Why this mother still breast feeds her 6 year old daughter
Denise Sumtper, from the UK, still breast feeds her 6 year old daughter, and says she will continue to do so until Belle decides it is time to stop.
“I’ll feed Belle as long as she asks,” the 44-year-old mother told the Daily Mail.
Belle doesn’t rely solely on Denise’s milk of course, she nurses anywhere from twice a day to once a week, and sometimes Belle will join in when Denise is nursing her 18 month old brother Beau.
“I don’t think there’s anything weird about it. I feed both children on demand, whenever they want it,” Denise says.
Breastfeeding
Denise credits her children’s good health to the breast milk.he says, “My children have hardly been ill. Beau came down with something the other day and because I nursed him through it he was better in 24 hours. I’ve had similar with Belle. If they’re upset it calms them. It helps them sleep.”
She has received some negative feedback and has discredit claims that Belle is developing a harmful dependency on her.
“People think by feeding Belle this long I will stunt her confidence. But she is extremely independent,” she told the Daily Mail.
“Her teachers say she is mature for her age. If you’d asked me five years ago I never would have thought I’d still be breast-feeding Belle. However, it turned out to be one of the best things I could have done for my family.”
“Not the norm”
Denise admits that her daughter knows that she is not the norm. According to the Daily Mail, she’s the oldest child still being breast-fed in the UK. However, for Belle, it all feels natural. She even pretends to breast-feed her dolls.
“When Belle finishes I’ll be sad but it’s a natural progression. Her milk teeth are going and I get the impression she won’t be feeding for much longer. But she can take her time.”
And as for her son, Denise intends to breast-feed him as long as she has Belle, provided that’s what he wants.
“The other day at playgroup Beau picked up a toy bottle and didn’t have a clue what it was. I was proud of that.”