<<i swear, someday we will torture them with our stories of shirt pulling and boobie demanding!>>

One of my friend's mom had another baby when we were about 18 and she nursed her until she was 4. It was definitely the baby's choice. She was totally demanding about it and her mom let her self wean. Now she is a teenager and she gets all upset if anyone mentions that she still breastfed at that age. One time she was going off saying, "God mom, that is disgusting! How could you do that for so long?" We all cracked up because we all remembered how it really happened!

"as with everything else-- one size does NOT fit all.. and it is so with AP too."

absolutely.

please remembe that the woman who overvalorizzed the COntinuum COncepot, jean Liedloff, poudly admits that she is not a mothe by bithing or adoption and I hink she told one interviewer, "I;ve never changed a diaper" but peopl pay serious money to have consultation with her about how to be more lke the Amazonian mamas she hung with (she's not a trained anthropologist either)

I poactice most of wha's called AP,,maybe more than a lot of mothers ...but I also say bware of the cult of the "expers" and of labls. someon on a parenting list I was on years ago refered tongue in chek to "the AP canon." i's not a religion, unless you want to make it one, and William Sears and jean Liedloff and whoever are not he hgh preiss unless you decide to amke hem tha.

do wha works and yes, he people in hose ribal cultures, as far as IU know (I did earn an honors dege in socioculural anthropology some eyars back) have a COMMUNIY tha hlps raise he child. among some of hos people of he Amazon=rain fores, kindship ges confusing bcause people call their biological moher AND their moher's siser "mother" and their first cousins by the auntie mother "sister" or "brother." i's no one mother holding one baby in the sling every hour...grandma and older siser and aunie and favorite neighbor all are part of it too.

see if ou can get o a single mothers and babies group, or even a mohers and babies group where everyone is welcome (a lot of women feel like single mothers even when they supposedly have a parner, believe me)...you might make friends and feel less burned ou and manage to collaborate for some suff.
peace.

judith

We are in the same exact boat, Simone. My daycare provider feeds baby G on demand and we have almost always had enough breast milk...which is handy since she has now decided she doesn't like formula. (She'll take it ONCE in AWHILE, but prefers boobie milk). She has now started eating solids, too, which helps fill her belly while I'm gone. Her new favorite food is ground dried figs with water added, mixed with oatmeal and apples. Yummy.

Also I am still a pumping machine. I got nearly 9 ounces in 7 minutes the other day!! YIKES!