What does this country have against nursing moms?

[MrScorpio]

Breast-Feeding Cover Sparks Debate
Babytalk Magazine's Photo Of Nursing Baby Angers Some Readers

NEW YORK, July 28, 2006

AP) "I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote. "I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another. "Gross," said a third.

These readers weren't complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine, yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains more support from the government and medical community.

Babytalk is a free magazine whose readership is overwhelmingly mothers of babies. Yet in a poll of more than 4,000 readers, a quarter of responses to the cover were negative, calling the photo a baby and part of a woman's breast, in profile, inappropriate.

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it.

"I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast, it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

It's the same reason that Ash, 41, who nursed all three of her children, is cautious about breast-feeding in public, a subject of enormous debate among women, which has even spawned a new term: "lactivists," meaning those who advocate for a woman's right to nurse wherever she needs to.

"I'm totally supportive of it, I just don't like the flashing," she says. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/28/national/main1844454.shtml

Oh, boy!

[malta blue]

1. You've got to be kidding...

"I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I'm sorry, I know very few heterosexual men who don't "want" to see a breast.

[Midlodemocrat]

2. That freeper's kid is too busy downloading porn to read a baby magazine.

[TheFriendlyAnarchist]

22. Seriously.

Although, what teenage boy ISN'T too busy Dl'ing porn :yoiks: :P

[Katina]

3. boobs are only for sex

didn't you learn that in the playground growing up? Most of America did. No wonder they are so stupid when it comes to feeding an infant the proper way. We can talk about flacid penises and have commercials for KY but god-damn if we allow a truly healthy & nurturing way to feed your child to be done in public. No wonder there are so many uptight, sexually repressed, f*cked up people in this country. (BTW, I was forced to nurse my baby in a filthy ladies room bathroom...so this subject really pushes my buttons.)

[Arugula Latte]

18. A-frickin'-men!!!

:applause:

I nursed my kids two years each. I have no tolerance for those who are intolerant of breastfeeding. There is no more natural function in human experience than feeding a baby

[pitohui]

35. "i nursed my kids two years each"

that, my friends, is the future the breast-feeders want for all women

that is the future my mother, and a million other feminists, of the 20th century struggled so hard to fight against

woman a slave to baby for years at a time, it's sad and it forever truncates the woman's future

if the formulas aren't good enough, then by god, invent better formulas but what is the point of technology if woman must be a slave forever?

the hole in woman's earning ability and future created by spending years w. a kid attached to her boob is a hole that can never be overcome

and that's fine for fundies and, let's face it, the lazy women who grab at any excuse not to work and just to get a free ride

but it is NOT fine for women who want to be free, independent, and to have a shot at a future where they can get a decent earn

jesus, pitohui can't be the only woman here who actually wishes that younger women could have choices and futures

our own mothers wanted better for us than a baby hanging off our tit for two entire years! christ! shoot me now

[thefool_wa]

42. If you think having a child and properly caring for them is slavery

then don't have kids.

It should be a joy and an honor to do the right thing for your child, not slavery. My wife joyfully breast fed our daughter for 2 years and is currently doing so for our son.

She chooses to do this. This is not slavery, and not something she is forced to do, it is something she feels is right and the best thing for our children.

I do not understand why so many WOMEN out there think this is a bad thing. Breasts were designed by god to do one thing, feed children. It is MEN who have made them taboo and sexual and made women cover them up and pretend they are something to be ashamed of.

Your tirade only plays into that idea and re-inforces the falsehood that breasts are there for the visual and sexual gratification of men because, if they are not there to feed your child, what other purpose do they have?

[trixie]

72. so if you won't breastfeed don't have kids?

What about adopted children? Not good enough I suppose. What about women who do not have enough nutrition to feed?

You reinforce the idea that your wife is there to cater for you and to you.

[GirlinContempt]

76. I don't think anyone has said that.

At all.

[thefool_wa]

88. Actually, I kinda did

but I was speaking hyperbolically.

While I don't want to say that it is obvious that trixie cares more for herself than her future, potential offspring, I think I just did :)

[trixie]

123. Incorrect

I have both birth and adopted children and am sick to death of trying to explain to lactating Nazis who is who.

Just be cause you breasfeed does not mean the father can't feed, it called expressed.

[thefool_wa]

138. As long as its mother's milk

It's just as good. Wet nurses work too (and, I was surprised to discover, can still be hired in this day and age).

