Mother branded 'pedophile' for breastfeeding her 3-year-old son on shop floor during anxiety attack
A mother who reportedly breastfed her three-year-old son in the middle of a shopping aisle has shot back at critics who branded her a "pedophile" and suggested she "kill herself."
Sarah Mills was already dreading a back-to-school shopping trip for her children and reportedly had an anxiety attack at the shop. She began breastfeeding her son as she wanted to take a moment, sit still, and get herself together amid the stress, news.com.au reports.
The 33-year-old Australian and her son Morrison are seen in a photo sitting on the floor of a Target store. As the photo went viral, some parents slammed the embattled mother for breastfeeding her three-year-old, who they thought was "too old" for it.
Mills has now pushed back against her critics, asserting in a new blog post that breastfeeding children was better than giving them takeaway food, pharmaceuticals, or even dairy milk from a cow.
"My whole existence is my children. I would give my life to ensure they are safe and cared for," the Mid North Coast, New South Wales native wrote. "How sick and disturbing to attack a woman for doing the most selfless and natural thing on this earth."
"How backwards we have become in the year 2020. Parents can load their children up with McDonald’s, pharmaceuticals, over the counter meds, dairy milk laden with cow pus, sugary soft drinks that could rot a hole through a brick wall," she continued. "But a woman nurturing and comforting her child is child abuse?"
"What’s most disturbing is that most of the shaming and abuse are coming from within our own sisterhood! Whatever happened to women supporting women?" Mills added. "How on earth can we as women demand respect from men when we aren’t even respecting each other? You can’t claim girl power but only for things that align with your views."
Aside from Morrison, Sarah was also accompanied by her son Hendrix, 10, and seven-year-old daughter Monroe — who began fighting with each other. She became overwhelmed when the three-year-old Morrison started behaving like a "typical threenager."
“I needed to take a moment,” she said. “I knew all three children weren’t about to stop what they were doing and put everything back so mama could go and ground herself.”
“So, in the middle of Target, I sat on the floor. I am too deep into single parenting to care about what others might think and only do what is ‘socially acceptable’," Mills explained.
Morrison became hungry at that point, and so Mills decided to breastfeed him in the middle of the department store. Meanwhile, her daughter took a photo of the pair as they sat on the floor surrounded by clothes.
“Morrison came to sit with me asking for a drink, relieved he’d be sitting still for a minute I happily obliged,” she said. “Monroe amused herself looking at sandals and Hendrix sat trying on a pair of shoes he wanted. So, I sat, I counted, I took some breaths and I centered myself.”
According to Mills, the quiet moment helped calm her and her family. However, a passing shopper allegedly gave her a look of disgust.
“I had a woman look at me in disgust, I don’t know if it’s because I was on the ground, because I was breastfeeding in public, or because I was feeding a giant toddler," she recalled. “But at that moment, nothing could bother me. For my sanity, I needed that moment.”
After 15 minutes, Mills got up and continued shopping — albeit feeling a "little rattled."
The mother-of-three is now hoping to inspire those who are struggling to accept that life is full of "imperfect moments."
“Sometimes, no matter where we are, we just need to stop, forget what others are thinking and do whatever it takes to get us through that moment,” Mills said. “It’s okay to not always keep it together, it’s okay to need a moment, it’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to sit down before you reach the point where you can’t breathe."
“You’re not broken. You’re human. It’s okay to feel," she added.