The sensitivity to her baby's needs that develops in a nursing mother is the best guide to when a particular child is ready to spend time away from mother. Many little ones are fine with dad or grandma long before they would be happy being cared for by a stranger. Others are not happy without mother until their third birthday. In some families, sleeping together in the family bed is a natural outgrowth of this concept, but it is by no means the only way to achieve the goal of a satisfying relationship. This concept allows for individual mothers, differences in babies, and family situations.
Breast milk is the superior infant food.
This is a dynamic statement of fact, proven over and over again by medical research. Stating this fact and developing it enables a mother to make an informed choice about feeding her baby. Pointing out the benefits of breastfeeding is not meant as a criticism of bottle-feeding mothers. For the healthy, full-term baby, breast milk is the only food necessary until the baby shows signs of needing solids, about the middle of the first year after birth. In this concept the emphasis is once again on the uniqueness of human milk and the individuality of each baby.