I apologize for my insensitive comment. I've fed both of my children with expressed milk. THe point is to use what is best formulated for their needs, not what man thinks he can do better than nature (a complete fallacy). And, for god's sake, to not see the care of your child in any way as slavery (but that comment wasn't yours).

again, my sincere apologies.

[thefool_wa]

86. well, there are plenty ways

and apparently plenty of excuses. I'm not saying "don't have kids" - I'm saying give your kids the best you can give them.

Parents are the ones who make sacrifices to give their children everything they can, not the other way around.

One last thing: My wife does this for herself and for our children, not for me.

[LeftyMom]

108. People induce lactation for adopted kids all the time

It's both healthier for thier bodies and helps to create an emotional bond between mother and baby. In fact, it's so beneficial that it's recommended that adoptive mothers who can't produce any milk provide donor milk or arteficial baby milk via a nursing supplementer that allows the child to feed at the breast.

[trixie]

125. So father/child bond not needed?

[gollygee]

128. Fathers have bonded with their children for centuries without feeding them

my husband and our daughter are certainly bonded.

Adoptive parents can bond too, of course.

I've read that when mothers breastfeed, the bond with the father is special because it is such a close intimate bond that *isn't* associated with food.

I don't believe that formula-feeding moms are missing out on bonding. I suppose those who prop the bottles up so they don't have to hold their babies when they feed them are, but I don't think most do that.

[LeftyMom]

148. It's not a biological need the way that being nurtured at the mother's

breast is.

Anyhow, fathers have plenty of ways of bonding with thier children other than feeding them, as they did for the vast majority of human history when there were no milk substitutes for non-emergency situations.

[elehhhhna]

151. trixie, with all due respect...

are you nuts?

[LeftyMom]

153. Thanks for saying what we're all wondering.

:D

[elehhhhna]

173. Media alert! Anne Coulter is IN THE HOUSE!

[Wilhelm Klink Reich]

47. The funny thing about this post is

you want to free them from this 'tyranny' because it prevents them from being slaves in the workforce instead

I think most of the posts in this thread are gratuitious prude-bashing (not to say its undeserved) but thank you for this enlightening response.

[trixie]

124. Are we now run

by the crazy right wing? Sure sounds like it. Lots of mysogyny here from both men and women. This is the reason employers want to keep women out of the workforce during years a women could perhaps become pregnant.

Shows how much more we have to do even within our own ranks.

[elehhhhna]

152. Welcome WKR. Well said!

[Dervill Crow]

53. What makes you think you have to be a stay at home mom to breastfeed?

Part of the reason I chose to breastfeed was because it expedited the night feeding (my husband worked nights) and was easier for me to get up in the morning for work.

We don't all fit the stereotypes, you know. :hi:

[xmas74]

91. I was a working mother and I breastfed.

I went back to work six weeks after my daughter was born. It takes a bit more juggling but having a child takes more juggling.

I nursed when I was home from work. When she slept I expressed milk. I watched tv, read a book, went online all while expressing. Not that big of a deal. Froze some of what I expressed for a later date, just like freezing your leftovers from dinner. (Not quite but you get the picture of how easy that was.)

It's healthier, natural and free. If you have the time to do so it's not that hard but we both know that.

[progmom]

55. whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

I nursed my child because I knew it was healthy for him. And whipping out the boob takes a whole lot less work than mixing formula...heating up bottles...sterilizing everything.

Sounds like you have some issues about breastfeeding. Please don't project them on all of us.

[Dervill Crow]

61. If that is what they want to do, what is the problem with it?

If my daughters want to take two years off work to be with their babies (with or without attachment to a boob), I hope they have the means to do so.

Isn't feminism about having choices?

[TimeChaser]

62. "...wishes that younger women could have choices and futures..."

"...choices..."

You said it yourself. Young women should be able to make their own choices, including whether or not to breastfeed their children.

[ghostsofgiants]

105. But you see...

That would require rational thought. Something that was clearly not put into her ranting and raving.

[fudge stripe cookays]

69. .

shoot me now

Well, if you insist.

Just because you want women to have futures doesn't mean you can't also support mothers nurturing their children. What a fucked up view of life you have.

[elehhhhna]

154. Nailed it again, Fudgie.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

188. Seriously...

my mom worked and my sister and I were both breast-fed.

