Hostile Woman Threatening Mothers

[eastkygal]

There was some conversation about toxins in breastmilk and nursing a 17 month old. There is a woman in the group that immediately starts throwing out that it is child abuse, and she will do what she can to stop anyone breastfeeding over a year, and challenged them to prove in court that they have the right to breastfeed from ages 2-10. She threw out that she has clinical psychology credentials and relatives that are high powered attorneys in the country, etc... A few women had posted the WHO recommendations and their experiences with extended breastfeeding and I with child led weaning, but it only made her worse. Can someone really take someone to court for child abuse over extended breastfeeding? Really? I posted an article in support of it from AAP, but now I'm thinking I shouldn't have, and should just leave the group. I really dislike dealing with misinformed hostile people.

[GreenGranolaMama]

Originally Posted by eastkygal

Can someone really take someone to court for child abuse over extended breastfeeding? Really?

Mostly marking as I am interested in the answer if someone has one... I think I remember hearing about a case like this a while back and I am almost entirely certain they ruled in favor of the mother...

ETA: I'm also sure extended Bfing was only a part of it- not the basis

[JessicaS]

It sounds like she has made up her mind about it and no experts will change it. She obviously cannot prove anything because there is ZERO medical organization that backs what she has made up.

Sometimes people do tend to just decide things without any sort of actual knowledge or research. IMO it is best to avoid such individuals as a matter of safety.

She is just making stuff up and has nothing to back up her outrageous claims.

I don't know what she means "take someone to court" does she feel that she can enforce her own arbitrary rules against other parents??

[PatioGardener]

The AAFP suports full term breastfeeding:

NURSING BEYOND INFANCY
As recommended by the WHO, breastfeeding should ideally continue beyond infancy, but this is not the cultural norm in the United States and requires ongoing support and encouragement. It has been estimated that a natural weaning age for humans is between two and seven years. Family physicians should be knowledgeable regarding the ongoing benefits to the child of extended breastfeeding, including continued immune protection, better social adjustment, and having a sustainable food source in times of emergency. The longer women breastfeed, the greater the decrease in their risk of breast cancer.73 Mothers who have immigrated from cultures in which breastfeeding beyond infancy is routine should be encouraged to continue this tradition. There is no evidence that extended breastfeeding is harmful to mother or child. Breastfeeding during a subsequent pregnancy is not unusual. If the pregnancy is normal and the mother is healthy, breastfeeding during pregnancy is the woman's personal decision. If the child is younger than two years, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned. Breastfeeding the nursing child after delivery of the next child (tandem nursing) may help provide a smooth transition psychologically for the older child.

Bolding mine. References removed but available on the original - see link below.
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/p...tionpaper.html

[Rivka5]

You need to have some kind of standing to take a person to court. You can't just randomly take a stranger to court because you disapprove of the way they raise their kids. The most she could do - psychology credentials or not, high-powered attorney relatives or not - would be to report someone to the police or CPS in their area. And I'm sure they'd be all fired up to take on a complaint made by a total stranger who only knows about a family via internet postings.

[kriket]

I doubt anything that woman said was true. Everyone on parenting boards is a child development/psychologist/mother of 6 special needs gifted triplets.

[Emmeline II]

I'd say "and get back to us when you accomplish that; until then you are just talking out your ."

[Vancouver Mommy]

I think I would just start laughing and laughing and then after a couple of minutes look her in the eye and say "oh, you were SERIOUS?". And then laugh some more.

[LemonPie]

This was an online message board? Probably just someone trolling for drama. You'd all do best to just ignore her. Her comments make no sense. She'd have no legal standing to take a random stranger to court because she doesn't agree with their child-rearing choices, and if she was actually a clinical psychologist she'd KNOW that.

[dogmom327]

Originally Posted by Rivka5

You need to have some kind of standing to take a person to court. You can't just randomly take a stranger to court because you disapprove of the way they raise their kids.

My thoughts exactly. Clearly that person knows nothing about the basics of the legal system (or psychology or medicine for that matter).

[emmalizz]

.

[ramama]

Regarding the toxins in breastmilk, it's very unfortunate that those studies were done on breastfeeding women, but do people really think that cows breathe different air than us, or live on a different planet? They live in even worse conditions than people, so doesn't a cow's breastmilk also have toxins? This has always stumped me...

[JessicaS]

Originally Posted by ramama

Regarding the toxins in breastmilk, it's very unfortunate that those studies were done on breastfeeding women, but do people really think that cows breathe different air than us, or live on a different planet? They live in even worse conditions than people, so doesn't a cow's breastmilk also have toxins? This has always stumped me...

Well I haven't rolled around in my own feces but it isn't the weekend yet so who knows?






Yeah that was a joke

[anj_rn]

Before my babies I worked in the pediatric ICU in a level 1 trauma center. I was on a 1st name basis with several CPS workers, and have had to file several reports on patients. In order to file a report, you have to know the name of the child being abused and their address. You also have to state what abuse is occurring. I do not know a single CPS worker that would even look twice at a case like that.

As far as taking them to court, how exactly would she do that? Since she is not claiming to be a district attourney, she can not file criminal charges, what kind of civil suit would she file? I think she is either a little nuts, or just looking for drama.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I think if someone said something like that to me, I would whip my breast out and wave it at my three, yes THREE year old and let him nurse for a good long time. But I can be a bit snarky about things like that sometimes....

[eastkygal]

Really this took me so off guard. I have heard people say breastfeeding is gross, but I have never heard someone insinuate that it is child abuse! It just seems so absurd. So, with that in mind, I found an AAP article supporting "extended" breastfeeding. But, I'm wondering in general... have there been any studies done on the psychological effects for both mother and child? Are there any stated government agency recommendations? I mean this was off the charts hurtful. I'd just like to be better prepared for this if I encounter it again. I suppose with resources to point the person questioning to, hoping the conversation is more civil.

[proudmomof4]

[cschick]

Saw this from the main page . . .

On another online forum recently, I saw a woman ranting that CPS basically blew off a report like this . . . her neighbor's daughter is still nursing her 2-year-old, and both the grandmother (her neighbor) and she (the neighbor) tried to report the neighbor's daughter for still nursing the 2 year old. *sigh*

(My thought was: and there's a grandmother who's going to be ranting that she doesn't understand why her daughter has completely cut off communication in a few years . . . )

[AllyRae]

She sounds like a drama queen troll to me. I'd just ignore her. She's probably not even a real psychologist either. (And I have "psychology credentials" as well...meaning all but dissertation for my doctorate in counseling. And never once have I ever read or been taught in any of my psych courses, even in my courses on child abuse, that breastfeeding beyond 12 months = child abuse, so she's talking out the butt.)

I think her high powered lawyers would laugh her out of the country if she tried to pull that bs and waste their time. LOL!

[smpayne]

Originally Posted by eastkygal

Really this took me so off guard. I have heard people say breastfeeding is gross, but I have never heard someone insinuate that it is child abuse!

I have heard this argument, but it was usually from someone who was molested as a child or knew someone that was molested.

As for the original post, I agree that the women is crazy and has some serious hang ups and extended breasfeeding is probably only one of MANY.