Our Evolved Nest: The Breastfeeding Component

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The Evolved Nest is a breakthrough concept that integrates findings across fields that bear on child development, child raising and adult behavior.  The Evolved Nest promotes optimal health and wellbeing, cooperation, and receptive and sociomoral intelligences. Societal moves away from providing the Evolved Nest have contributed to the ill being and dysregulation we see in one another and society. Learn how to nest your children and re-nest yourself.

Read the introduction and first chapter to Darcia's award-winning book Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture, and Wisdom, the basis for The Evolved Nest Initiative and it's insights. The Evolved Nest was founded by Dr. Narvaez and is a nonprofit initiative of Kindred World.

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Evolved Nest Component #2

ON-REQUEST BREASTFEEDING - occurs for several years.

What to do:

· Provide the breast whenever the baby indicates rooting and other signals of need for the breast. This is part of responsive parenting described above.

· Don’t make the baby wait or stress hormones start to flow.

· Breastfeed for at least a year if not 4 or 5 as in our species-normal societies.

Why?

Breastfeeding frequency. Mammalian milk is species specific for each of the over 4,000 mammalian species (AAP, 2005). Human milk is of the thin, rather than thick, variety, which is related to frequent ingestion or at least suckling (on average every 20 minutes for infants as recorded by anthropologists; see Hewlett & Lamb, 2005; Konner & Worthman, 1980). 

Breastfeeding length. In the ancestral context, breastfeeding took place on average from 2-5 years (weaning at age 4 on average; Konner, 2005; 2010). These patterns are still evident in aboriginal populations little influenced by outside cultures. According to Dettwyler’s (1995) review (see table 3) humans should be breastfeeding much longer than they are, based on what other primates do in relation to offspring maturation schedule. The end of the range, age 6-7, is when the immune system reaches adult levels and much of the brain is completed (Parham, 2004). 

Human mothers, who provided immunity through the placenta, continue to provide immunity after birth, first with colostrum immediately after birth and thereafter with breast milk. Although infants have gastric enzymes for digesting their mother’s colostrum and milk, digestive enzymes for other foods do not develop for several months. Breast milk abounds with infection fighting agents that foster immune and digestive health in the young child.  Specific to the environment in which the mother and infant find themselves, mammalian milk produces antibodies for various infective agents (e.g., Slusser & Powers, 1997).

Discover the Evolved Nest articles on pregnancy and birth on Kindred Media here.

Breastfeeding Posts on Kindred by Darcia Narvaez, PhD

Breastfeeding In The USA—A Little History, Part 1 Of 2

Breastfeeding’s Importance—What Science Tells Us, Part 2 Of 2

Safe Infant Sleep And Breastfeeding Are Partners

Breastfeeding Moms Face Illegal Discrimination At Work

What Do You Know About Breastfeeding? 

Breastfeeding As Companionship: An Ancient Tradition 

The Myth Of “Breastfeeding Is Optional” 

Breast Milk Keeps Time And May Set Baby’s Clock 

New Book, Unlatched, Explores Whether Breastfeeding Is Vital 

More Kindred Resources

 Kindred Breastfeeding Articles, Podcasts and Videos

National Breastfeeding Organizations

Kindred articles on Paid Parental Leave and Paid Family Leave

Kindred articles and videos on Worksite Breastfeeding-Friendly Law

Kindred’s Equity-Diversity-Inclusion Resources

Kindred’s Black Mothers and Fathers Resources

Saving Tomorrow Today: An African American Breastfeeding Blueprint

Breastfeeding Reduces Child Abuse/Neglect VIDEO

Answering the Critics: Breastmilk Separate of Breastfeeding Does Not Produce the Same Results VIDEO and Article

Why Sleep Training Is Bad for Moms and Babies: Breastfeeding Moms Get More and Better Sleep VIDEO and Article

New Research Shows Breastfeeding’s Healing Impact on Sexual Assault Trauma VIDEO and Article

How Breastfeeding Supports Maternal Mental Health VIDEO and How Other Cultures Support Moms Postpartum Article

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