COMMENTS
I have breastfed all three of my children. My oldest son has copied me breastfeeding with his cabbage patch kid. I think it is great. I tell him that Mama's Breast are to feed babies. I think that the poster is great. Can't wait to see a world where breastfeeding is as normal as breathing!!
My boys pretend to nurse in their pretend play too, so it's not even just girls! ;-) I feel like it should be just as natural to pretend to nurse as it would be to use a ubiquitous toy bottle.
I totally agree. I would love pictures of boys breastfeeding. Yes, breastfeeding as normal and natural as breathing--now that's the world I want to live in.
My son has also breastfed his dolls. Shortly after his sister was born I found him dressed up like a ninja wearing a 'sling' and nursing his favorite bear. If I can find a copy of the picture I'll share it.
my daughter has often 'breastfed' all her dolls/soft toys. i think its lovely. im glad she's using me as a role model and that its in her genes. she is 4 in september and i still breastfeed her, shes never had a bottle and shes often said that when she has a baby she will breastfeed. its the most narural thing in the world. NOTHING WRONG WITH IT AT ALL ;-) x
I love it... I think they should be aware that it is normal to feed your child that way...both the boys and the girls need to understand it so that when they are parents it is the first choice they make for their newborn.
I have breastfed both of my older boys and I am currently still breastfeeding my 3 month old. While I have never seen one of my older boys mimic my breastfeeding I have seen my 1 year old niece do it. However she doesn't put her doll to her chest she tries to put in under her moms shirt. :) Very smart little girl. I think breastfeeding is the most natural thing in the world therefor I have never hidden it from my children.
...what a wonderful thing it would be to see more of in this world...it is a sad thing that to mimic something so natural would anger anyone...my daughter breastfed her dolls when she was younger and at 17 knows there will no other way to feed her future babies...
I think it's totally normal and, actually, endearing. I remember pretending to nurse my dolls as a child (my brother was born when I was five years old), and when my new baby is born I don't doubt that my older daughter will mimic me by nursing her baby doll while I nurse her baby sibling.
I also find this wonderful. I have no idea why so many find this "disgusting". Sigh. I can't wait to be a great role model of breastfeeding for my little ones. I love being a breastfeeding momma and I hope to teach my kids that it's a wonderful thing.
I have never yet seen my child mimic me he's 4 and knows very well what mommies breasts are for. I have however heard of my neice lifting up her shirt saying she wants to feed the baby. I agree that it is natural and to be honest have been shy about feeding in a public park simply because many children aren't aware of breastfeeding, my step son that is 3 had no idea what I was doing and we had to teach him that it was natural. I think the awareness has come no where near what it needs to!
I think it's wonderful. It must be hard and confusing for people who have not or were not breastfed to see it. Which is the point, to expose and educate!
Not only is violence ok, but over-sexualized images all over the place. The great pastime of little girls going to dancing school popped into my mind. At recital, the girls wear tiny show-girl outfits. I participated and remember learning to shake my hips when I was 4, that seems more disturbing than learning that breastfeeding is normal.
My 20 month old just did it for the first time about a week ago & I think its great, most baby dolls come with bottles, so the argument could go the other way.
I think that the poster is a great way to normalize and publisize the importance of breastfeeding. When my son was born, my 8 year old step-sister (who is 20 years younger than me) asked me what kind of milk my son drank. I explained that he drank breastmilk and she asked if it was soy and where it came from, so I nursed him in front of her and explained the importance of breastfeeding so that she will have a good foundation for later in life. I could not believe that she had never even heard of breastfeeding until then. How disappointing!
Well, they sell plastic bottles so children can bottle feed their dollies - what's the difference! The bf co-ordinator where I worked tried to get all playgroups to bin the plastic bottles in order to normalise bf which seemed a bit extreme. My dd bf's her dolls, but my ds has always brought them to me!
My son breastfed his teddy bears so lovingly when I was breastfeeding his younger brother! I would tell him daddys use bottles but he refused to hear any of it and continued to breastfeed his teddy bear. I found it touching.
