The British woman considers it normal to breastfeed her five-year-old son and refuse medications

Adele and Matt Allen believe in a completely natural approach to parenting. So much so that they have abandoned modern medicine, traditional school education and support long-term breastfeeding. 32-year-old Adele and 33—year—old Matt from Brighton call their method of education "education without amenities", and their children - five-year-old Ulysses and one-year-old Ostara - still eat breast milk, have never been to a doctor and do not go to regular educational institutions.

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Source: Daily Mail

When Adele, who is a writer by profession, became pregnant with her son, the dubious approach that the couple practices seemed absolutely natural to them. "'Without amenities' means moving towards self—sufficiency and being in slightly more natural conditions and less institutionalized," the woman explains. "We did collect a lot of information, but initially it was just a hunch," says Matt.

Adele gave birth to both children independently and without medical intervention: only her husband was there. She says: "The idea of giving birth in a hospital just didn't appeal to me for many reasons, mainly because of the observer effect. In addition, interventions, I think, can be gently imposed when you are in a very vulnerable state."

Adele and Matt also decided that they would practice "lotus childbirth", that is, not surgically cut off the placenta and umbilical cord during childbirth. Instead, Adele carried the placenta with her in a cooling bag, sprinkling it with salt and rose petals to hide the smell until it fell off by itself.

"In both cases, it took six days for the umbilical cord to fall off naturally," says Adele. — It is wrapped and kept clean, then it falls off and a perfect navel remains. As far as I know, it is completely safe, and in our case it worked perfectly. I am not aware of any case where something went wrong. I am very sensitive to the postpartum period and during the first week I did not leave the house at all. Therefore, it was only necessary to carry it with you to the toilet or to the kitchen."

Adele fully supports breastfeeding to the end, and her five-year-old son is still regularly applied to the breast. "Ulysses still eats breast milk from time to time. Since the baby was born, the amount of milk has decreased. We had to come to a mutual agreement and reduce the number of feedings a little, but I didn't want to stop feeding him at all. I think it's up to him to decide when he wants to give it up. It's as natural a thing as hugging, it's a connection," the mother says.

Apart from a trip to the hospital with Ulysses, who had an asthma attack, the Allen children have never met with doctors and are not vaccinated. Adele says: "I don't think there's any other need to keep them healthy other than breastfeeding. I don't see the need to inject any foreign substance directly into the bloodstream. Children should come into contact with germs naturally, through the mouth or in some other way."

Not trusting modern medicine, Adele prefers to treat her children's ailments with natural remedies, squeezing breast milk into their eyes to treat eye infections, and giving them lemon juice when they catch a cold. "If you use plants and herbs, you can fight the bad without killing the beneficial bacteria at the same time. If I had something serious like cancer, I would definitely be treated with natural remedies. I fully believe in it and have tried these methods enough to understand that it works. Children's health is just as important as mine, if not more, so I will choose what I believe in, and for me these are natural ways," the mother explains.

Adele and Matt also believe in natural parenting methods, such as sleeping together. The four of them sleep in the same room. Adele says: "It works pretty well for us. Usually we put the baby to bed first. Uli mostly chooses the time when he goes to bed, but since we don't have to go to school in the morning, he can wake up whenever he wants."

Ostara and Ulysses do not go to regular educational institutions and instead spend their days in nature studying plants. "We spend a lot of time in nature. It is much more important for children to interact with animals and plants and learn about the environment than to have large sets of plastic toys. Ostara really likes to play with woodlice and in the mud. There is a large lawn with grass in the park, and she likes to find and eat mint leaves. Already at such a young age, she thinks about what she can take from nature and eat," says Adele.

Parents agree that reading and spelling are vital skills, but they don't want to force their children to learn. Five-year-old Ulysses knows only basic letters and numbers. Adele says, "I don't have a problem with that. There is no need for him to be able to read and write at this age." Instead, Adele and Matt say, children are interested in letters when they meet them on the street. "They see letters on manholes and numbers on road signs, and learning happens by itself, and is not planted in the classroom, which is not very inspiring."

The family is not worried that non-traditional methods of education will negatively affect children in the future. Adele explains: "I think home-schooled children become very successful entrepreneurs because they were taught that they want to build their own business, and not become someone's slaves."

Despite the fact that most of the time the children spend outside, Adele and Matt do not cover them with sunscreen from head to toe, as other parents often do. "We don't use sunscreen. We don't smear children with it at all. We don't believe it protects against cancer," says Adele.

The woman runs a popular blog about natural parenting, and despite the negative comments, she and Matt are sure that they would not raise their children differently. Matt says: "The fact that we do it completely differently has been an amazing lesson for all of us. I have such an amazing connection with both children, and they know that we are not just mom and dad, and this is a much deeper connection."

Now the family is saving up to move to Costa Rica and lead an environmentally friendly life. Adele explains: "Our ultimate goal is to switch to self—sufficiency. We are looking at Central America, where we will be able to get a large plot of land and grow food in order to have space for freedom and access to wildlife in its natural state."