[trixie]

71. I agree with you on this and to add

I did breastfeed but did not feel the need to feed EVERYWHERE. You know when your child needs to be fed. Must you be at the movies? Must you be laying across the steps to the public library? Must you look at a mother bottle feeding her adopted child and tell your children loudly that the mother bottle feeding does not love her child? Must us with adopted and natural children have to explain to every fricking breastfeeding zealot that the child is adopted?

I am more than a cow.

[miss_american_pie]

"more than a cow"

That speaks volumes.

[elehhhhna]

156. Never knew a cow to be so freaked out about a natural process...

I'd say Less Than A Cow.

[elehhhhna]

155. Hey Trixie. Control your own eyes. Don't like it? DON"T LOOK.

Seriously, get help.

[Arkansas Granny]

78. It is possible to breastfeed a baby and not make yourself a

slave with said baby hanging off your tit for years at a time. Many women pump breast milk for use while they are gone to work or to class. A young friend of mine just completed a year of nursing her daughter and managed to complete her second year of college at the same time.

Also, as good as modern formulas are, there is no substitute for breast milk. There are enzymes and nutrients in breast milk that cannot be duplicated in man made formulas, not to mention the boost to a baby's immune system.

And you are definitely not the only woman here who actually wishes that younger women could have choices and futures, but if their choice is to nurse their child, it does not have to jeopardize that future.

I really take exception to your remark: "...and that's fine for fundies and, let's face it, the lazy women who grab at any excuse not to work and just to get a free ride...". That is one of the most discriminatory remarks I have heard anyone utter about a nursing mother in a long time,

[elehhhhna]

158. Thanks Granny. I nirsed 'em both for 3 months, but Hubs stayed home

w/ them for 5 years. Guess he just wanted an excuse not to work and take that free ride. LMAO

[tigereye]

93. what planet are you living on??!!!

signed a breast feeding feminist -

please devote some thought to this topic before you post again....

[ghostsofgiants]

103. Every post that you've made in this thread...

Makes me wish that I was a woman so that I could go out and get pregnant, just so I could breast feed the kid.

[elehhhhna]

159. Makes ME wanna whip one out and nurse my 12 y/o on the bus.

[ghostsofgiants]

177. Hahahaha, that just made my night.

:hi:

[elehhhhna]

182. i aim to please!

[LeftyMom]

107. It is anti-feminist to suggest that chemists and nannies can replace

a mother's arms and nature's ideal food. It's real fucking unfair to babies and contrary to everything science knows about how they develop.

[trixie]

127. Dear -

Not all women can sustain a baby through breastfeeding. Not all women are the "all consuming earth mother" either. Not all women exclude the fathers from feeding/bonding.

[LeftyMom]

133. That doesn't change the fact that breastmilk is superior.

Fathers can participate by changing the baby, bringing them to mom, getting anything needs, or offering pumped milk if that's needed. If nature intended them to do more in that arena, they'd lactate.

[gollygee]

126. ARRRGGGH

There is SO MUCH wrong with your post.

Assuming that breastfeeding a child makes you a slave.

Assuming that breastfeeding a child for two years makes you a slave for two years. As children get older they need to breastfeed less and less. When my daughter was two she breastfed maybe twice a day, once when she woke up and once when she went to sleep. I certainly wasn't a slave.

Assuming that women have babies and breastfeed because we're lazy and want "a free ride".

Assuming that working at home is "a free ride".

Saying women should have choices and futures and then putting down our choice and our chosen future.

Assuming that our value as people is based on how much money we make.

[elehhhhna]

160. I think she works for Nestle's formula division.

[Dora]

135. You can't be as crazy as your post is.

No, you're not the only woman here who wishes that younger women could have choices and futures. That's patently offensive to all women here.

You post some crazy shit sometimes: "That's fine for fundies and, let's face it, the lazy women who grab at any excuse not to work and just to get a free ride." YOU ARE FREAKIN' CRAZY, GIRL! How many of those "free ride" mommas are breastfeeding? Do you know? Think they're all hangin' out at the local quikie mart breastfeeding while they're waitin' for their welfare checks? I don't think so. Check those "free ride" mommas' kitchens for infant formula, I daresay you'll find it.

I was working 40 hours a week when I became pregnant, I stayed home until my son was eight weeks old, and then I worked 20-30 hours a week for three months until I ran out of family medical leave, then returned to 40 hours a week. It was the hardest fucking year of my life. And you piss on that with your hateful and lazy assumptions.

