many other topics of critical importance
to the healthy development and nurturing of children. Dr. Dettwyler is the author of
two excellent books, Breastfeeding: Biocultural Perspectives and Dancing Skeletons.
Excerpt from "Sleeping Through the Night"
"...being a new parent is a difficult time of adjustment, especially when
our culture has taught us that children should have certain needs/wants/behaviors,
and then our children don't seem to fit that mold... Sometimes, some children can
be encouraged/convinced/forced to fit the mold of cultural expectations, and they
do fine. Other times, though they do eventually fit the mold, it is at the expense
of their sense of who they are, their self-confidence, their view of the world as
a safe and trusting place, sometimes even, at the expense of their health or life.
Probably nowhere do cultural expectations and the reality of children's needs
conflict more than in the two areas of breast- feeding frequency and sleeping
behaviors..."
The well-organized site also includes an extensive list of supporting references,
a bibliography of cross-cultural breastfeeding references, and a page of WHO
breastfeeding definitions, as well as lists of related links and carefully selected
books.
This is surely one of the most valuable writing collections on the Internet, and
we thank Dr. Dettwyler for making her important work available.
http://www.kathydettwyler.org/dettwyler.html
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