I BREASTFED MY FIVE-YEAR-OLDS

For Jacqui Edwards, 55, breastfeeding her children was the most natural thing possible. So why should she stop?

- RACHEL TOMPKINS, KATE SKELTON

Propped up in bed my little one nestled in close and latched on quickly. As he suckled away on my milk for his bedtime feed I listened to the sound of his rhythmic sucking and felt relaxed and content. Before I knew it his eyes had closed and he had fallen peacefully asleep.

Like many mums, breastfeeding my son Luke before bed was part of our nighttime routine. The difference was that my son wasn't a newborn baby who needed milk to grow, he was a five-year-old with a head of hair, a full set of teeth and speech good enough to ask for milk himself!

I began breastfeeding when I had my first son, Corey, in June 1997 when I was 27. As soon as he arrived and was placed on my chest, he latched onto my breast and it just felt so natural. He took to it well, and although my boobs got sore in the early days, and my nipples cracked, it got easier as the months passed. I was a single mum living at my mum, Eileen's, and although the night feeds were exhausting, I loved bonding with my baby. But as natural as I found it, not everyone was so accepting.

When Corey was just a few months old I was on a plane to Spain to visit a friend. As the plane took off, Corey started to cry. 'It's OK,' I said, shushing him as I picked him up and discreetly lifted my top. He stopped crying instantly but then I caught sight of the middle-aged man sat next to me, frowning and muttering under his breath in disgust. Resisting the urge to say something, inside I was furious. How could anyone find something as natural as feeding a child disgusting?