My son is now eighteen months old and I'm still breastfeeding him twice a day. A woman CAN WORK and breastfeed her infant. Breastfeeding is hard. It's demoralizing sometimes. It's isolating. It's sooooo worth it.

Not only that, formula is very expensive, and its preparation is more of a labor burden on the parents than its proponents are willing to acknowledge. Don't get me wrong - I used formula as a supplement when I needed to, but I also didn't just stop breastfeeding because my milk production dropped for a day or two.

I just had to reply because your post was too nutty to ignore.

[gollygee]

137. Read the rest of her posts in the thread

I don't know what to think.

[Dora]

143. Oh, yes.

I'm familiar with this DUer.

At least she's consistent.

[Midlodemocrat]

149. I do. But I'm too nice to.

:eyes:

[ScreamingMeemie]

139. I'm stunned.

:sarcasm:

[MissB]

145. pitohui, companies make these things called breast pumps

that allow working mothers to maintain their career *and* breast feed.

Breast feeding doesn't have to mean staying home. I was lucky in that my kids' daycare center was in the same building I worked in. I also had to go in the field several days a week for most of the business day, so I became quite adept at pumping out in the field (in my car) or driving down the road.

[Stardust]

187. Some women seem to get a little carried away with the nursing

thing, like they are professional breast-feeders. And BTW, I nursed mine, too, but wasn't quite so gung-ho about it.

[Duppers]

43. I was in a child birthing class with an expectant mother

who actually said that!

Sick woman and poor baby.

[LeftyMom]

4. Weak men don't want to be reminded that breasts don't exist just for them

and uptight frigid bitches are afraid that thier man will see a tit that looks better than thiers.

Americans fear sex and icky feelings more than they care about babies. Sad but true.

[trixie]

73. Nice!!

If you don't breastfeed you are an uptight frigid bitch?

[LeftyMom]

100. Read the post again

Where did I say anything about failure to breastfeed?

Uh, nowhere.

I talked about women who fear that the man in thier life might be aroused and therefore want other women to hide thier breastfeeding. Sure, many of those same uptight women bottlefed, but some of them were closet nursers, the target audiences for those stupid nursing capes, etc. Others probably got uptight once thier kids got older.

[elehhhhna]

162. It's all about the nipple, imo.

[LadyoftheRabbits]

5. What's interesting is...

I've heard people say that it's "modern indecency." The fact is that historically, bared breasts were not uncommon. Renaissance gowns in some regions exposed the breasts, and nursing in general was so common all throughout history that no one batted an eye. Yet somehow, even with all the violence condoned in this society, people fear for children's "morals" and try to protect them from a perfectly natural part of the female anatomy.
I don't really have an opinion either way, but I suppose I lean toward it not being a big deal. Lord knows we have more important things to deal with right now.

[BlueIris]

6. Well, that whole allegiance to misogynist exploitation of the female body

is the primary thing that gets in the way of Americans socially accepting a woman breast-feeding a child without obscene, inappropriate, child-hating, non-logical outrage. Fat fucking pigs running the mass media is keeping that obstacle intact.

[Gatchaman]

7. Someone should tell Gayle Ash

that if that baby had been aborted, she wouldn't have to watch the whore mother feed it.

Texas. Sheesh.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

8. Um...they're only sexual if you make them sexual.

I find breasts sexual, but not when they're attached to a nursing child. Can't people realize that they also have a useful purpose? A breast is not a dirty thing.

I don't really have issues with breastfeeding in public. I understand it sometime can't really be avoided and I'm fine with it. I've gasp even held normal conversations with family members & friends while they were breastfeeding.

Somehow, I really doubt this woman's 13 year old son is going to be hiding "BabyTalk" under his mattress because there's a nursing breast on it. He'll be looking at naked breasts on the internet and in Playboy instead. Also, how can a woman feel so insecure about her body that she's fearful that her own husband will see a nursing breast that isn't attached to her?

[Karenina]

10. When an infant is hungry

It needs to be fed. Mature adults have no problem carrying on their business as the child's needs are attended to.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. Exactly.

I don't have kids. I don't want kids. I'm fine with most other people's kids, though. Honestly, I find it far less disruptive for all parties, if the mom just nurses the baby, instead of having the baby wail, until she can get to a spot, where no one will accidentally see a breast.

[VelmaD]

14. I love that picture

It's nice that he's looking in her eyes and talking to her like a human being.

