Replies to '10/07 The Latest Debates'

Breatsfeeding is a choice made by the mother.  My SIL couldn't breastfeed either.  due to medications that she couldn't give up (her life depended on it)  I am a very Pro NIP mom however I support the mother who chooses formula too.   

  

  

you are exactly correct that she has shown her ignorance...I HAD to formula feed my daughter because she wouldn't latch on, I didn't produce enough milk, and she had an allergic reaction to my milk.  BUT if I had decided before she was born to formula feed that wouldn't make me lazy...people don't forumla feed just to be lazy and I'm sure if you talked to them they would give you a good reason for why they have "choosen" to formula feed instead...my mom formula fed my brother when she had him because the thought of breast feeding discusted her due to her only being 21 and seeing people with no descretion whip their breasts out in public for the world to see while they breast fed...I think that if a woman cant/wont cover up in public then they should remove themselves from the situation...and I am a PROUD FORMULA FEEDING MOM...and made that choice from day 1 that I was going to formula feed or pump into a bottle for when we went out in public

I would personally never characterize a woman who chose to formula feed as "lazy."  However, I do think that it's sad that so many people have trouble with nursing.  We lived for millions of years feeding our offspring this way, and it's only in this day and age that so many women have trouble with nursing.  There are women who physically can't nurse their children, but the percentages are *SO* much lower than most people believe. 

In my opinion and experience, volunteering with breasfeeding moms for over 4 years, it's much more likely to be a lack of adequate guidance that leads to problems nursing.  There are many women who try and try and try, but just can't solve their particular problem.  What might happen if their best friends breastfed their children, and their neighbors breastfed their children, and their doctors breastfed their children--and it was OK to talk to all of them about their experience??

I became involved in volunteering because my son and I were having a difficult time nursing still when he was 12 weeks old.  I went to meetings, read books, and talked to our pediatrician--and was still in agony every time he nursed.  I didn't solve our problem until I visited a lactation consultant who clarified one tiny piece of advice I'd read before.  I can't express how small a change it was, but it allowed me to solve our problems in a day or two--counting healing time.  If I had more resources, I know I could have solved our problem earlier.  And, if I wasn't lucky enough to be able to stay at home from work for all that time, I know I might never have made it.

Mothers choose the best that they can give for their children, whenever they can.  Sending them to the bathroom to nurse stigmatizes one of the best choices they can make... It's the wrong message to send.