RepresentingCaution
Level 37 ? ? Pronouns: she/whore ♀
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I was reading this story and came across something very disturbing: they are weaning a baby who can't even talk yet! The baby is extremely upset by the process, but they insist on starving the baby for 3-4 days until it finally eats soup or mush:
www.webnovel.com
While I understand that humans have done some very stupid things regarding babies in recent history, and some of those stupid things are still recommended by pediatricians in the US *cough* cribs *cough*, weaning a baby who can't talk yet is neither the modern recommendation nor what humans did hundreds of years ago before the invention of infant formula. The CDC recommends nursing babies for at least a year, and the WHO recommends nursing babies for at least two years.
Personally, my baby is seven months old, and I am feeding him small amounts of other foods, but he still gets most of his calories from my milk. Weaning is a gradual process, and I see no need to rush it. My baby loves all the food I've given him so far, and eating is a happy experience for him. Research has shown that giving babies small amounts of food starting at four months can reduce their risk of developing allergies, so I followed his pediatrician's advice in that regard.
As for the distant past, I am not aware of any culture that ever weaned babies that early. I took a human development course in university and learned that some cultures nurse babies for five years. I did a quick Google search for information pertaining to ancient China in particular and came up with this. TLDR; Children in ancient China weren't weaned until 3-4 years of age.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
If babies in China were weaned earlier in recent history, I'm convinced they did so under Western influence. Westerners have a fixation on independence over interdependence, leading them to promote abusive practices such as forcing babies to sleep alone:
neuroanthropology.net
If you are writing a story that includes a baby, please do your research on the culture you are representing! This was one of my assigned readings for my human development course, and it is a great place to start if you would like to write about a baby in a culture that is not your own:
If you are reading a story where a baby who can't talk yet is being weaned or sleeping in a crib, especially in a setting where formula does not exist, please urge the author to do more research.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk!
Sweet Rustic Love: Four Brothers' Wife
Sold by her own grandmother to become a shared wife to the poverty-stricken Ye brothers for twenty taels of silver, Liu Duo, unwilling to succumb to her fate, escaped in the night. She slipped and fell and died an inexplicable death. Then She, a soul who shared her name, reincarnated...
While I understand that humans have done some very stupid things regarding babies in recent history, and some of those stupid things are still recommended by pediatricians in the US *cough* cribs *cough*, weaning a baby who can't talk yet is neither the modern recommendation nor what humans did hundreds of years ago before the invention of infant formula. The CDC recommends nursing babies for at least a year, and the WHO recommends nursing babies for at least two years.
Personally, my baby is seven months old, and I am feeding him small amounts of other foods, but he still gets most of his calories from my milk. Weaning is a gradual process, and I see no need to rush it. My baby loves all the food I've given him so far, and eating is a happy experience for him. Research has shown that giving babies small amounts of food starting at four months can reduce their risk of developing allergies, so I followed his pediatrician's advice in that regard.
As for the distant past, I am not aware of any culture that ever weaned babies that early. I took a human development course in university and learned that some cultures nurse babies for five years. I did a quick Google search for information pertaining to ancient China in particular and came up with this. TLDR; Children in ancient China weren't weaned until 3-4 years of age.
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If babies in China were weaned earlier in recent history, I'm convinced they did so under Western influence. Westerners have a fixation on independence over interdependence, leading them to promote abusive practices such as forcing babies to sleep alone:
Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone
By James J. McKenna Ph.D. Edmund P. Joyce C.S.C. Chair in Anthropology Director, Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory University of Notre Dame Author of Sleeping with Your Baby: A Parent’s…
neuroanthropology.net
If you are writing a story that includes a baby, please do your research on the culture you are representing! This was one of my assigned readings for my human development course, and it is a great place to start if you would like to write about a baby in a culture that is not your own:
If you are reading a story where a baby who can't talk yet is being weaned or sleeping in a crib, especially in a setting where formula does not exist, please urge the author to do more research.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk!
