Is it Really Best for their Well-being?
Anybody who decides to pen an article on breastfeeding knows they need to be ready for critique, shields and armour at the ready. And I want to make one thing extremely clear: I am pro breastfeeding – yes, most definitely in public too – and I am pro bottle feeding. For I have been there, done that and worn the T-shirts with both styles of nurture with both of my babies. This is not, I repeat, this is NOT an anti-breastfeeding crusade.
It is a question that I ask YOU, the readers.
Because I want to know what you think?
For I am torn. Confused and torn…
Is breastfeeding school children OK?
You see, last week I was at a birthday party…
And even I had to do a double take. I am as open-minded and unconventional as they come, believe me. However, one of the children in my son’s school class was quite openly being breastfed – slightly away from the indoor play centre activities and chaos of sugar-fueled kids, admittedly – but in full enough view of his peers. Aged 5, is this really socially acceptable?
Is it a case of a Mum who cannot break the bond?
… and will do anything for the ‘easy life’? Or does this little boy’s welfare really still, at the age of 5, depend on her breast milk? I know these questions will raise controversy among the easily offended, and I also know that how any parent chooses to raise their children is absolutely none of my business. So these questions are not asked in order for me to pass judgement. They are asked because I wish to understand. They are asked so that I may put it to the floor. I am naturally curious to hear YOUR opinions. Perhaps you have been in this mother’s shoes? Perhaps you currently are still breastfeeding a child of this age group… or even older?
So are there any circumstances in which breastfeeding a child of school age could be beneficial? Like truly beneficial?
Is there a cut-off point for breastfeeding a child… particularly in public?
These are the answers I am seeking…
Because children can be delightful. Yet children can be (unintentionally) cruel too.
Had my 5 year old son witnessed his buddy being attached to his mum’s boob, well, he would have had an absolute field day… Fortunately, of course, I had the sense not to mention what I had seen to him. My little boy – okay, naturally I will say this because I am biased – has been raised to know the difference between right and wrong, passing judgement on appearances and not. However, he is of course, curious by nature. He – and his friends – will make their own minds up when it comes to the kind of things they think their peers should or shouldn’t be doing at this age.
Which begs the question: is this (presumably) blissfully unaware mum doing her son any favours in front of his classmates? Or is she a fabulous example of a parent who bucks the trend and doesn’t give a rip what anybody else thinks, encouraging us all to be a little more open-minded?
I, for once, sit on the fence!
And put the debate out to YOU, the readers. I tend to see the good in everything, and I suppose this in many ways is a classic example… I admire her for standing apart from the crowd, for sure. Although, one has to ask if this really IS absolutely fine, socially acceptable and not promoting early childhood bullying?
So when DO we draw the line?
I’m loathe to say it, but the David Walliams ‘bitty’ sketches from the comedy Little Britain, quite naturally spring to mind… If it’s perfectly fine to breastfeed at 5… 5 can soon become 7… 7 can soon become 9… and so on, until before you know it, a child has become a teenager.
Even in Eastern cultures, children are commonly weaned between the ages of 3 and 4.
This would appear to be the latest ‘common’ benchmark when mums stop putting child to breast. However, the breastfeeding of older children, whilst rare, is certainly not unheard of. In fact a British documentary called Extraordinary Breastfeeding, which aired in 2006, featured a mother ‘nursing’ her then 8 year old. Critics even went as far as to cite this child abuse.
Would you agree?
I have to admit, the thought of breastfeeding my own daughter – who is now 8 – makes the mind boggle. She’s almost as tall as me if nothing else. And this really hints at a parent unable to ‘let go’, unable to grant their child the kind of independence they deserve as a human being.
But now I am sounding judgmental. Oh, how difficult it is to stay on my fence perch!
So I will end all of this where I started, with a question – or two…
What is YOUR honest opinion? And where DO we draw the Mummy Milk line?
If you are still undecided, perhaps Sarah Spink, a mum who appeared on ITV’s This Morning show to publicly defend her right to practice extended breastfeeding with her then 5 year old daughter, can help make up your mind. You’ve got to be impressed with her determination if nothing else (for even one of her older children disagrees with her). But if there is one thing this lady does know, it’s her own mind.
And yes, speaking of minds, perhaps we should all just mind our own. But my curiosity has got the better of me and this is a topic which intrigues.
Extended breastfeeding: helpful to a child’s development, or a complete and utter hindrance?
