My baby is younger than my granddaughter – I might be her nan but I breastfed them both
A NAN has revealed how she breastfed her grandchildren along with her own child.
Jane McNeice, 47, became a grandmother in her 30s when her daughter, Laura, now 27, got pregnant at 15.
But the family dynamic became even stranger when Jane got pregnant two years after her daughter, making her own son two years younger than her grandchild.
Oliver, now 9 years old and his niece 11-year-old niece Evie, grew up together.
Bizarrely enough, Jane and Laura found themselves pregnant at the same time a few years later, welcoming Jane’s next son, Ben, and Laura’s daughter, Bella — both now 7 — into the family.
Because of the small age gap, Jane ended up breastfeeding her grandkids as well as her own children.
“At one point, Laura and I were pregnant together. I was heavily pregnant. She was newly pregnant,” Jane added.
She told Caters News Agency: “I think that’s quite extreme and that won’t feel comfortable for everyone.
“There will be some people who think that is amazing and a complete privilege. And there will be other people who are making sicky noises at that.”
Jane now has three children, while her daughter Laura has four.
Despite getting pregnant at 15, Laura had planned her pregnancy leaving Jane “absolutely devastated.”
She added: “It was quite a shock
“We had unusual circumstances as Laura was planned even though I had her [at 18-years-old].
“But what we learned later was that Laura’s pregnancy was also planned.
“What we have found out in the last couple of years is reasons why we might have chosen motherhood quite early on.
“We are both autistic.”
The author from Doncaster, South Yorks added she has spent “pretty much her whole life” trying to work out “what felt wrong” before a Facebook post triggered some answers.
She explained: “I was scrolling through the page on Saturday morning and I just came across the post titled Girls With Autism with symptoms listed around.
“And I literally just went, ‘tick, tick, tick.’
“I knew straight away.”
Jane was then formally assessed but had to wait a year to be diagnosed.
By this point, Laura, now a mum-of-four, had also began to suspect that she had autism.
She was diagnosed at aged 26, and Oliver too received a diagnosis a few months later.
Jane shared that although she was initially unhappy about Laura’s teenage pregnancy, she realised over time that it was meant to be.
The nan said: “I bought into the neurotypical ideals – that your child does well, they go off to university, and they get a great job.
“They get married, they have to 2.4 for children, a nice house, a nice car.
“Now that we know we’re autistic, we’re able to say what is normal for us.
“It’s a different standard to what is normal for a neurotypical family.”