Mum addresses 'abuse' faced for breastfeeding seven-year-old son
An Australian mother has hit back at online bullies, after revealing her decision to breastfeed her seven-year-old son.
The mum-of-five, from Adelaide, decided to open up about why she still chose to breastfeed two of her children that have been diagnosed with autism – Chase, seven, and Phoenix, four.
Her reveal was met with a considerable amount of backlash online and has since decided to respond to the ‘adult bullies.’
“I just can’t get over the out right abuse and anger, being told how I should raise my children for others comfort, the name calling,” Lisa tells Yahoo. “I’m just a mum trying to love my children and do best by them.”
In an emotional letter, shared on Kidspot, Lisa highlights the natural age of weaning for a human child without intervention is four-eight years old.
“To the adults who have commented that I am sick and need to get help, there is nothing mentally wrong with me, I am only doing what is natural. It’s not a sexual act, I’m not a paedophile which is what quite a few have suggested,” she wrote.
She says her son is “independent, self-assured” and stresses that continuing to breastfeed hasn’t stopped him from growing and developing. It also offered him comfort and security.
“Breast milk contains some amazing things, antibodies, white blood cells, vitamins that my body produces and transfers to his, and no these nutrients don’t just disappear because he’s older,” her letter continued.
“You can’t force a baby or toddler or older child to breastfeed, in fact I’m ready for him to wean whenever as I have been for quite some time. It’s not for my benefit.”
Lisa also revealed to Yahoo that her eldest, Chase, had just naturally weaned a month ago, but her hormones are still settling.
“Phoenix continues to feed occasionally, he’s five tomorrow,” she tells us.
The mum, who runs Facebook group Occupy Breastfeeding, first found herself in the headlines in June last year, when she opened up about how breastfeeding her sons helped soothe the boys when they were having a meltdown.
“I’m not doing this for me, but it is a relationship, it works both ways,” she wrote on Facebook.
There were other strategies in place for the boys, such as cuddling, but if they had a meltdown in public, breastfeeding was the best way to calm them down.
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