She breastfed her daughter until she was nine: "Now I have an unbreakable bond with her"
Breastfeeding your child until the age of nine? We assure you that not only is it possible, but today we will tell you the story of a mother who shared that she breastfeed her youngest daughter until she told her she no longer needed it. Sharon Spink, a 50-year-old woman from North Yorkshire, is a happy mother of four; her youngest, Charlotte, preferred to drink breast milk from her mother's breast until the age of nine ...
via The Sun UK
By telling her story, Sharon hopes to be able to break down the prejudices attached to breastfeeding; there is no set age at which to stop breast feeding, and this is a stigma that the British woman has had to carry on for a long, long time. The woman reports that she had attempted to extend breastfeeding with her other three children, Kim, Sarah and Isabel, but without success.
But when Charlotte arrived, everything changed, because the baby was the first to thrive on weaning without a fixed term: "When I had Charlotte, I had decided on natural weaning when she wanted it. It's nice that the baby is in control of when she wants to wean herself, rather than forcing it. She naturally weaned herself earlier this year. It was a gradual process and it was her choice."
Sharon went on to say: "She hasn't fed from me for about two months now. She told me she would quit when she turned 10, which will be in April next year, but it seems to have come to a natural end long before, even if I would have allowed her to continue for as long as she wanted [...] It's how I imagined it would end. "
The woman also says that Charlotte's breastfeeding took place well beyond two years of age, an age limit generally recognized by the World Health Organization, given that her daughter had decided of her own free will to continue until she felt the need to stop and wean herself.
Sharon further stated that not only did she breastfeed her youngest daughter in public until she was 4-5 years of age (in later years it was something she only did at home, in private), but that this whole "natural" process helped strengthen the bond between mother and daughter, which is now stronger than ever: "We have such a close bond and I am convinced that it is due to breastfeeding that has lasted for so long. It has cemented our bond and I do not think it will change now that breastfeeding has stopped. I think we're closer for it!"
Many women have sided with Sharon and Charlotte's choice, without any kind of prejudice, while others have certainly not appreciated this mother's story. What's your opinion?
