Mum plans to continue to breastfeed daughter aged 6: KNBP’s response

Tuesday, August 4th, 2015

Mother-of-three Maha Al Musa, aged 52, was pictured in May breastfeeding her 6 year old daughter in the park. Ms Al Musa stated she would breastfeed her child in the school playground if her daughter asked. She was later called a ‘paedophile’.

KNBP have decided to comment on Ms Al Musa’s actions. A key question to ask is, who’s needs are being met? Is this an attachment issue that the child may hold or the parent? KNBP believe it is highly important that a child, to a certain extent, should separate from their parents in order to become more independent and emotionally stable. Ms Al Musa explains, that she enjoys the bonding time with her daughter and says it keeps her vital. This statement alone immediately indicates it is meeting her needs as she wants to be kept important. It seems as though Ms Al Musa is not taking her daughter’s emotions/development into consideration. Her daughter may form insecure attachments, the mother is therefore creating dependency issues.

Moreover, Ms Al Musa’s daughter Aminah may have to endure verbal abuse or bullying as she gets older and enters higher years at school. Breastfeeding a 6 year old is not seen as ‘normal’ therefore, this may jeopardise her school life and building friendships with other class-mates. Aminah describes breastfeeding as ‘my favourite thing to do when I’m not at school. More kids should because it’s good for you.’ Who has told Aminah it is good for her? Has her mother influenced Aminah’s decisions to continue to be breast fed?

While we understand the nutritional benefits to the child, it is also important to identify other issues such as emotional issues. If she is bullied by peers, this may impact on the difficulty of maintaining stable relationships later in life. A child’s development is key and if it is interrupted this can have a detrimental affect on the child. Ms Al Musa’s argument is that her child should decide to naturally stop being breast fed. However, sometimes children need to be told and understand that some things in life have to stop as it will only benefit them in the future.

Source: Daily Mail