Husband says wife should stop breastfeeding so she can lose weight

Sorry, what?

A woman has admitted that her husband suggested she stop breastfeeding so she can lose weight. Writing on Breastfeeders in Australia, an online forum, the anonymous mum explained that he wanted her to get her pre-baby body back. She also said that he makes fun of their baby son for wanting to feed and asked for advice on what she should do.

"My husband wants me to stop breastfeeding my son," she wrote. "We have daughters together, but he makes fun of my son when he cries for me, and says things like “he’s such a girl”.  "My husband also thinks I should stop breastfeeding because he says it’s stopping me from losing weight.  "He isn’t open to the idea of talking to a professional about this.  Has anyone got any advice on dealing with an unsupportive husband?”

Unsurprisingly, the post attracted a lot of anger from other mums and was eventually deleted, as the woman found many of the comments upsetting and unhelpful. The forum published advice from one commenter, a woman with a background in social work, forensic mental health and psychotherapy. She suggested that the woman's husband was unsure of his role in the new family and that he could be jealous of the bond that his wife and the new baby have. With regards to his comments about her weight, she wrote that he might have actually been trying to be helpful.

"If you yourself have mentioned weight loss in the past, then this might be a way of him trying to persuade you in a positive supportive light (although it might not come across that way). "Or if you have brought it up in a negative light, again his way of trying to somewhat emotionally provoke you to stop. He may think that if you stop breastfeeding, he can be with you and have possible a more confident role in both his relationship as a father and partner."

Do you think that advice is fair? How would you react if a partner spoke to you like this? Join the conversation in the Facebook comments or on Twitter.