A mother from Virginia has been ordered by a judge to stop breastfeeding her 6-month-old daughter and instead, she must feed her with a bottle to compromise in a custody arrangement with the father, reports the New York Post.

According to the Washington Post, Arleta Ramirez breastfed her daughter since her birth in July and also breastfed her son until he was 2 years old. However, after she and her former husband, Mike Ridgway, called it quits, Ridgway began to complain claiming that the breastfeeding interfered with the time he spent with the kids. 

A judge in Prince William County wrote,

“Mother is to make every effort to place the child on a feeding schedule and use a bottle,”

which was written in an order that says the father is allowed to visit the kids four days per week and overnight visits began in Feb. 

The father complained that his daughter’s eating schedule conflicted with his visits yet the mother agreed with the notion by experts that says

“breast is best.”

Reports also added that Ramirez previously has issues pumping milk. The mother claimed that their daughter doesn’t like bottles and reports added that Ramirez is gathering evidence for their upcoming hearing from breastfeeding experts as well as a letter from her pediatrician detailing that the baby girl is only breastfed. 

The mother told the Washington Post,

“Why are they forcing me to stop breastfeeding?… Isn’t that right? Isn’t that in her best interest?”

While the father told the news outlet, that he gave his ex-wife

“space to both nurses and to pump milk for me to bottle-feed our daughter while she is in my care.”

“Past the age of 6 months I will continue to support breastfeeding and bottle-feeding our daughter breast milk as much as possible, while also supplementing with formula only when absolutely necessary,”

he went on to say. 

#Clique, what are your thoughts?