A British mum, Emma O’Donnell, has come under attack online for breastfeeding her two-year-old baby after she posted a now viral Tiktok video in which the toddler was attempting to lift her top to breastfeed.
The backlash against the Glasgow based Emma, who didn’t imagine that many would take issue with it, has raised a global debate on why this is still an issue.
It is curious that a post that was supposed to be jokey, going by the caption: “First rule of wean club: NEVER sit down!” chronicling the challenges of weaning toddlers off breastmilk, of which many many nursing mothers are familiar with, would generate this degree of cultural controversy.
But such is the world we live in, where – as a mum and a woman – you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
The comments that flooded the comment section of Emma’s post came from people who consider it an extreme offense that a two-year-old baby was still being breastfed.
One of the comments read: “He’s already got a job… he can buy his own drinks,” and another: “When does he leave for college?” asked another.
Some even suggested that it was unnatural. “Oh my god… Sick,” read one comment. “Don’t want to see this,” read another.
Emma, whose Ticktok and Instagram name is A Mother’s Tale expressed her bewilderment by saying “I was shocked when I woke up this morning. My jaw was literally on the floor,” in a video made to address the controversy.
“I cannot believe the hate I have woken up to. My son is just two years old and the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance suggests babies should continue breastfeeding for up to two years – and beyond.
“In fact, in some cultures, they’ll feed until they’re seven.
“I’ve been called disgusting, as well as being told I’m wrong and that i have serious issues.
I actually had somebody messaging me telling me I should be locked up,” she added.
But, why do nursing mothers face a lot of criticism in the sphere of breastfeeding and judged as being terrible when they wean their babies ‘too early’, or even worse if they don’t stop breastfeeding ‘in time’?
What do you really think is responsible for the bile associated with the practice of extended breastfeeding?
It’s no secret some women choose to wean earlier than they want because of negative comments from friends and family members.
According to a report by the Huffington Post, a study on this found many women chose to begin hiding the practice of breastfeeding when their child turned one-and-a-half to avoid negative remarks from family members and friends.
The study also found that nursing mothers were sometimes accused — even by other mothers — of continuing with breastfeeding for selfish reasons, such as, to lose weight, keep their bodies slim, keep their breasts big or even feel pleasure.
One mother interviewed for the study expressed disgust that her friend was breastfeeding a four-year-old child — a practice she considers perverted, and downrightly incestuous.
Nevertheless, breastfeeding past the age of one has health benefits for the child, according to medical studies and it is great for nursing mothers to have the choice to do so free from cultural bully.
Breastfeeding a toddler past the age of one provides them, of course, with valuable additional nutrients and antibodies, as well as a myriad of benefits for the nursing mother.
The benefits for the mother ranges from lowering breast and ovarian cancer risk to reducing the likelihood of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Emma O’Donnell, the mother at the centre of this cultural blacklash summed up her clap-back this way: “I’m sorry, but if you have issues with that video and you are sexualising the relationship between a mother and a two-year-old child… I’m not the one with the issues, love.”
