She breastfeeds her 6-year-old son at a family dinner but her sister asks her to stop so as not to embarrass everyone

by Alison Forde

January 17, 2021

She breastfeeds her 6-year-old son at a family dinner but her sister asks her to stop so as not to embarrass everyone
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There is no specific age at which a mother has to stop breastfeeding her child; there are those who stop when the little one turns one or two years old, there are those who chose to feed their child breast milk until an older age, such as this mother of two children, one of six, the other two. Both kids, despite their ages, are still nursed by their mother, and this has leds to friction or embarrassing situations during family reunions.

via AITA/Reddit

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UNICEF/Wikimedia

UNICEF/Wikimedia

An anonymous woman on Reddit, expressed her bewilderment telling of a family dinner which was also attended by her sister, who is the mother of the two children of six and two years. During one of these family reunions, the woman had continued to breastfeed her youngest child of two years, while the elder usually took his mother's milk during the day from a bottle, while at night she fed directly from the woman's breast.

A situation that has embarrassed her family more than once, and it was precisely for this reason that the woman's sister told her to stop breastfeeding her child in front of everyone; but the lactating mother seems to have disliked this advice ...

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Jerry Bunkers/Wikimedia

Jerry Bunkers/Wikimedia

But there is more to this whole story. The woman's eldest son has autism, and for this reason, if for a few hours he is not close to his mother, he becomes irritable and always seeks mother's milk to calm him down; but all this, according to the woman, does not justify why her sister should still breastfeed the two and six-year-olds in front of everyone. The woman says, "They both still use pacifiers and bottles, not regular cups, and I think she should start giving him milk this way. Even if he's autistic, the older one doesn't need to be infantilized up to this point. Also. if he can't use a normal cup, he could use the easy sip ones, and he really doesn't need a pacifier!"

Obviously this created a heated discussion at the family New Year's Eve dinner, with everyone taking sides against the breastfeeding woman; the sister, who to some extent represented the rest of the family's thinking, said: "I only want the best for my nephews".

A very complex family situation that is impossible to judge on the spot. Where do you stand?

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