A fed-up father has taken to social media to ask for his advice over a disagreement he is having with his ex-wife and mother of his child.
In a world where parenting decisions are often scrutinized and debated, one dad has found himself grappling with a situation that challenges societal norms and personal boundaries. As his ex-wife continues to breastfeed their 7-year-old daughter, he wants to know if there's anything he can - or should - do it tackle the situation.
"My ex and I have separated when our daughter was months old," the father writes on Reddit's Parenting forum. "I started bringing up this issue when she was still breastfeeding at age 2."
Initially, the father approached the situation with humor, joking about how breastfeeding should ideally cease by high school and even "dropped some Game of Thrones references here and there." However, as their daughter grew older, the father's concerns deepened, leading to frustration and a sense of urgency to address the issue.
Despite acknowledging his ex-wife's intelligence and caring nature, the father says he has been left troubled by what he perceives as a bizarre attachment problem. "I am beyond jokes now," he admits. "I think she's just damaged emotionally on some level, which is the root cause of this bizarre attachment problem."
He explains that after having several discussions over the issue with his ex-wife, she keeps saying that "she's working on it" and will stop when their daughter "is ready to stop".
The exacerbated father then shined another issue he is battling, writing: "Part of the issue is she won't sleep over at my place because she is used to always sleeping with mommy and more than occasionally breastfeeding still."
After describing the situation as being "wrong on so many levels", the father said he is contemplating taking legal action and asking "a judge to force her to stop".
"Someone help," he concludes his post.
As of this writing, the dad's post has amassed over 900 comments from social media users attempting to help him find a resolution.
One person responded asking the father to focus on the staying overnight issue, rather than the breastfeeding: "Instead of approaching the court issue about trying to stop the breastfeeding, what about having a custody arrangement where your daughter stays overnight."
Another added: "I agree, maybe even have her stay longer, it might help with getting her to stop breastfeeding."
"Yes. My two year old daughter still breastfeeds a bit but she can get to sleep without me no problem, being 7 and still on the breast and needing it to sleep strikes me as an issue. I'm all for extended breastfeeding but to be quite honest seven seems too old," one parent replied.
One Reddit user interjected: "Breastfeeding at 7 certainly isn't for everyone and wouldn't be my personal preference, but it's not harmful, is far more common that you'd think but is done in secret because of the negative stigma, and pretty much only seems weird to us because we in western cultures have pushed a very early weaning of age 2 or even younger."
Others also argued that there are many cultures around the world where children breastfeed to a much older age than what is often seen in the US.
The World Health Organization recommends: "From the age of 6 months, children should begin eating safe and adequate complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed for up to two years of age or beyond."
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
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