One guy has been left confused after a visit to see his family for his brother’s birthday resulted in his girlfriend abruptly breaking up with him and leaving in the middle of the night. It seems his partner of two years caught the ick after stumbling across his mother’s ‘breastfeeding journal’ and seeing a photo of him being breastfed at 3 years old. When she later learned that he’d actually been fed all the way up to 5-years-old until her started school, she felt that it was a betrayal of her trust that he’d never told her before!

This is so fucking insane. Can’t believe I’m even making this post but my brother has basically begged me to.

Anyway, I was with my ex for over two years and it was my brothers birthday on Sat. She asked to come home with me to celebrate. While down here my mom, in pure mom fashion, brought out the baby pictures.

My mom was a camera obsessed mother. Like, I’m glad she didn’t have social media. She photographed everything.

She has a “breastfeeding book”. Basically just like a personal journal with the occasional photo detailing her breastfeeding journey.

My girlfriend found it and flicked to pne of the pages which was a photo my dad took of my mom nursing me & my brother (aged 3 & newborn). She got instantly uncomfortable and the rest of the evening was weird.

We went up to bed later on and she asked, very seriously, how old I was when she stopped breastfeeding me. I told her – I was five, right around the time I started school. I’d like to reiterate that I do not care and I don’t think it hurt me or whatever.

She looked like she was going to vomit. It would have been comical if I weren’t so concerned.

She started talking about trust and respect and asked why I didn’t tell her. I told her that I didn’t think it was important. She then said it was uncomfortable and made her feel like me and my mom would end up weird and codependent.

I told her she was being dramatic and to go to sleep. At like 3am she decided we were over and left. She can’t take the lack of communication or the “cult vibes”.

My mom apologised to her in a text the next morning and then my ex blocked her.

We have texted minimally but she just can’t get over how “gross” it is. I’m not sure how to feel atm but birthday boy wanted me on aita so here I am lol.

AITA?

Unsuprisingly, as with many debates concerning breastfeeding, the comments section was divided into those who thought extended breastfeeding was perfectly natural, and those who were, like his girlfriend, weirded out by it.

It’s pretty normal in other cultures. You only think it’s extremely weird because you were raised to think that way. I think it’s kinda weird too, but it’s pretty biologically normal to breastfeed until 6. It’s completely social construct that makes us think it’s weird. (tds3)

Wow, you are NTA. I used to think it was only “normal” to nurse until a year, max. Then I had kids of my own and the joke was on me. I nursed my oldest until right before she turned 3, and am slowly weaning my middle child who will be 4 in April. He knows when he is 4, he will be all done, because that is what works for me. We have made it almost 19 months tandem nursing with my youngest, another thing I never realized was something you could do or that so many people in the world did. People get so weird about breastfeeding but the WHO now recommends nursing to a minimum of age 2 and beyond if possible, and while nursing to age 5 is on the longer end, it’s not weird or gross. It’s just a parent feeding their child. (WriterMama7)

WHO recommends breastfeeding until at least 2. Between 2 and 4 is a typical weaning age worldwide. Western culture is just prudish and has a weird obsession with making babies “independent”. (Grouchy-Algae5815)

It’s normal for children to self wean between the ages of 5-7. It’s not gross. Hollywood has just sexualized boobs so much people forget they’re made for breastfeeding, not sex. (artfulcreatures)

Some people thought that the girlfriend was the weird one for thinking that it was unnatural, and making a big deal about his mother’s parenting style.

NTA Your ex made it weird, not you. I feel bad for your mum feeling like she needed to apologise for a decision she made when you were a small child. (luna_ideas)

Thank your mom! Bullet dodged with this one. What an absolute weirdo. NTA! (PassionFar5872)

Others couldn’t understand why she was taking it out on her partner, who was clearly a child and hadn’t had a say in when he was weaned.

NTA. Sure it’s a bit weird – but you didn’t choose it, and she’s the one flipping out.

I’m sure you didn’t mention it because you don’t think about it – which proves it isn’t something that impacted your life in any way before she made it into a big deal. (Major_Barnacle_2212)

However, others questioned why his mum would even bring out photos of her breastfeeding her toddler son to show his girlfriend.

NTA but oh my god WHY would your mom show her the BREASTFEEDING BOOK??? It’s like she wanted to weird your gf out on purpose???? 😭 I don’t blame your gf for being weirded out. (reagiechan)

I think this is the ‘creepy’ part for his girlfriend. Many people do extended breastfeeding, I’m not sure of the benefits (5 is quite old though). It’s the fact she made a book and documented it, it’s probably something she should have kept private.

We’re also missing some context how close are him and his mother. Maybe there was other signs and this was just the icing on the cake and it all just became too much. (steph14389)

Other commenters also questioned whether maybe it wasn’t solely the breastfeeding journal that freaked his girlfriend out.

NTA but honestly I would have run too.

It’s really not your fault that your mother didn’t stopped the breastfeeding. You were just a kid and liked getting nursed… Yet it’s a big no for me.

You may have a normal relationship with your mother but would you know? After all you thought it was normal to be breastfeed till school age. Your mom keeping a breastfeeding photo album and gladly showing it off is… Just another too weird for me.

Don’t get me wrong. I breastfeed my son too… But I didn’t keep a journal full of pictures of it. Let alone showed them off when the kid turned adulthood.

Your ex might get a lot of… Hints or feelings about you or your family.. Hints you’re missing or not seeing. I don’t know, but I would have run too. It’s just too weird.

Remember she doesn’t have to have a reason to break up. She’s feeling uncomfortable around you/your family for knowing this and that’s good enough for leaving.

Honestly. The whole thing is just odd enough to make me wonder what other clues the girlfriend saw there. And then pulling out the breastfeeding photo album to show her was… yeah. That’s weird.

It sucks for OP that girlfriend left him over it, but if she can’t cope with his family dynamics for any reason, then that’s her prerogative.

NTA for not telling her. Not really sure how that would have come up in conversation unless they were already discussing having children and how to raise them. (Background_Camp_7712)

I get the feeling this was the last straw in a long series of weird. There’s always a couple moments of “oh, that’s different”, and that’s fine. There’s a limit to how many of those a person/ family can have. Breastfed until 5 is odd, but whatever. An entire photo album dedicated to breastfeeding crossed into really fucking weird. Showing it off to others is the “nope I’m out” level. And that’s without knowing any of the other potential flags of “this is not the family I want to be involved with”. (MariContrary)

What do you think? Was the girlfriend right to feel uncomfortable, or is the whole thing irrelevant?