Breastfeeding Mother of Five-Year-Old Son Encourages Other Mothers to Nurse Children As Long As Possible

Oct 02, 2018 by apost team

27-year-old Mother to one five-year-old boy, Amy Hardcastle believes that breastfeeding is a natural experience that mothers should feel normal participating in, for as long as the mother and child feel comfortable. She adds that breastfeeding an older child is even easier than a baby, and goes on to explain how and why this is so.

Amy and her son Max, five years old, still have regular nursing sessions. This even includes nursing when the two share a bath together. Amy describes that it is important for the two to share a bond, including the closeness and nourishment that breastfeeding promotes. In regards to the social stigma of breastfeeding later in life, Amy believes that the disgrace should truly be broken. She encourages other mothers to disregard those who think that it is weird, citing that it is natural for mothers and children to wean themselves from breastfeeding at different ages.

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When son Max was born in July of 2013, Amy was actually not all too comfortable with breastfeeding in the beginning. It took her some time to gain confidence to do so in public. Amy states that her son was fed breastmilk exclusively for the first six months of his life, at which point she began incorporating food into his diet. Even though she almost quit breastfeeding her son when he was only four weeks old, due to a latching issue, she found help just in the nick of time to allow her to continue breastfeeding. During Max’s early years, Amy took up with breastfeeding support groups in her local area, even participating in a breastfeeding festival.

These support groups and festivals taught Amy much more about the benefits of breastfeeding, well past the ages that are supposedly normal for a child. With so many health and bonding advantages, Amy began to question why many mothers stop breastfeeding when their child is still quite young. At five years old, son Max still breastfeeds from his mother, but now only a few times a week. She explains that she and the child will know when the time is right to wean themselves from it, but for now, the health and bonding benefits outweigh any negativity surrounding them.

As Max has grown older, there is no longer a need for her to breastfeed as regularly, allowing her wardrobe to return to normal. As she tells Max, something isn’t necessarily wrong just because it isn’t the norm culturally. She explains that it just makes sense to continue breastfeeding as long as her son seems to need it, and as long as her body continues to produce breastmilk.

Amy also keeps a keyring of hearts for years she has had her son and breastfed him; although, she admits she currently needs to update it. As far as Amy is concerned, the hardest part about breastfeeding is cracking it to begin with. After that, it’s normal to continue as long as it feels normal for mother and child. Pointing to other animals, primates that are similar to humans continue breastfeeding until permanent teeth begin coming in. For humans, these teeth begin coming in at about five to six years old.

Amy Hardcastle does share that she weaned her child from breastfeeding at night, as it became uncomfortable. During the day, Max gets nourishment from food and breastmilk, whichever he chooses at the time. She shares that she has friends who wean their child sooner, and it is truly all about knowing what the child wants and needs, especially because breastmilk will never stop being a source of nourishment and a boost for mother and child closeness. Check out the video as well:

Social stigmas can often be used to shame others, and other times they are more reasonably based. What do you and your friends think of this one? The phrase “mother knows best” comes to mind!