[QuestionAll...]

75. he's looking at her eyes! Hugo must be a fag!

:sarcasm:

[xmas74]

9. I know a woman IRL,

very religious, six kids,blah blah. She chose to nurse each and every one of them until they were three (one had developmental delays and she nursed him until he was four for comfort). Whenever she hears arguments about nursing in public she will "flop" out a breast and start nursing her child. If someone complains she tells them "God gave women breasts to feed their babies. Man made the breast sexual and people like you turned nursing into something dirty."

We don't agree on everything but I love it when she does this. She has the same views on nudity in general. "God made sure we were born naked. If he wanted us clothed he would have made us all in three piece suits."

She's funny sometimes and makes excellent points on nursing all the time. All of her children know what a breast looks like and that it's used for breastfeeding. They have been raised to see nothing wrong with it. But she's one of the few of her kind that are firm believers in having children know as much as possible about the human body, especially about reproduction.

[dropkickpa]

11. What a maroon!

I fed my daughter wherever the damn hell I wanted. I never got any comments, though that may, in part, be due to the fact that I have lots of tattoos and perfected the "punk" sneer many eons ago. Or the fact that I was able to be discrete enough that most people didn't even know I was doing it (I NEVER covered up with a blanket and have generously sized breasts). It's so funny that all these conservatives talk about the importance of family and such, but I'd be willing to be very few breastfed, depending instead wholly on formula so as not to expose their dirty pillows to the light of day.

"I can see your dirty pillows. Everyone will!!"

"Breasts, Mama. They're called breasts, and every woman has them!"

[RB TexLa]

13. I honestly don't care to see small children eating in any manner n/t

[progmom]

60. make sure to tell those children:

I don't drink with you.

[GirlinContempt]

101. It wouldn't be appropriate.

[NMMNG]

102. That's ok

I'm sure they don't care to see you eating in any manner either.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

15. I swear to God. That's what breasts are for!

Breasts aren't REALLY for a man to sexually pleasure himself with. They're to feed the babies. What idiots.
Duckie

[VelmaD]

16. Uh...since mine are attached to my body...

I kinda thought they were for MY sexual pleasure actually. :)

[YellowRubberDuckie]

25. Sure...but that's secondary...

I was just trying to make a point. They were actually MADE for feeding young. Sexual pleasure is just a biproduct.
Duckie

[Kali]

30. actually they have developed into more than feeding organs

their similarity to butt cheeks is no coincidence.

[Dervill Crow]

63. HUH?

I don't really know the purpose of butt cheeks, I guess, other than I have them and my husband doesn't, and my car upholstery holds up better than his.

[Stardust]

190. No butt-cheeks? Think baboon butt. Eeeeeeewwwww.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. Great book: "So That's What They're for: Breastfeeding Basics"

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1580620418/104-7497086-6328758?v=glance&n=283155

It should be required reading for everybody...whether they're having kids or not.

[Book Lover]

17. Pathetic

People live full of fear over real things - the bombs dropping from the sky, the dusty land and parched crops, uncertain jobs, etc, etc. These people, afraid of seeing a breast, qualify not only for my pity, but also my contempt.

The cover in question

[Generic Brad]

19. Well, no wonder there is a controversy

That is the randiest looking baby I have ever seen. What a little lech! ;-)

[ChoralScholar]

24. I thought he was kissing his mom's knee :)

[China_cat]

57. How do you know it's a 'he'?

And doesn't the fact that you immediately assume male gender play into the sexualizing of the breast?

Not a flame, just an observation.

[ChoralScholar]

185. Well, in this case

the baby reminded me of my son, so probably that's why I said he. But nonetheless, I'm a big fan of breasts, I'll admit... so maybe that was part of it too.

[thefool_wa]

89. If that is the cover, I don't see the problem

They show more boob on the cover of Cosmo!

[Dastard Stepchild]

179. my eyes!

Just kidding. :)
What a sweet picture.

[Blue-Jay]

20. Oh Boy! A breast feeding thread!

[Floogeldy]

21. The country doesn't have anything against nursing moms.

Just some freaky people.

:smoke:

[trixie]

130. Thank you!

Fanatics are on all sides. I am sick to death of the fanatics.

IF YOU WANT TO BREASTFEED THEN DO IT. IF YOU DON'T THEN DON'T. DON'T DICTATE TO OTHERS.

