The separation or divorce of the parents is a circumstance that may occur while the child is still breastfeeding. There are many interests that are at stake, but above all of them the right of the child to be breastfed should take precedence. Therefore it is necessary protect breastfeeding in case of separation from parents.
The Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Pediatric Association has just published a great document on the subject, based on scientific evidence, and prioritizing the right of the child to receive the love, warmth and breast of his mother. This does not mean that he is deprived of his father's affection and contact, at all, but rather to reach agreements that ensure the needs of the son.
Do not put limits on breastfeeding
The separation of the parents should not be a reason to stop breastfeeding If mother and son want to continue with her. The WHO recommends six months of exclusive breastfeeding and from there continue with complementary feeding at least until two years.
But breastfeeding can also last beyond two years. There are children who are breastfed until three, four or five years. Even more.
The law speaks of "breastfeeding period", but does not specify how long that period lasts, which can be very variable, from months to years. A judge can avail himself of the easiest thing, which is to adopt the labor idea of the lactation permit that usually lasts nine months. But what happens if breastfeeding wants to last longer? Should we deprive the baby of his mother's chest because a judge so decides?
That it is not a judge who decides
When parents decide not to continue their life together, it should not be a judge who decides what is best for their children. The ideal, although often difficult to achieve, is that both decide by mutual agreement what the new life will be based on the needs of the little ones.
When that mutual agreement does not exist, decisions are left to a judge. A person who will do what he considers most equitable, no doubt, but who does not know firsthand the way we raise our children. Although you can gather information, you are not at home to know what you like, what you don't, how we do it and how we stop doing it.
There is not no one more qualified than the parents themselves They know and love their children to decide what is best for their well-being.
If a child is being breastfed, regardless of age, breastfeeding cannot be interrupted for vacations, or for weekends, or even for a day. Neither by the mother who can suffer health consequences as mastitis, breast engorgement or affect milk production, nor by the child, who will suffer emotional consequences.
Therefore, we must make more flexible schedules and habits to negotiate a regime with equivalent but shorter periods, two or three hours, in the morning and in the afternoon, or both.
Being breastfed is a child's right
One might mistakenly think that breastfeeding a child is a manipulation maneuver for the mother to hold him by her side. But above the selfish interests of parents, both the mother who can do it and the father who can think it, is the unavoidable right of the child to receive his mother's breast for as long as he wishes to do so.
I sincerely recommend you to read the document just published by the Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Pediatric Association because it can help you a lot if you are going through a separation process and your child is still breastfeeding.
With common sense and always thinking about the child's well-being, you can protect breastfeeding in case of separation from parents without affecting the emotional bond with the mother or the father.
