A mother who still breastfeeds her three-year-old daughter claims she will keep going until her child decides it is time to stop.
Sarah Everett, 32, of Colchester, Essex, is an advocate of what's known as natural term breastfeeding – where the child chooses when it is time to wean.
Her daughter April, who turns four in a few weeks, continues to breastfeed but is already 'winding down' and will now only ask at night.
Sarah claims it has brought them closer and helped to build up her daughter's immune system.
Ms Everett said: 'For the past year or so, she's only fed at bedtime and it's been gradually winding down.
'Now, she'll do it for about five to seven minutes, like she's having a little drink.
'It's a comfort for her, and she especially does it if she's very tired or poorly. She says the milk "tastes like mummy" which is very sweet.'
Ms Everett, who is also mother to Archie, eight, and Luke, six, said she felt under pressure to stop breastfeeding with her first child.
She said: 'With Archie, I didn't even realise I had an option. I weaned at a year because I thought that's what mums are supposed to do.
'I never thought I'd be going this long, but I'm so pleased I am. I think other mums would like to, but perhaps feel they can't, so I want to speak out to show them there is that option there, should they want it.'
Photographer Sarah, who is married to web developer Steve, 33, knew she wanted to breastfeed and gave herself an initial target of three months with Archie.
She continued: 'We did have some issues with sore nipples and struggling to latch on. At points, I wanted to quit but Steve spurred me on because he knew it was important to me.'
But, when Archie turned one – and Sarah was three months pregnant with his brother Luke – she decided to stop, having convinced herself it was the 'right' thing to do after reading parenting books and blogs.
She added: 'I regret that now. You have it so drummed into you though, that one is this big cut-off point for breastfeeding.'
With Luke, however, things were entirely different and, as he was an easier feeder, Sarah decided to go for as long as she could, rather than impose limits.
Eventually, he decided to wean himself at two years, three months old.
When April arrived Sarah knew she wanted to try and reach the two-year mark, just as she had with Luke.
Sarah also believes that there are health benefits to breastfeeding past the one year mark.
She remarked how April is rarely ill, even remaining the picture of health while the rest of the family were struck with a sickness bug.
On another occasion, whilst suffering from terrible gastroenteritis the only thing Luke could keep down was his mum's milk, without which he'd have been on a drip.
Sarah hopes she can dispel some of the myths around later stage breastfeeding.
She continued: 'People think that this is how I feed her all the time, but she eats solid food too. She eats for England, in fact.
'There's also this stereotype that it'd make her some fussy, clingy child but she isn't. She's very independent and confident.
'This taboo around breastfeeding makes it feel like it's a secret without meaning to be – when really, it should be normalised.
'For me, it's my greatest parenting tool. It helps to calm the kids down, send them to sleep and comfort them. I will really miss it, but I can feel that we don't have long left.
'April says things like my milk feels empty, like it's drying up. It's sad when I've been doing it so long but it feels like time to let go.'
Sarah said her husband, Steve, fully backs her and also believes natural term weaning should be the norm.
Now, in a bid to empower other mums and hit back against the stigma surrounding breastfeeding older children, she is set to launch a photography series called Nourish Me.
Her Instagram already full of snaps of her nursing her own daughter and she plans to show other women feeding their children.
While she is aware being so candid may open her up to criticism, she hopes she will also help reassure other mothers.
'The Instagram is my way of saying – "Here I am, this is what I do," she said. 'There is, for whatever reason, some negative views about later stage breastfeeding but I've found it's a massive comfort for my children and has created feelings of closeness as we snuggle up together.
'You don't tend to see older kids being breastfed as much in public, but there's certainly no reason why they shouldn't. In my case, it's just that April only really asks to be fed at bedtime.
'Mums should also support other mums as we're all doing what's right for us. We're taught as children that, if we have nothing nice to say, not to say anything at all.
'It doesn't bother me if someone stops feeding, so it shouldn't bother someone else that I've carried on. We should feel empowered to be able to ignore pressure and remember it's our choice.'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
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