Session 28 March 2010:
Q: (L) Now we have another series of questions, and I don't know if we're going to be able to get through all of them tonight. First question: "What is the optimal age of weaning a child from breast milk?" This is gonna be a loaded question, guys!
A: Depends on what kind of child you want to raise.
Q: (L) Okay, well, that’s a loaded answer! The general theory is that some cultures breast feed their children like three or four years or longer, and that this is taken also from the model of apes and chimpanzees. They breast feed their children, and it seems to suppress mating so that they don't have babies too often and it doesn't hurt their health and so forth.
A: Do you want to raise monkeys?
Q: (L) Well, no!
A: Monkeys also do not have sexual relations for recreation either.
Q: (L) Okay. So, having said all that, are you going to answer the question? What is the optimal age for weaning a child from breast milk?
A: Under optimal conditions, weaning should begin when the child is capable of eating well on his own.
Q: (Andromeda) That makes sense. As soon as they have teeth.
(L) Well, they said when they are able to eat well on their own. Just having teeth doesn't mean that you can necessarily eat well. You have to practice. So, I would say that probably means something like one year or thereabouts. By then, you probably have enough teeth to eat with. I guess it's different for each baby. Whenever that baby has enough teeth and enough practice, that means it's time to wean that baby. But there can probably be a general time frame. Okay, the next question: "How does prolonged breast feeding affect the child's emotional development?"
A: Breast feeding is problematical for all the reasons that you already know. The toxicity of the mother must be considered. The child certainly benefits from the food provided by nature, but again, we ask, what kind of child do you wish to raise?
Q: (L) Well, I think we want to raise children that are capable of soul development. I guess that's what we want to do.
A: Yes? Then you must lay down the foundation and pattern. Let us ask you a question: If you had not had certain traumas, would you have felt so determined to find answers to the suffering of humanity???
Q: (L) No, I guess if I'd had a perfect childhood and if everything had been perfect and nice, I guess I would have been a potato. [laughter] I guess I would have been a monkey!
A: Yes.
Q: (L) So, what you're suggesting is that you lay down a foundation of security, and then you begin to introduce patterns of frustration or whatever of the child having to confront themselves?
(Ark) Challenges.
(L) Yeah, challenges. So then you set up challenges for the child to meet or overcome?
A: Yes. And fairly early too!
Q: (L) What do you mean by "fairly early"?
A: Starting with weaning!
Q: (L) Okay, this next question is weird. It's written in a really weird way. “Is co-sleeping recommended?”
A: In some cases for limited periods. Keep in mind that if you lay down the pattern early in a secure and loving way, the child is not overly traumatized when faced with reality. If the child is born and then lives in an external "womb", he has not really been born now has he?
Q: (L) Next question: What are the negative consequences of co-sleeping?
A: That should be obvious from the previous responses.
Q: (L) But certainly co-sleeping on occasion, like if the child is upset or sick, is okay?
A: Of course!!!
Q: (Perceval) If you have a child that's been overly mothered from a long time and sheltered from reality and from challenges, then when they do face challenges later on, they can't handle it. They fly into illusion.
(Burma Jones) Or you have a lot of children with domineering fathers who say, "The kid's gotta learn his lessons!" And they kind of have a point, except that it's not done lovingly and in consideration of the fact that the child needs time and needs to be introduced gently to these challenges.
(Ark) I think this sleeping is not good for husband and wife.
(PoB) It's not good for the mother's relationship with the husband.
(Ark) That's what I mean. I mean, the father is patient for 5 months, 6 months. [laughter] (Burma Jones) Not so good for the marital relations.
(Ark) I think that if woman does it, usually she will have different reasons than that just "It's good for the child."
(L) Yeah, a lot of women are probably co-sleeping because they want to keep the husband away.
(PoB) They have a good excuse.
(L) They have a good excuse not to work on their own intimacy issues and to create a true parental unit that takes care of a child.
(Ark) It's a good way to punish the husband for all previous things he did to her.
(Perceval) They need Eiriu Eolas!
(L) Next question is: Is it really the case that "all is sealed" (our view of the Universe), so to speak, during the first weeks, months, or years of life?
A: More or less. Recall the discussion on imprinting. The infant needs to know that the universe is a place of creativity and abundance. That impression is formed in the first six months. For six months, the parent must respond instantly, or even anticipate the infant's needs; even the need for not being alone.