My girls and nephews have all breastfed their stuffed animals and baby dolls. All of my girls still do 8,6, and 2. . It should be just as natural as thinking of giving them a bottle. And breastfeeding is the only purpose for breasts as far as my children are concerned.
When my son was around 2.5 years of age, he would nurse his stuffed animals because I still nursed him. His father would have a fit, despite the fact he was very supportive when his son was born.
Now that my son is 7 and watched me nurse his sister for over 3 years, he knows that is what breasts are for! Also, I work as a breastfeeding peer helper for WIC, so he will tell you that I "help women breastfeed" :)
I'm hopeful for his future wife because one of my co-worker's son's wives was against breastfeeding! Aaah, that would be hard to deal with...
One of my 3-year-old daughter's friends saw me nursing my baby (she couldn' see much) and asked "What's he doing?". I said "He's eating." She looked at me with a shocked look on her face and said "He's
eating your belly?". Knowing that her own mother is not that comfortable seeing me nurse, I resisted the urge to just "whip them out" and show her what's what instead of her imagining something so horrifying. I realize it's a delicate topic, for whatever reasons. As a nursing mother I do feel I am in a good position to contribute to the desinsitization of the image of a mother breastfeeding. My own daughter pretends to nurse her babies all of the time and I only hope that it continues to seem so "normal" to her and that she chooses to breastfeed her own children.
Hmmm....I firmly believe in the importance and beauty of breastfeeding, but I am not sure what my take is on this situation. As a teacher, I feel any type of "programming" children is a little questionable and should be handled delicately. My nieces and nephews see me breastfeed my son and ask all kinds of questions, and I think that is wonderful and educational. I think a poster of a woman breastfeeding an older child would be just as informative, and not "rock the boat." Sometimes you need to tread lightly with certain subjects and slowly introduce skeptics or the misinformed to a concept. I don't agree with that notion all the time, but the sad reality of the breastfeeding cause is that is we come in guns a blazing, we might do ourselves a disservice. This is just me, but I would much prefer to silently, peacefully, and unyieldingly nurse my son whenever and wherever he is hungry. There really is nothing more powerful than an unapologetic and determined mother, anyway. Let these little girls fight the fight when the time is right, and just play now however they want to. Buy a doll without a diaper and see how kids solve the feeding problem without a bottle...interesting...
My daughters "breastfeed" their dolls and my husband and I think it is so cute! I have a picture, how would I post it?
Check out my 2 daughters breastfeeding their "babies" I posted it on my blog.
http://second9months.wordpress.com
Breastfeeding is normal and our children imitate everything we do. Isn't it nice that they're imitating nurturing behavior!!
@ becky -im pretty sure teachers programme kids all day lonng by making them learn text book stuff, so why not program them to breastfeed :-)
My 4 yo boy was very disappointed when he asked "do i have food in my breasts?" and i had to tell him no. "Awwww" he said.
Of course my children nursed their dolls! I remember my oldest nursing Elmo, and my middle child nursing her baby doll. My youngest has offered "nuh-nuh" to his Buzz Lightyear doll! That poster shows normal play, which is a dying art.
For a while after we told my son that we were expecting a new baby, we talked quite a bit about babies for several days. One night he asked me if I would give the baby milk from my breasts (he knows he used to drink from them once upon a time) and I said I would. A few moments later he burst into tears, and when I asked him what was wrong he wailed "My boobies aren't big enough to feed the baby!" When I explained to him that only grown up ladies could feed babies milk, but that when she was big enough he could give her a bottle of milk. He stormed out of the room and shouted "That's not fair!" He's four, and I sort of love the fact that he was put out when I suggested he could use a bottle to feed his little sister. He'll grow up knowing the best way to feed a baby... now how to teach that to the new one without having more kids... hmmmm.... ;)
I 'breast fed' mu dolls when I was little :) It was pretty sweet - when I took ny natural child birth class I brought in that same doll to learn breast feeding positions! I really happy BF was such a normal thing around my house - it's been really fun with my daughter!
Ami,
What a lovely story. Thanks for sharing. I'm glad some people have experienced normal in their world of breastfeeding.
Debbie