Mayim Bialik has officially stopped breastfeeding her 4-year-old son.
The Big Bang Theory star was the subject of much criticism due to her advocacy of “attachment parenting” and the decision to continue to breastfeed her son past the recommended 12-month period .
The 37-year-old broke the news in a blog post for Kveller , a Jewish parenting website . In it, she wrote that her son, Fred, had “finally weaned.” She said Fred, whom she nursed four to six times a night for three years until Thanksgiving 2011. One year later, Fred was weaned — which she says she “initiated reluctantly” — but that it wasn’t her decision. After he was night-weaned, Fred would go days without nursing and she wouldn’t offer or refuse breastfeeding. The requests slowed down until they stopped altogether.
Bialik said about her son’s weaning, “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss being able to latch him on and make it all better” when he needs comfort.
“We have other ways to soothe Fred now. When he’s very very upset or very very hurt, we lay on the couch where he nursed countless mornings, afternoons, and evenings, and we rock and I sing to him his favorite lullabies,” she continued. “And he holds me tight, and I hold him tight, and I know that there was never ever ever anything wrong with nursing Fred.”
Bialik said she knew her decision was controversial, but she didn’t let the looks and nasty comments stop her from providing what she felt was best for her son. She addressed the end of her post directly to Fred.
“I may not have milk to give you, but I have a heart forever etched with your name, your face, your eyes, your impossibly stunning tapered lashes that hold the tears only you can cry,” she said. “Thank you, Fred, for being my nursling.”
Do you think Mayim Bialik waited too long to stop breastfeeding her son?
[Photo credit: Helga Esteb/Shutterstock.com]