An Australian mom of five is fighting back against critics who mocked and condemned her choice to breastfeed her sons at ages 4 and 7.
Lisa Bridger fired off “a letter to those of you who feel its OK to bully a stranger” in a piece posted this week to Australian parenting site Kidspot.
“To the adults who have commented that I am sick and need to get help, there is nothing mentally wrong with me, I am only doing what is natural,” she wrote.
Bridger was originally profiled on the site back in June, when she explained that breastfeeding her then 7- and 4-year-old sons, who are both on the autism spectrum, benefited their mood and health.
Speaking about the 7-year-old, she said: “Breastfeeding has prevented him having to go on to medication because it calms him down. It calms and grounds him and is a fantastic way to reconnect too. We tried melatonin but it didn’t work as I couldn’t get him to swallow it. He gets melatonin from my breast milk. I can shorten the meltdowns by feeding him. It is a great tool to help with autism.”
Bridger has apparently gotten a lot of flak since her story was published last summer. She claimed she has even been accused of being a pedophile in her new letter.
“It’s not a sexual act…which is what quite a few have suggested,” she wrote.
“My son is very independent, self-assured, none damaged,” Bridger added. “His friends and peers don’t tease as they have been educated in the fact that what he is doing is ok. Watching and seeing all you adults bully and abuse me, telling me what I need to do for your comfort, overriding my child’s comfort, I can see why so many children bully these days.”
Here in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that infants be exclusively breastfed for about the first 6 months with continued breastfeeding along with introducing appropriate complementary foods for a year or longer. “The longer an infant is breastfed, the greater the protection from certain illnesses and long-term diseases,” according to the CDC. “The more months or years a woman breastfeeds, the greater the benefits to her health as well.”
