Weaning aggression

As Edward O Wilson noted in his book Sociobiology:the new synthesis in some mammals the parent acts somewhat aggressively towards their offspring around the time of weaning so as to encourage them to feed independently. It is hypothesised that while continued feeding by the mother is benefical for the infant, it lowers the mothers fitness, and at some point it is evolutionarily advantageous for her to wean the offspring quickly at the appropriate time.

It is unclear whether this effect occurs in humans.