A judge was yesterday due to hear a case involving a six-year-old boy who was removed from his mother's care because she was still breast-feeding him when he was five.

Social worker in Illinois in the US took the child into care in July after a baby sitter called a child-abuse hot-line.

Investigators said the boy told them he no longer wanted to breast-feed, but the mother, 32, said her son never indicated that he wanted to stop. She denied any allegations of abuse.

"The fundamental issue on this is that the child did not want to do it, and I think that's one of the key reasons this is a problem," said child agency spokesman Jess McDonald.

The agency also contended the woman, who has not been named, shared a bed with her son. The mother said there is not enough space for the boy to have his own room.

It is rare, although not unheard of for children to be breast-fed at such an age. A recent study in Texas showed that of 1,280 breast-fed children, 375 were still being breast-fed at age four, 212 at age five and 67 at age six.