Australia : Mum , Who Breastfeeds her 6 year old: 'I've Been Called A Paedophile'
 

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d6&oe=564DF76A

I assume its due to her age?



[A mother who breastfeeds her
6-year-old daughter, says she
has been called a paedophile after
sharing her story online.
Maha Al Musa, 52, says she has never
been personally attacked when
breastfeeding Aminah in public,
however she has received hurtful
comments online.
"I've been called a peadophile,"
the mum-of-three told
Channel 9's Inside Story.]


http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015...ushpmg00000067

..I assume you mean due to the age of the child not the mum, that's confusing as the mum's age is in the title and it has no relevance...the paedophile thing is just stupid/people being idiots...although I personally don't understand breastfeeding at such an age because it's not weaning a child in their own independence....

i think she probably does get some kind of thrill out of it. there's no other reason she would keep doing it.

and the fact that she posts about it online and does it in public just proves that she is doing it for a selfish thrill.

I think Down Under
it does

..no, really Arista it has no relevance/the mum's age with this story and it's also not in the article title/it's the child's age which is...so is paedophilia just something that's associated with older people, then..?...really Arista, you're better than to slant the title like that and make an inference to the mum's age...

OK
I have Corrected the Title

The "natural" age of weaning (when a child would choose to stop themselves without encouragement) can be anywhere between 2 and about 8. It would be perfectly normal for "wild humans" to still be having breastmilk aged 6. Really, it's society and society's expectations that are "weird"... And also I suspect that people who see a child of any age breastfeeding and make a sexual connection are the ones who have subconscious psychosexual issues - not the one doing the breastfeeding. It is the observer making that link who is sexualising children.

As for where this problem comes from, I think it's the tendency to push children to "grow up" ever more quickly. The workload my daughter has in early primary school aged just 5, is MUCH more than when I was that age. The goal of our lovely capitalist way of life is to have parents back in work ASAP, and have kids away from their parents learning to be effective workers ASAP... So our perspective is skewed and we look at children as being older than they are.

A lot of the time my 5 year old speaks and acts indistinguishably from a teenager. But then at other times there are moments when it strikes me that she really is still just a baby.

Personally I feel it's down to the mother struggling with the transition from the mothering instinct, having a child at 46 and then feeding so long.
There is no benefit to the child I wouldn't thought past infancy, there are other ways to bond and stay close to your child, they are are also perfectly equip to ingest their own nutrients.

It would be acceptable for "wild humans" to dig a hole every time they wanted a sh1t, but it's not acceptable in "society". Breastfeeding a six year old IS weird, whichever way you spin it and I suspect the mother gets FAR more out of it than the child does.

It is maybe uncommon however the reaction that she is some kind of deviant is the thing I consider weird, it's sad when that response by society is less shocking than a mother breastfeeding :/

Exhibit A.

It's possible that it's the mother pushing it and, if so, then it's potentially a problem. However, it's also possible that it isn't her pushing it, and whilst there aren't any massive positive effects to prolonging breastfeeding beyond around 2 or 3, there ARE some very real negative psychological effects to forcibly weaning a child before they're ready if doing so causes them distress.

As it stands, there's no evidence either way, and stating that it's driven by the mother is a complete guess.

I don't know what you mean.

you get wierdos and show-offs

case in point

This woman is using her kid to get attention, just like parents who put their kids in movies or reality shows.

Clearly this woman is manipulating her child to keep doing this, because she tells the kid, this is ow i love you, i will reward you if you go along with this.

You're projecting your own issues with breastfeeding and suggesting that it's a universal issue. It isn't.

I can get on board with the idea that at this age, it obviously shouldn't be in public. But it's biologically normal, it isn't psychologically harmful to the child, and it's culturally normal in MANY countries. Your issue is that you personally find it weird and icky. I'm justly baffled as to why you think that's in any way relevant.

it's not biologically normal at all. normal means that most humans would be doing this because of some biological need. clearly there is no biological need, and clearly this is in NO way normal.

This is clearly some psychological defect in the mother. This is very much an anomaly, not normal.

now just because it's not normal, does;t necessarily mean that it is wrong, but i would argue that it is wrong because she is literally using this child as a prop to get attention, and it provides no practical benefit to the child. it's purely for a sick need for attention.

Unless she's trying to breastfeed you, Livia? Is she? Has this woman tried to forcibly feed you her milk? Because that's a whole other thread.

You're confusing normality with conformity, though I can see where the semantics fail.

It has biological precedent and is not abnormal human psychology. If that's more helpful phrasing.

Yes 6 year old
does not need to be breast feed
by that age its time to move on


Back on Topic

Well yes it's a guess, I don't know her personally.
it's also a guess on your part that there would be psychological stresses to the child if she stopped, we all have had to end feeding whether breast or bottle most before we would maybe have wished to are we a nation of damaged people?.....er, don't answer that.

it's actually harmful to the child. the child should be learning how to find food on it's own, that is a normal biological stage of development. The child should be craving solid foods, and learning ways to acquire solid food to feed itself at this point of development.

at some point a healthy mother teaches her children to find their own food, it's a stage of development, instead this mother wants to make the child dependent on her. that is abusive. It's all about the mother wanting her child to be permanently dependent on her.

