ABSTRACT
This chapter examines discussions of infant weaning and lactation cessation in the works of Byzantine medical authors, using other types of sources, including archaeological ones, to give broader context. It shows that medical authors were not very prescriptive about when to complete weaning but gave strong indications of when to initiate it. They generally recommended relatively long-term breastfeeding and did not discuss women’s methods to turn away children from the breasts. They did, however, provide some information on how to dry a woman’s milk, which might have been a necessity when an infant died, or if a woman (or her family) did not want to breastfeed. The chapter explores the cultural expectations that are implicit in these treatments to extinguish the milk. Thus, recipes to stop breastfeeding are sometimes accompanied by tips to keep the breasts pert, perhaps implying concerns over the perceived physical effects of breastfeeding.
