Breastfeeding - What To Do If You Are Accused of Child Abuse Because You Breastfeed

• Believe it or not, some mothers have been accused of abusing their children because they continued breastfeeding a child that was too old for someone's taste. A few unfortunate ones have even temporarily lost custody of their baby for this reason.
• What should you do if this happens?
• First, it would help to educate your accusers (and perhaps yourself) about the benefits of extended breastfeeding. See the pages on breastfeeding a toddler and a young child. Also educate yourself about the normal feelings of sexual arousal you might experience during nursing (but keep this from your accusers). See the page on uterine contractions for some information on this topic.
• Second, don't bring in any extraneous issues.
  • Some mothers who have been accused in this way have made a simple but grave mistake:
  • They told their accusers about other unusual practices in their interaction with the children (for example, co-family sleeping, nudism, lack of toilet training, etc.). They said that they would understand if they had been accused of neglect or even abuse for those things they did, but not for breastfeeding.
  • You can see why this would not help. You don't want to give these people any more reason to blame you.
  • So, remember: don't tell them anything else about your parenting! Just get them to understand that extended breastfeeding is known to be good for a baby, and that's why you're doing it.
• Most importantly, contact La Leche League to get legal advice.
• Finally, don't forget: you are right and they are wrong. Extended breastfeeding is good for a child, both physiologically and psychologically. Hopefully, as more and more people choose to do what's best for their babies, the public will also become more aware of the benefits of extended breastfeeding, and this ridiculous worry will disappear.

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