(ABCNEWS.com)
Paul said her decision to continue breast-feeding is in her children's best interest.
"I've never done it for my own reasons. Yes, there are some wonderful benefits for moms, but I consider them bonuses," she said. "I've never done it for myself, unless you consider having a wonderful relationship with my kids, you know, as being something selfish to do for myself. ... But I don't think that is. It's always been for them."
Paul's older children -- Morgan, 12, and Siobhan, 9 -- were each breast-fed until age 6, and they appear to be well-adjusted and happy. They're good students, have plenty of friends and were eager to reminisce about the "good old" days of breast-feeding.
Morgan remembers saying, "Can I pleeeease…" and her mom saying, "OK. Fine."
Paul said she's heard other parents complain about how distant their children are, especially the boys.
"They come home from school and you ask how their day was and all you get is a 'fine' as they walk back to their room and slam the door shut. ... They can't talk to them about anything," she said.
But she said her children are different.
"They're very loving, very close children. I can still talk to my older son and have long, lengthy conversations cuddled up on the couch with him. He will on his own accord, if we're watching a movie, come and sit down next to me and rest his head on my shoulder, put his arm over my shoulder, come talk to me about whatever's bothering him at school," she said.
"I really feel that there is an extra bonding or attachment there that I would like to think that because he nursed until he was 6, that there was some more closeness there ... that you get when you're able to have him in your arms for a longer period of time," she said. "My daughter's the same way. Very much so."
When Siobhan sees Tiernan with their mother, she said, she wishes she could still do it sometimes.
"But I'm getting older and I'm just happy to see them doing it," she said.
But it's not just Paul's older children who say it is all right that Tiernan still breast-feeds. Her husband said it's no problem, too.
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