{"id":236253,"date":"2023-09-19T19:05:28","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T19:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=236253"},"modified":"2023-09-19T19:05:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T19:05:28","slug":"i-breastfeed-my-four-year-old-son-and-wont-stop-because-people-tell-me-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/i-breastfeed-my-four-year-old-son-and-wont-stop-because-people-tell-me-to\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I breastfeed my four-year-old son and won’t stop because people tell me to’"},"content":{"rendered":"
A woman admitted she breastfeeds her four-year-old son – and she won't stop because people tell her to.<\/p>\n
Journalist Allison Yarrow claims the process helps her to "connect and communicate" with her little one, and she does it at least once a day.<\/p>\n
The writer, whose book Birth Control: The Insidious Power of Men Over Motherhood is popular with parents, also noted she wouldn't still be doing it if she didn't enjoy it.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:<\/b>'I think the bar for dads is set low \u2013 people expect too little from men'<\/b><\/p>\n
The NHS states "it\u2019s recommended that babies should consume only breast milk for around the first six months of their lives".<\/p>\n
From this point on, it says babies can continue to breastfeed for "two years and beyond, alongside eating other foods".<\/p>\n
But Allison is adamant the process works well for the family, and she likes doing it too.<\/p>\n
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The proud mum told People: "We haven't stopped breastfeeding because breastfeeding works for us.<\/p>\n
"We still breastfeed because it's a way to connect with each other. We feel good. It's intimacy. <\/p>\n
"It's looking into each other's eyes. It's cuddling. It's having a physical connection. And that strengthens our connection in general."<\/p>\n
Allison also said she doesn't think our culture supports women doing things with their bodies that it doesn't want them to be doing.<\/p>\n
This includes breastfeeding, and she said there's "poor research" when it comes to the topic of extended breastfeeding.<\/p>\n
"Women and people who give birth are really hampered in their quest to breastfeed after their babies are born," she added.<\/p>\n
"We know that the majority of people who give birth want to breastfeed, but most don't even meet their own breastfeeding goals because accessing lactation support is incredibly difficult.<\/p>\n
"Often it's not covered by insurance or Medicaid, and people have to pay out-of-pocket and find somebody to support them in this way when they're already very vulnerable recovering from childbirth and caring for a newborn."<\/p>\n
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She also suggested there are many more advantages to breast feeding than choosing not to.<\/p>\n
Allison said it's not "very much of a commitment", as it only takes a few minutes a day.<\/p>\n
As well as this, it's something she very much wants to do, but she also said she teaches her son boundaries in the process.<\/p>\n
"I'm a human being, I have limits," she said.<\/p>\n
"Sometimes I want to give someone a hug and sometimes I don't want to give someone a hug, and the same goes for breastfeeding.<\/p>\n
"And if I don't want to, I just say no."<\/p>\n
Now she admits it's something they mostly do at home, but she's very open about it with people.<\/p>\n
It's important to Allison that the topic becomes normalised.<\/p>\n
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