Kingsley: Breastfeeding Law

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Mother shall give suck to their offspring for two complete years…(2:233)

So says the Quran. And so says UAE law which requires mothers to breastfeed for first two years of their baby’s life. The law aims to make breastfeeding “a duty and not an option” for able mothers. This is part of raising a child, and as of February 2014, breastfeeding will be mandatory.

In a similar verse Allah says: “His mother carried him with hardship, and gave birth to him in hardship. And the carrying of the child to his weaning is a period of thirty months” (46:15).

So according to the Quran, it is considered a child’s right to be breastfed until the age of two. This is a general guideline as the baby may be weaned before or after that time by mutual consent of the parents. Should the parents divorce before the weaning of their child is complete, the father is obligated to make special maintenance payments to his nursing ex-wife.

Exclusively breastfed all the way to Kingsley's sixth month

Exclusively breastfed all the way to Kingsley’s sixth month

As for us, well we’re on track to breastfeed King up until he turns one (dunno about two entire years at it). Tomorrow our son is 6 months of age and all he has taken in is breast milk. That in itself is an achievement considering the awful, painful time I had of breastfeeding him during his first two months. Two years at the breast? We’ll see. Just hope the Dubai Moral Police don’t stop and interrogate Kingsley. He may spill the beans…

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