Topic : 10/07 The Latest Debates

Possessed food or fresh food, which is healthier? 

I doubt any one will argue. 

Make your choices about what is best for you, your baby, and your family. 

We make so many choices that effect the health and development of our children through out their lives. There are effects from every decision. This is just one choice.  

I am a mother of three who breastfed each child for two years.  I breastfed anywhere and anytime that my children were hungry.  And yet I NEVER exposed my breasts.  There were many times that friends and/or strangers would look at me and or talk to me and yet not even know I was indeed breastfeeding.  I live in Florida, where by law I can breastfeed in public.  I agree that  woman should be ale to breastfeed her baby ANYWHERE. I also know that there is no need to expose the breast while nursing.  There are specially designed clothes for discrete nursing and there are ways to cover up so that the worl does not see the breast.  I do not find it an unpleasant thing to see.  I actually feel sad for little babies whose mom's chose to not breastfeed so that they are less tied to the baby and more freedom to come and go.  How a mom cannot want to hold a child to her breast to feed him is beyond me and yet I understand that it a choice for everyone to make.  Mothers who do not breastfeed there children do not love their children anyless than those who do.  I am glad thati did and would never think of offering my baby formula when I have two breasts that work just fine.  I also think that mom's who say they tried to breastfeed and quit after only days or weeks, didn;t try enough.  Rarely does a mom not have enough milk for her baby. Ignorance, stress and lack of support or usually to blame. 

Marta P. 

Miami, Florida 

hang on one moment...  

I was molested as a child, and I was raped as a teenager. Several times. I then had the person who did that to me blow his head off and leave me a nice letter about how it was my fault. Don't assume that my life belongs in an episode of Donna Reed because I advocate breastfeeding because it's the best choice for eeryone. 

I still think everyone should breastfeed. I think people should quit playing the victim card and start surviving. Breastfeeding reduces the risk of PPD, and most women find it empowering to see how their bodies which they spend so much time being disconnected from can sustain life. No one took your choice to breastfeed away from you. You still have that choice. You survived your abuse and you could have made the decision to at least try it. 

There is nothing dirty about an innocent child drinking breastmilk. THAT is natural, rape is not. Just because you were abused doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy your body for what it was made for. Maybe if you tried it you would understand the difference. 

And oh, people who have had breast reductions can nurse too. 

And breast  milk has NOT been shown to increase intelligence. 

This is what I mean by twisting the data.  

The data showed that, in the population sample tested, breast fed babies had slightly higher measurable IQs than bottle fed babies. 

That doesn't mean the breast milk raised the babies' IQs!! 

This is what I hate -- this deliberate lying and twisting. 

All the study showed was that, for that particular set of children, the breast fed babies scored a little higher on IQ tests. 

Now, could it be that breast feeding moms were more likely to spend more tiime with their children, and that moms who have that kind of time to spend at home with their children are more likely to come from more affluent families and have access to better nutrition, better health care and better school systems?  Could it be that more affluent moms in the more affluent suburbs are more likely to be better educated themselves?  All of these factors are also indicators for a higher IQ, so the study NEVER isolated breast milk alone, and the breast milk factor, for all ANYONE can prove beyond a doubt, may just be a coincidence. 

This is why statistics are a bad, bad way to go about spreading information. 

being Ladylike has nothing to do with actual motherhood.  Enough with the Madonna comparison.  Time to GET REAL about the job.  I've been puked on, peed on, pooped on, experienced bouts of explosive vomiting, food dumped all over the place, and that's just with one child.  I sympathize with those who have gone through baby & toddlerhood more than once.  I have immense respect for those mothers who have more than a single child.    

As for nursing in a restroom --- UM -- where does one sit?  On the dirty floor?????  I haven't been in any rooms of rest with comfy & clean chairs lately.  Are there any that exist in the mundane world?   "Somewhere you can have privacy"   Try that little feat with arms full of hungry child in a public locale such as a mall or elsewhere.  It's extremely difficult to do.    

My munchkin just turned two and she's a real angel despite her rough health history.  She's severely allergic to milk.  Because of this, we are still a nursing couple.  It has it's ups and downs, but overall, she's healthier, more secure, and better nurished than any other option.   She was on a 60-90 minute feeding schedule when she was an infant, so we had to nurse in public.   

Once she outgrew her preemiehood at 12 months, we rarely did so.  She HATED having her head covered, and very insistent about pushing up my shirt to place her hand on my breast.  We just went to the comfy car with the nice a/c.   LIfe was much easier that way. 

This past week, I was travelling in Paris environs with hubby, tot, & mum-in-law.  Well, we nursed in public.  VERY PUBLIC.  Posh places like the Mars room at Versailles, Notre Dame Cathedral, Musée de Cluny, the RER train, a boat on the Seine river, oh, and my favorite.... Musée d'Orsay where she zonked out and we put her in a soft backpack then carried her through the museum. 

  Thankfully, everyone we encountered was much less judgemental than some on here.  My child was peaceful, calm, and rested in some very stressful places thanks to being able to nurse.  I am a large breasted woman and those very nice slitted shirts actually show more and require intense fussing with, than just bringing up the bottom and tucking everything around my child's mouth.  Covering her head would have been ridiculous.  The only time anything was in danger of 'showing' was when she was attaching herself onto the nipple.  But that's what's large hubby's are for -- to block lookyloos who can't control themselves.  No skin ever showed -- Can't say that about the Teenyboppers and fat older women going around braless in tank tops. 

To answer someone's snide questions about teeth and when to stop...  I really don't know what the issue is about teeth.  She got hers around 10 months -- 4 at one time.  She had gone through the guppy biting phase at 6 months and learned to open her mouth when mommy asked her to.  We dealt with it and moved on.  

Regarding stopping --  I figure we'll be done by next year at age 3.  Hopefully, her milk allergy will have lessened (no it's not lactose intolerance) and she'll be big enough to fill in the nutritional blanks with more food.   Since we're not currently travelling with its inherent stresses, it's only 3 times a day anyway.  No biggie.      

Pressuring people to "do it respectfully" is just as bad as telling them not to do it. Women worry they are not being modest enough and choose to bottle feed when in public. This leads to the woman having less stimulation at the breast and milk supply goes down. Then the woman dries up prematurely and baby doesn't get enough time breastfeeding. Currently the WHO recommends nursing for at least 2 years, and natural weaning should be the norm, when the child is ready to quit. 

I just talked to a mom today who was so uncomfortable because she couldn't breastfeed discreetly because her boobies were big that she chose formula while in public. And she was trying to take drugs to increase her supply, even with having nursed 3 babies the longest she has been able to nurse has been with her last child who is 9 months old, and she's already concerned about supply. 

The best way to nurse is OFTEN, as long as the baby wants per side, and on-cue. Also nursing at night will help you keep up your supply - this means co-sleeping, something Dr. Phil I think has a huge problem with (as though it's any of his business).