A mum has admitted breastfeeding her 18-month-old son despite a health warning from doctors urging her to stop.

Summer Dawn Pointer "cried and cried" when she was told to quit breastfeeding son Knox after she developed severe inflamation.

But she insisted on feeding her son – and now does it with one breast even though she gets "weird looks" from strangers.

The 22-year-old, from Georgia, USA, gave birth in May 2017, but he struggled to latch onto her breasts and he had to use a nipple shield.

Five weeks later, she noticed a red knot on her right breast.

When she went to the doctor he told her it was mastitis, a condition which causes a woman’s breast tissue to become painful and inflamed.

Due to the timing of the diagnosis, the spot developed into a painful collection of pus, which meant that it needed to be surgically drained and Summer was urged to quit breastfeeding.

She refused to stop and insisted on taking prescribed antibiotics and until now she continues to breastfeed her 18-month-old son with just her left breast, despite enduring the pain from the swelling.

She continues to encourage other new mums to also breastfeed their babies.

"I fully planned to breastfeed and was determined to get through it. My son would not latch on in the beginning, so we used a nipple shield," Summer said.

"After about five weeks, I woke up to a painful, red, hot lump on my breast. I didn’t know what it was, so I called my OBGYN. I was scared I wouldn’t be able to nurse my son anymore.

"I went to the doctor and it was mastitis. He gave me antibiotics that failed to work so over the next six weeks I went to a breast surgeon to remove the abscess.

"She wanted me to quit breastfeeding, but I cried and cried and told her we had to try something else besides that.

"So, she gave me the strongest antibiotics I could get, and I took two scripts of it before she finally just lanced out the abscess.

"It affected how much milk I was producing, I couldn’t nurse my son off of the breast because it could have made the infection worse."

Summer said that despite the risks, she continues to breastfeed Knox eight to 10 times a day, even in public.

"I breastfeed anywhere, anytime. In the beginning I was a little nervous to just because it was hard latching him but after time it became easier. I’ve gotten plenty of weird looks," Summer said.

"My boyfriend’s family used to say he was too old but they know I’m not going to quit until he’s ready so they don’t comment anymore. My oldest sister and mum, Andre, are very supportive as well as my boyfriend.

"I plan to breastfeed Knox until he’s at least two years old or older if he decides to go longer than that. I will stop whenever he is ready to self-wean.

"Breast milk is better for him then cow’s milk and if other mums aren’t going to help wean him then it’s none of their business.

"I mostly get positive comments on Instagram, but I get a lot of people telling me I’m mean and that I mum-shame because I believe in the statement ‘breast is best’. I hope to encourage more mums especially new mums to breastfeed and stick to it."

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