Ecological Breastfeeding is a pattern of breastfeeding based on seven maternal behaviors that keep mother and baby together and allow frequent suckling. We call them the Seven Standards of Ecological Breastfeeding. Exclusive Breastfeeding is the first of these seven standards, but it lasts for only six months or so. The other Standards such as “Don’t use pacifiers”, “Don’t use bottles”, and “Take your baby with you” are counter-cultural, but mothers who do Ecological Breastfeeding love it. Their baby will have reduced risks of contracting at least 20 nasty diseases, and mothers will also experience reduced risks of contracting breast cancer and at least seven other diseases. No pharmaceutical product or behavioral process can come close to these benefits. Parents experience the joy that comes from doing what they know is best for their baby, and they also appreciate not having to buy any formula, probably saving about $2,000 with each baby.
Mothers also love not having a first period until 14 to 15 months postpartum. (That’s an average with both shorter and longer durations of not having periods). Visit the NFPI website—www.nfpandmore.org—and you will see several books on this subject. Just recently (mid-January) we received a gracious letter from a mother who delivered a baby 27 months after her first baby, the spacing due solely to Ecological Breastfeeding. For research, see http://www.nfpandmore.org/nfpresearch.shtml.
John and Sheila Kippley
www.NFPandmore.org