Mom Breastfeeds Her 5 & 6-Year-Old Boys in Public and Says It's Normal
A West Yorkshire mother claimed to feel closer to her sons, aged 5 and 6, because she breastfed them daily before school and after returning home.
Netizens were appalled in 2021 when they read about Sheryl Wynne online and discovered that she found nothing wrong in breastfeeding her boys.
The mother said she had reasons for breastfeeding her children despite their ages. She had no problem feeding them all night.
SHE DIDN'T WANT TO STOP
Wynne revealed she wanted to involve her children in the decision, so she didn't stop breastfeeding them. Initially, she had planned to stop when her older son, Riley was three.
When she asked Riley about his decision, he said he didn't want to stop until he turned 10. The mother said breastfeeding her children had made them come closer.
However, when Wynne's son said he wanted to continue getting "mommy milk" until he turned 10, she told him "there's no chance."
IT COMFORTS HER CHILDREN
The mother confessed that breastfeeding her children was a tool to comfort them. She said she felt happy knowing they could come to her whenever they needed to feel comfortable.
Wynne also believed it was normal to breastfeed her school-going children. She didn't care about society's standards that prohibited her from doing what she liked. She said:
"They want to be with me and snuggle with me even when they aren't breastfeeding."
HER FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS WEREN'T HAPPY
The mother said strangers were more accepting of her decision than her friends and family. They thought she wasn't doing the right thing.
They also asked her to stop and said her children had been behaving strangely because of her unusual habit. Wynne believed her boys were acting OK and ignored what her friends and family told her. She said:
"People think they're experts in other people's children, but I'm not doing it blindly even though I am following my instincts in many ways."
SHE SOMETIMES TELLS THEM TO GET OFF
The mother confessed she sometimes told her children to get off when she didn't feel like feeding them. However, she said she always considers her children's choices before deciding anything. Wynne confessed:
"The choice isn't just mine. It's a relationship because it's something we do together."
Despite people questioning her unusual choice, she is determined to breastfeed her children until they tell her to stop.
SHE DOES IT PUBLICLY
When Wynne said she fed her children whenever they ask for it, she means it. The mother revealed that she proudly breastfed her children in the school playground and other public settings.
At first, she felt awkward breastfeeding her school-going children in public, but she didn't want them to feel the same, so she suppressed her anxiousness and did what her children wanted. She recalled how she did it in the school playground:
"He took me to the bench and I had to dig deep into myself."
SHE HAD A TRAUMATIC BIRTH EXPERIENCE
Giving birth to her sons wasn't the best experience for Wynne. She felt like a "failure" after giving birth to her first son because she couldn't breastfeed him properly.
After the birth of her younger son, Mylo, she decided to breastfeed both of them. She wanted to make up for her mistakes as a first-time mother.
She was afraid her supply might diminish after she got pregnant with her younger son, but things became better when she gave birth to him.
After Mylo's birth, Wynne would often feel "full of milk," so she would ask Riley to breastfeed. She also enjoyed breastfeeding both her sons at the same time.
SHE WANTS TO SET A NEW TREND
Many people around Wynne felt her unusual practice of breastfeeding her boys wasn't right. They questioned her decision and tried to bring her down, but she did what she loved.
Wynne hoped to bust myths and set a new trend of breastfeeding school-going children because it helped strengthen her bond with her sons. She felt that society had created unnecessary timeframes for mothers.
Click here to read another story about another mother who breastfeeds her 7-year-old daughter before and after school.
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