Woman still breast feeds son, 6, says it's 'perfectly natural'

[Aaltrude]

Meena Hartenstein
December 9, 2010


No one would look twice at the sight of Amanda Hurst (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Amanda+Hurst) breast-feeding her infant son, but watching her do the same for her 6-year-old is a different story.
Hurst, 29, of Hemingfield, England (http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/England), currently breast feeds both her sons, 5-month-old William and 6-year-old Jonathan, she revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1336979/Breastfeeding-year-old-tandem-newborn--horrifying-loving-bond.html#ixzz17e0LJatE).
She tried to wean Jonathan off the habit at age 3, she says, but failed.
"I explained to him, 'This is the last time you can breastfeed," she told the paper. "He was like 'yeah, alright Mum,' and went to bed. When he came to feed in the night, I said, 'You're 3 now, you don't breastfeed, you're a big boy."
But Hurst reveals she herself didn't want to stop, and it was her husband who convinced her to continue.

The practice was sporadic for a few years and Hurst thought Jonathan was growing out of it -- until she had her second baby.

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[LabDoc]

My wife breastfed our twins till they were five. Used to joke that they would be going off to football/netball training in a few years and saying before they went "Mun, can I just have a quick drink before I go?"

[Islander]

Can't remember how old my grandson was, perhaps 3, theoretically weaned, but would still come up to my daughter once or twice a day, pat her bosom and say, "Snack, Mumma, snack." In some cultures, nursing till the age of 5 or 6 or beyond is not considered out of the ordinary.

[DizzyIzzy]

It's perfectly normal in some parts of the world - just reminds me of that other article (think I posted it on here) 'breastfeeding in Mongolia' where they feed waaay past there...

[highlander]

I was told that my father was in the first grade before he quit breastfeeding. He would get off the school bus and hit the breast. My grandmother finally put a stop to it by covering her breasts with ashes before he got home -- not too tasty. She was quite a character.

[Jane Chitty]

I just came across this article for the first time! My daughter breastfed Jamie until he was 2 and a half and Emily is now 18 months and still going strong. We were all in San Diego for Christmas (including my brother, daughter in law and their baby who was being breastfed) several years ago and Jamie started demanding "milkie pops" (because of his baby cousin) constantly so that my son in law asked us all to carry out an intervention! We all chatted together to Jamie in the garden and much to his parents' relief, it worked 100%. We still laugh about it to this day.