COMMENTS
Still cant see why people would give there kids stale, gone off junk food (formula) ova something thats benefits you and your baby so much, because I feel in a minority breastfeeding I do not ever feed in public nor do I ever use a dummy, if my baby crys while out people look at me like i'm doing something wrong yet if I were to feed her in public that would be wrong too?? I do find it ties me down a little and I find my self thinking have I enough time to go out in between feeds but i know its the best thing and i wouldnt have it any other way its not forever its for the first 14 months so why do people find it such a chore??
I received an email notice recently about THE BUSINESS CASE FOR BREASTFEEDING, which is a legitimate program sponsored by the HRSA. However, there is a program sponsored by Corporate Voices for Working Families. It looks the same because it gives a link to HRSA but this program has financial support from Abbot Nutritionals! Pretty tricky, eh?
I found breastfeeding liberating, honestly. I saw my other friends who were formula feeding- it took them hours to get out of the house. They had to make sure they had the proper water and formula, a bottle warmer... it seemed as though they were carrying a kitchen with them all the time. I could grab my keys, a few diapers, and my daughter and leave the house. I was fortunate that I had a lot of great nursing tops, so no one ever noticed that I was nursing. Perhaps I'm the exception to the rule, but I'd nurse her in her sling while I was walking around the mall, in the car before and/or after grocery shopping, out at restaurants to eat, etc. I never felt strange nursing in public- no one ever seemed to notice, even when we moved to very conservative North Carolina. I think breastfeeding is what you make of it. I breastfed my daughter for 2 years, and plan to do at least the same for my new daughter that is due in July. It was incredibly rewarding and liberating, not to mention so much easier when she was sick. There were a few times when she had the flu, and the doctor commented that if I hadn't been breastfeeding, my daughter would have been hospitalized due to the severity of her vomiting. I don't think the benefits are "surprisingly thin", nor do I think it is a chore-- everything is what you make of it.
I am stunned by that quote from the article. I haven't even read the entire article and feel totally betrayed. Benefits are "thin." She clearly is uneducated when it comes to breastfeeding. I'm going to calm myself and then read the article. I may have to use some calming breathing exercises before I write again : ).
I just read the whole article, and I agree that EVERYONE has a right to CHOOSE whether or not to breastfeed. I'm in a group with mommies, and several said they "could not" breastfeed, and they are treated the same as those who pull out nursing covers (or not) with babies over a year old.
I think the issue is not about whether to breastfeed or not for yourself or your baby, but to be less judgemental about the choices others make. Even if there were NO added nutritional benefits to breastfeeding over formula, I would STILL choose to breastfeed. Not breastfeeding was never a choice I considered. Even during the first month when baby had thrush, and nursing was extremely painful for 6 weeks. I never thought of "giving up", just as I would never consider giving up time with my child when they become challenging down the road.
I am especially grateful for breastfeeding now, because my baby won't take a bottle. As her father and I were not married (and not together since I told him I was pregnant) he wants joint custody, he hoped for having her on his own from Friday after work, until Monday work from birth. Now he struggles with the 12 hr weekends he wants her. I do not like being kept from my baby this long, and as she is 4 months (and very stubborn) she will go 8 hrs without anything, and the one 10 hr day she only took a little rice cereal and a tiny bit of milk...
I do not think I'm a better mom because I breastfeed. I think it is a choice that I make because of my values (natural, bonding, and it feels empowering knowing that everything my baby needs is within me...literally!). I do not judge or think less of the mothers who formula feed their children.
Again, the bottom line is to accept people's choices and to do what YOU think is best for you and your child...tolerance and acceptance is what this world needs most anyway...even, or perhaps beginning with breastfeeding!
I agree wholeheartedly that it for each woman to choose for herself. The issue with Ms. Rosin's article is not the right to choose but the erroneous information she gives including typecasting breastfeeding as bondage.
