Most importantly, my mothering instincts told me I was doing the right thing for
my children and it almost turned me off to Waldorf education. I was almost ready
to write it off when I heard that because I felt like that was not wise
advice at all.
Hi friends, happy Sunday. I'm Sarah Baldwin. I'm a Waldorf early childhood
educator, author, and the owner of Bella Luna Toys and I'm back with you today
with another Sunday with Sarah. Today I'm here to answer another viewer
question. This question today comes from Sylvia in Italy who wrote me with
a question that's asked by a lot of mothers who are discovering Waldorf
education for the first time. Sylvia writes: "Dear Sarah, I'm writing
with a question about Dr. Steiner's philosophy on breastfeeding. A few days
ago I went to a doctor who follows the Steiner philosophy and, in her opinion,
prolonged breastfeeding after one year is very wrong. I have a three-year-old
son and another one and a half-year-old and I'm still breastfeeding both. The
older just sometimes when he wants to relax together with the younger
brother. I wish there was more clarity on this topic because many women wonder
about this. Has Rudolf Steiner given an opinion on it?" Well, it is a question that
that many mothers ask. When I was a young mother, still breastfeeding my own two
children, is when I discovered Waldorf education. What I'm here to tell you
today is that there are a lot of myths surrounding Waldorf education. One myth
that I addressed in an earlier video is that Waldorf is anti-reading or
anti-books: not true. As far as breastfeeding goes, when I heard these
rumors that Waldorf teachers or Rudolf Steiner felt that mothers should stop
breastfeeding their babies at nine months or twelve months, I was concerned
because everything I had read up to that point was about the benefits of
breastfeeding, the health benefits that are well documented. Most importantly, my
mothering instincts told me I was doing the right thing for my children and it
almost turned me off to Waldorf education. I was almost ready to
write it off when I heard that because I felt like that was not wise advice at
all. But I began to research the question because I became more involved with
Waldorf education. Everything that I learned about what Rudolf Steiner had to
say about child development, human development, education, the way children
learn, rang so true to me so why did this one element about early weaning
make no sense to me? And I'm so glad that I continued to research because what I
discovered is that Rudolf Steiner had very little, if anything, to say.
People have done exhaustive research and cannot find any quotes attributed to him
about how long a mother should breastfeed. Rather, I think it came out of
a European cultural tradition. Traditionally in Europe, mothers weaned
earlier than other mothers around the world. The average age for a child to
stop breastfeeding worldwide, when you consider third world countries—less
developed nations—is four to five years old. Rudolf Steiner himself,
one of the only quotes that could be attributed to him was he wondered if
after his mother died, the reason he had so much grief was because he himself
was breastfed until he was four years old. the World Health Organization
recommends nursing for a minimum of two years, the United Nations Children's Fund
also recommends a minimum of two years, the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends nursing for at least a year and for "as long after that as is
mutually desirable." So that is my advice to you, Sylvia, or any of you out there
who are wrestling with this question. Trust your own mothering instincts, they
are rarely wrong. Your child will let you know, and you'll know, when it's not
mutually desirable. If it's not working for either one of you,
you might consider then stopping. In my case I breastfed both my children till I
think they were about three and a half years old and in both cases, one day,
they just stopped. There was an expression I learned in La Leche League
when I used to go to La Leche League meetings as a nursing mother, that applied
to weaning and that expression is: "don't offer, don't refuse." So there will come a
time. If you begin to wonder if it's time to wean—and by weaning we don't
mean suddenly stopping but gradually starting that process—just don't offer
but if your child asks for it, don't refuse. I also remember a time when my
younger son, Will, was about three years old and had one day put his hand on a
very hot electric griddle. He burned his hand very, very badly. We had to go to the
hospital and his hand was bandaged for weeks, as I recall. I was so happy that he
was still breastfeeding. He was so terribly distraught and upset and it
calmed us both down. But that said, trust your instincts. Do what is right
for your child and for you and the most important thing is to not feel any shame
or guilt. If you decide not to breastfeed at all, for whatever reason, if for
medical or physical reasons you're not able to, you still love your child. Do not
feel any shame if you decide to wean after nine months or a year. If it's not
working for either of you, you will still love your child. Do not feel any shame.
And most importantly, if your instincts and your child tells you that you are
doing the right thing and still nursing your 3 or 4-year-old,
do not feel any shame. If someone in the Aaldorf community or a Waldorf teacher
questions you or hints that maybe this isn't in the best
interest of the child, I'm going to post links to some articles below that you
might want to share with that teacher to educate and enlighten them. So I'm sure
this video is going to inspire some comments. I love your comments and
questions, please leave them here. Don't forget to subscribe to the YouTube
channel if you are enjoying these videos. If you found this helpful please give it
a thumbs up and keep those questions coming. I'll see you next time.