Topic : 10/07 The Latest Debates

I am shocked that Dr. Phil wouldn't take a stand on the breastfeeding debate!  How could you, Dr. Phil???  Breastfeeding is sooo healthy for a baby.  Do you expect mothers to stay home for the first year so no one will see them breastfeed?  Talk about post partum depression!  I breastfeed my 9 month old where ever we are.  Babies are not patient creatures.  When they get hungry, they are hungry NOW!  I don't flaunt my breast for all to see.  In the beginning, I covered up with a blanket or nursing shawl.  But by four months, my daughter would kick it or pull it off immediately.  And we would both sweat up a storm the whole time if I could keep it on.  As it is now, I cover up for the half a second when nipple is exposed as I bring my daughter to it to eat.  Once she is on, I don't cover because all you can see is the back of a baby head anyway!  When she's done, I cover to pull my shirt back down.   

For her first seven months, my daughter ate every other hour.  It was impossible for me to go anywhere without feeding her in public.  Should I have to stay in for seven months???  If a bathroom has a lounge, I sometimes go in there, but only because she prefers quiet while she eats.  I will not feed her on a toilet.  I don't feed myself on a toilet, why would I make my baby eat there?  And what if there's only one bathroom anyway?  Do you really want it to be held up for what may take 30 minutes?  I bet the people crossing their legs would suddenly not mind breastfeeding so much.   

It is ridiculous that breastfeeding has this stigma.  What do people think breasts are for?  We are mammals.  The word comes from mammory glands....breasts.  Why can't we use them?  WHY IS THIS GROSS?   

There are so many gross things that do go on in public (chewing tobacco, smoking, swearing, spitting, groping, etc).  Why are these things okay but nourishing a baby is bad? 

I feel quite certain that anyone who has a problem with breastfeeding has either never had a child or else chose to give their child something other than the most healthy food possible.  If you've been a breastfeeding mother or the supportive husband of one, you would never have an issue with this. 

Dr. Phil, I always expected you to speak your mind.  You didn't even take a stand on this.  Your position was weak.  The closest thing you said was that our society is pretty backward on this.  All that one woman could say against breastfeeding in public is that it's not attractive and not flattering.  Hello!  Neither is spandex.  It's allowed.  Does this woman live in a world where everything must be beautiful (by her tastes, of course)??  I was disappointed that you didn't take a stand for breastfeeding mothers in our country, Dr. Phil.  I am really very disappointed. 

By the way, not much of a stand on dealing with other people's kids, either.  You neglected to talk about whether we should speak to a child who is doing something dangerous if there are no parents around.  I will always tell a kid to get out of the street, not play with fire, etc, if I see him doing it...especially if his parents aren't around.  I hope someone would do the same for my child.  I once yelled at kids who were attacking two geese in the park...no parents around.  I feel very jusitified for sticking up for those animals. 

Lastly, condoms in school.  You finally took a stand, Dr. Phil.  Bravo.  They gave out condoms in my high school.  I was taught how to put one on properly my first week of college--age 18.  I chose not to have sex until I fell in love...which didn't happen until I was 23 years old (I married him three years later).  No religious convictions or moral problems with sex.  And I certainly was given many opportunities to take the plunge earlier, but I declined.  The condoms did not make me want to run out and have sex with the next guy I found.  Give teenagers a little credit.  If they're planning on having sex, yes, the condoms will help them get on with that.  If they aren't going to have sex, do you really think holding a condom in their hand is going to brainwash them?  Give me a break!     

"Lunch" is awesome!  Right on target.  We should be more like the Aussies! 

Modesty in pubic.. what? 

Anyway-- I've said before, any woman is welcome to nurse at my dinner table, or at the bench I'm sitting on at the store.  I am currently nursing my 3rd child.  Any one want to tell me to cover my childs face while she's eating, well- cover up yours while you eat then.  My daughter is just shy of 6 weeks old, but I am all for extended breastfeeding.  My 2nd child nursed untill 18months when he decided on his own he was finished.   

I'm more uncomfortable seeing a mother neglect her children in a shopping cart while she chats w/a friend she's bumped into, than I am of a mother feeding her child.  I am a whole lot more uncomfortable with a mother who is shoving junk food down her childs throat and polishing that off with a soda because she would rather smoke her cigarette then tend to her children, than I am of a mother feeding her child with the breasts God gave her.   

What's next?  Expecting a dog to hide her nipples when she's feeding her pups on the side of the road, or at a local park?  Should cows and calves be hurded into shelter with their bulging milk sacks when they need to feed their young?  "Oh, but that's different," you say? "They're animals."  Well, last I checked, I was a mammal as well.  "But but.. it's uncomfortable because .. because..."  Well, just come out and say why it really bothers you.  "I just shouldn't have to see it".. Oh.. problem solved, look away and then get over it. 

I was recently in a plaza food court with my 3 1/2 y/o son and my new born daughter.  I sat and nursed while he hate and we talked.  When she was done, she switched sides and we went along our way.  I discovered while taking my son to the potty there was a 'nursing room' available.  Oh, how nice-- oh wait.. it says "see clerk for key to room"-- how inconveniant.  My BABY has to wait to be fed untill I borrow a key from someone, but the 100+ people in the food court can just smack food till their hearts are content... NO KEY?  They didn't have to ask a soul for a key.   

I find it pathetic that all in favor of covering up, or not nursing in public at all.. would not even BE HERE if it weren't for their ancestors breastfeeding to keep their families alive. 

Not to mention, supplementing with formula will make your milk supply run out early. 

Until this show I did not know that breastfeeding was such a "bad" thing in US culture. My husband and I live in Germany on a US military base. Our son was born here in Germany 7 months ago and I chose to breastfeed. I feed him anywhere when he needs to be fed and nobody even notices. I understand how it could be an issue if a woman were to pull out her breast and just let it "all hang out" while taking her time to latch her child on, but women can breastfeed very discreetly in public, even without using a blanket to cover herself and her child.  To be honest I saw more breasts exposed in public while I was in college then than I ever have on breastfeeding women, even when I worked as a nurse in a Mother Baby unit teaching women how to breastfeed!

On the issue of condoms, they should be made available. People need to be honest with themselves, teens are having sex. The worries now are more than just, will a woman get pregnant? There are so many diseases out there that we need to make our children aware of how to protect themselves. It doesn't matter if condoms are not allowed to be passed out in school and abstinence is preached every single day, the fact remains that teens will still have sex. I'd rather my son be educated on precautions he can take than not know anything about it and end up with an STD. I'm not saying that I'm going to push him to be sexually active, I just want him to know what his options are if he is and doesn't want to come to me about it.

For those women who are attempting to change the thought patterns of other Americans on breast feeding, I say if you show me yours then I'll show you mine!  Perhaps I will just whip out my breast in front of you while your eating, then we will see how "natural" it is to you.   

I am an advocate for breast feeding, but I did it descretely.  I find women who just want to show the world what they are doing just obscene.   

It's natural to urinate or deficate too, but no one wants to do it out in the open in front of others.   Have some respect & privacy for yourself & others.   

I asked my 14 yr old son, whom attends a Dept of Defense high school in Germany that is 7th-12th grades, what his thoughts were on the condom issue that Dr. Phil had on.  It just happened to be a teacher work day & the kids were out of school.   

He said, "the schools should NOT give out condoms, they should teach abstinence!  Giving out condoms tell me that it's okay to have sex, and we hear enough about it being okay to have sex in movies, & music, & everywhere else."   

GULP!  I didn't expect that comment.  Good for him!  I can only hope he follows his own advice.