THe message that needs to be clearly delivered to every pregnant woman is that there is a huge difference between breastmilk and formula. Formula is nutrition only. Breastmilk is only 10% nutrition - the other 90% builds each cell and each system of the body. Many problems that arise form a child not receiving breastmilk isn't necessarily going to be seen for decades.
I had read the original article when my husband's Atlantic Monthly came in the mail 2 weeks or so ago. Let's even forget the science argument for a moment (which, as a scientifically trained woman is very difficult, but I will put it aside for a moment).
Initially I was angered and a bit confused by some of her points, especially the argument of breasfeeding as time consuming. PARENTING is time consuming, not breastfeeding. To properly care for and love a child, it takes bundles of time and energy. I don't mean this as a negative, it is a fabulous reality. I just found it odd at best that one would claim breastfeeding was the time consuming, burdensome part.
I breastfed my son exclusively for 12 months and continue now that he is 14 months. Have I enjoyed every moment? No. But I have not enjoyed trying to get him to sleep through the night or changing every dirty diaper. Raising a child is not always a party.
But when it is (and it frequently is), it is the best party in the world! I love bringing my son home from daycare everyday and giving him his early evening drink...I love it! Near the end I tickle his feet and watch as he uncontrolably smiles and giggles while still latched on (what I fondly call a "boob smile"). Or when I used to get in the bath tub with him and he started a wonderful habit of latching on in the bath while I bathed him. Or, after a long satisfying drink, the look of complete and utter relaxation and surrender my sister termed "milk drunk".
I know I just wouldn't have had the same experience bottle feeding. Not that my experiences would have been lesser, just that they would be different. That's my personal case for breastfeeding...and it only has to convince me.
However, if it even causes one other woman to consider this special bonding experience, wonderful! Then she will have the amazing scientific benefits as a added bonus to the emotional ones!
i have one thing to say. if it is so 'thin',then what on earth did women back in the renaissance days do? how did the human species survive back then?? similac & enfamil weren't around back then. case in point.
no, breastfeeding is not for everyone & that is completely understandable but for someone to just brush breastfeeding off as if it's not worth it just boggles my mind. and if it is that big of a deal, then why did she breastfeed her own offspring THREE TIMES!!!!??
When I read the article, I felt that Hanna Rosin was a frustrated mother. She cynically wrote about "dutifully" breastfeeding her children while being "stuck home". Wow. I am also a working mother. Yes, it is hard to be home with a crying baby that only you can soothe, while you imagine your partner going off to work to "have fun". But, that was all part of the package. My thought was, if you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound. My other thought was, I can never, ever breast feed again if I stop now. I wanted to hang onto every moment, like hanging onto every day as babies grow so rapidly. Being a parent is hard work. As far as I know, there are no easy short cuts. I believe that I did the best I could for my children with breastfeeding. Even if I'm wrong, I did the best with what I had. Hanna Rosen sounds nothing more than angry and resentful in this article. I read more into that than any of her rhetoric about the misconceptions of the benefits of breastfeeding.
Did you read this? A colleague sent this to me.
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/why-i-dumped-the-pump/
I just read the above mentioned blog. Wow...the debate goes on. Women's rights, feminism, women feeling guilty over their decisions to not breastfeed. There is more to these comments than meets the eye.
While I don't agree with everything the author writes (thin evidence?), nor have I had the opportunity to go research everything in depth ... I see the point of not being judgemental. The point of feminism is to make a personal choice. I have sat in bed nursing loving every minute and also feeling the polar opposite - that my husband was able to run out and regain his life so quickly after the birth of our child. Conversely, I think he feels at a loss when I am the only person that can soothe her when she cries. But - there are so many other factors and contributions we both make in raising our children - that the balance is an equal investment for both of us.
My oldest son is adopted - and was not breastfed - and I would argue bonded just as deeply to me as my new daughter. However, I wouldn't trade the empowerment I feel from providing my daughter's food source. Both children needed something different from me and my husband. Every woman makes a choice based upon her circumstances and her family.
http://www.ilca.org/files/in_the_news
/whats_new_at_ilca/AtlanticLetter_March2009.pdf.