She MIGHT be and I'm not saying that this doesn't happen. For example, I'm dubious about her reasoning for posting it publicly and also for pursuing publicity in the aftermath.

The second paragraph, however, there is really no evidence for at all. It's unusual but, again, completely within the bounds of what is natural for the human species. Most children naturally (i.e. With no forcing or encouragement) stop breastfeeding somewhere between 2 and 4 but some will go longer. I find it fascinating that some people have such an extreme reaction to this fact. But not unsurprising in a world where a huge number of mums don't try to breastfeed at all, and the vast majority don't make it past a couple of months.

Solid foods start at 6 to 9 months in combination with milk. This argument is based on completely incorrect logic, Alex. Both occur simultaneously.

I think it's important to teach children to be independent and confident in themselves as quickly as possible. It's important for parents to push their children to learn for themselves, take risks, and be able to provide for themselves eventually, obviously it's also important for parents to also be supportive and to care for children while they are learning.

I believe it's always a good idea to build children's confidence by encouraging them to be as independent as possible. It just makes more sense that a child that is more capable of thinking for themselves and providing for themselves will be more successful.

I believe this long term breast feeding movement by some mothers is not helpful to a child's long term development. i believe it is a form of co-dependency, and co-dependency is a very toxic form of relationships.

:joker::joker::joker:

6-9 months, not 6-9 years. you just said it yourself. let's also discuss the fact that a woman body isn;t meant to be breast feeding for much more than that 6-9 months. especially if she plans to have more children, which most women do.

Pushing independence onto a child before they are developmentally ready is actually hugely detrimental to long-term self esteem and confidence, believe it or not. Might seem counterintuitive but it's a pretty well established fact.

Pushing children out of their comfort zone before they are ready results in an abnormal anxiety response. Repeating this has the pavlovian effect of creating a link between "unfamiliar situations" and "fear and anxiety", with the net result eventually being an adult who becomes fearful and anxious when confronted with unfamiliar situations (and they probably won't even know why they feel that way).

no, it's not an established fact at all. you need to stop reading Jenny mcarthy and alicia silverstone blogs.

children are not fragile little mommy's babies that those overprotective i love being a mommy, moms would have you think, the evidence actually goes the other way. children are incredibly capable of adapting to independence as long as they are surrounded by supportive parents that don't treat them with cotton wool.

you are just so wrong. it's insane how wrong you are.

:clap1: So true Alex - Examination of most Serial Killer's childhoods reveal this 'unnatural' type of bond with their mothers.

It's NOT the norm. and it's freaky.

:joker: as I think you maybe realised when typing that Kizzy, there ARE a lot of damaged people (an ever increasing number) in the western world and the vast majority have issues that can be traced back to childhood.

Obviously I'm not saying that it's all tied to weaning though. We have a whole magical toolbox full of ways to mess up our children.

well, i don't think serial killers are an appropriate pool to study, they are rare and usually have some kind of traumatic brain injury...

it's really not appropriate to compare serial killers to average human beings.

i'm definitely not saying that breast feeding too long leads to people being serial killers.

You are simply incorrect in your thinking Alex, starting solids doesn't mean stopping milk. Solids start by nine months and breastfeeding should continue until at least 18 months, preferably two years, for all children. You have been indoctrinated by incorrect propaganda, I'm afraid.

this is the breast thread I've seen all day

but these women make it sound like as soon as their baby cries for milk she will give it to them. that is not healthy.

I'm not a helicopter parent, I have children who have far more independence than most. I fully agree with that aspect of what you're saying, children must be given room to develop, however, extended breastfeeding doesn't necessarily have anything at all to do with that philosophy.

I didn't actually read the article so I don't know of that's the case here, and I'm well aware that some are like that, and agree that it becomes an issue (more one of the child becoming generally expectant and demanding). Feeding on demand doesn't need to go on past 6 months but, I would say, the majority of extended breastfeeders probably only do it once or twice a day (morning and night).

Alex makes a good point about siblings, she may have had two other children in the last 6yrs the kid would quite literally have had her nose shoved out by now, women are not jersey cows and produce enough milk to adequately feed 1 baby at a time.

JAPANESE MUM OF 6 CHASES 14 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AT BREASTFEEDING TIME:

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...g8eDcDkEQvLgGu

:hehe: It ain't normal.

Two, actually, humans are more than capable of producing enough milk for two children at once, either twins or when there's a small age gap (I have known plenty of women to be breastfeeding a one year old and a newborn at the same time).

The average gap between children is two to three years, and a minimum of one year. Which places the minimum age of natural weaning at 2 to 4. Which is fairly accurate. People's perceptions of the natural age of weaning are completely distorted by modernity - even more so since the big push on formula (which came hand in hand with a massive anti-breast propaganda campaign).