] Three months seems rather early for weaning.

Age of weaning can vary enormously, and three months is old enough for a baby to start to ingest and digest slosh.

Come to think of it, perhaps Mrs Austen was unusual in suckling her babies herself in those days. I thought that it was all that Rousseau back-to-nature movement that encouraged gentlewomen to breastfeed, and that was somewhat later. Do we see Mrs Austen as a premature Rousseauist?

Linden