[pitohui]

26. their self righteousness

oh and their anti-feminist desire to make sure that it's the woman who is prisoner of baby for the man can't feed baby with HIS tit

do not be fooled, the whole breast feeding moment is very much anti-woman and about making woman again into the n-word of the word, as mr. lennon put it

you can't be pro-freedom, pro-technolgy, AND pro breast feeding, being the slave of screaming squawling infant is not about modernity

[Iniquitous Bunny]

27. Breastfeeding isn't anti-feminist.

I'm a feminist and I breastfed. So have many others around here.

It's about making sure breastfeeding moms aren't harassed when the leave the house. It's about employers providing AT LEAST as much time for pump breaks as they do for "smoke breaks". It's about not having added waste, crap, and expense added to our environment.

[eyesroll]

29. So spending lots of unnecessary money on formula to feed a child what

every scientific study has indicated is an inferior (though in many cases life-saving) product is somehow pro-feminist?

Whee.

I suppose I'm anti-feminist too because I prefer to cook real food (often for a man! and for a child who isn't even mine!) rather than microwave a frozen dinner.

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. The fact that you are willing to enslave yourself to a stove

just shows your utter inhumanity and your utter contempt for personal, human, decent liberty.

You bastard.

If you cared, you would buy only pre-made foodstuffs. THAT is the pro-human stance. NOT cooking your own food, which is a sign of slavery - willing slavery, in fact.

Every time you cook, you regress humanity 100 years. :grr: Same with every time you use your legs instead of your car; write with a pen instead of a keyboard, or write a personal note instead of using a pre-printed card; in fact, any time you do something "natural" (that is, primitive and patriarchal by using your body how it was made to be used), you destroy the entire civil and leiberty right's movement for all humanity, everywhere, and in all times.

The only truly enlightened and free humanity is one that relies solely on machines, factories, and chemicals.

[elehhhhna]

166. LMAO.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Dulcinea]

37. Have you never heard of a breast pump?

I breastfed both my girls, & I pumped as well so my DH could help with the feeding. He loved feeding our girls! If I needed to go out to the store or something, he could just warm up a bottle. It worked great for all involved. Breastfeeding also has benefits for the mother, like helping get back into shape faster.

What's anti-feminist about that? :eyes:

[GirlinContempt]

39. jesus

I don't think you can be a feminist if you're this vitriolic about other womens choices.

You can't be pro-woman and anti-womens-choice.

You might feel enslaved, other women may love it.

That's like saying you can't be pro-health if you feed your baby formula because studies show it's not as good for them.

[progmom]

56. breasts produce milk after pregnancy

it's how our bodies were designed. it's no anti-feminist plot. what is your deal????

[Midlodemocrat]

83. Actually, nursing my three kids afforded me more freedom than

if I hadn't. I always had their food, always available and always at the right temperature. I nursed them because it was best for THEM. I had them to do what was best for THEM. If I didn't want to do what was best for them, I wouldn't have invested so much time and money into them.

And, when my now 10yo went to kindergarten, I was able to get an exceptionally well paying job. AND, I get to stay home to do it.

Go figure.

[LeftyMom]

109. Bottle feeding isnt any easier

Ever prepped a bottle at 4 am? It's much easier to roll over, stuff a tit in the baby's mouth and go back to sleep. For that matter, even if a mother never fed her own kid, she'd still have to handle her share of the ass wiping, clothes washing, spitup cleaning, etc. Having babies is great, but there's a certain degree of drudgery involved no matter how they're fed.

It's not anti-feminist, it's just in the nature of human babies, who come out a bit less mature than average as an evolutionary compromise that allows thier heads to pass through the pelvis of an upright mother at the expense of early self-sufficiency.

Edit: Breastfeeding also benefits the mother by helping her to lose weight (much of which was put on to provide for her greater caloric needs during lactation,) reducing the risk and severity of postpartum depression and significantly reducing her risk of breast cancer.

[pokerfan]

115. This entire child bearing movement is very much anti-man

STAN: I want to have babies.

REG: You want to have babies?!

STAN: It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.

REG: But... you can't have babies.

STAN: Don't you oppress me.

REG: I'm not oppressing you, Stan. You haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!

STAN:

JUDITH: Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies.

FRANCIS: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister. Sorry.

REG: What's the point?

FRANCIS: What?

REG: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?!

FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.

REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

[NMMNG]

116. Is it past your bedtime or have you just had a few too many?

Your posts have gone way beyond bizarre. :yoiks:

[pokerfan]

118. Don't you oppress me!

:P

[NMMNG]

119. Ah, go stick your boob in a baby's mouth!

[GirlinContempt]

121. ROFL

[gollygee]

131. Oh FFS

Do you work for Carnation or something?

The breastfeeding movement is about giving babies the best possible nutrition, and about the EMPOWERMENT of women. If men could breastfeed we'd hear about how extraordinary and powerful they were because they could produce life-sustaining food. But because we're the ones who produce milk, it weakens us. Bullshit.

[elehhhhna]

165. pit, get help.

[judaspriestess]

28. I don't have kids and I know I would neve breast feed

I think of a Dog. I just can't get past this image. I think if your going to breast feed at least have the courtesy of covering up and then carry on.

[Iniquitous Bunny]

31. We are both mammals.

Like it or not. :shrug:

The only one I know that might not be is this guy:



I've always assumed he has scales or grew from some sort of larval material.

On breastfeeding, I just never understood the big deal. Not to breastfeed in absence of medical issues is kind of, well, illogical, but people have different comfort levels with their bodies I guess. At least in our country, bottlefeeding is a relatively safe alternative, although not ideal. In countries without adequate drinking water, it leads to infections and death at alarming levels.

Infants nurse every couple of hours. Most nursing moms do their best to be discrete, but things happen. Should nursing moms be relegated to stay home all the time? Or feed infants in dirty bathrooms? Maybe slip the baby under a Burka? The covers of Cosmo or Maxim shows more than 99% of nursing moms ever show. I don't get it.

[thefool_wa]

41. You are only depriving your child

of comfort, nutrition, imune system development, emotional growth and later emotional stability.

Its natural, beautiful, and necessary. If youdon't want to see it, don't look.

[QuestionAll...]

77. The babymilk issue...

http://www.newint.org/issue110/action.htm

The Nestlé Boycott is an international effort to halt the needless suffering of infants whose mothers have been convinced by aggressive sales campaigns that they should bottlefeed. Individuals like Sarah Keller (below) have on an unprecedented scale stopped buying Nestlé products; slowly but surely they are forcing the world’s second largest food corporation to change its policies.

What demands are being made?
Action groups are calling for a boycott of Nestlé products until the company halts all commercial promotion of artificial baby-foods directly to consumers, including



• An end to all advertising
• An end to the distribution of free samples
• An end to sales representatives encouraging mothers to try the product
• The responsible restriction of promotion to doctors, nurses and midwives to ethical and factual product information.



‘Until Nestlé stops promoting infant formula to mothers who abandon breastfeeding in favour of artificial milk products which they do not need, cannot afford and are unable to safely use; to mothers whose babies fall sick and sometimes die because they have been bottle-fed; until then we won’t buy Nestlé products.’

Of course there are many companies involved in the promotion of babyfoods to the Third World. but Nestlé controls almost half this estimated $1.72 billion market.

The Nestlé Boycott is the largest nonunion boycott in history. Begun in the US in 1977, it has spread to Australia, Canada, Sweden and West Germany. Der Spiegel, the West German political journal, called it, ‘A gigantic movement which has cost Nestlé millions of dollars.’ Interestingly, Nestlé announced that its profits declined by 16 per cent in 1980.

The passage of the WHO Code in 1981 was a victory for the local action groups that had been urging their governments to vote for the Code. The publicity generated by the Boycott helped raise public awareness of the babymilk marketing scandal.

The letter below was made available by
INFACT (Infant Formula Action Coalition) USA.

==

corporations are behind this 'nasty' natural feeding.

[thefool_wa]

87. Thank you! n/t

[trixie]

132. Maybe we should clear everything through you

the almighty knowing and judge.

Hving some that were breastfed and some that weren't, I can tell you I think their development was better suited to the non-hitting non violent home.

How many of you lactating zealots smack your kids?

[Midlodemocrat]

147. That is totally uncalled for.

There is absolutely NO evidence that breast feeding parents hit their kids.


:sarcasm:


But, breast is best. And saying it isn't doesn't make it so.

[elehhhhna]

170. Now I can't decide. Breast feed or smack the baby? Decisions, decisions.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

189. Hmm...you could always smack the baby while breastfeeding.

Bet the kid would wean earlier.

:sarcasm:

God, I can't believe she even tried to use that as an argument.

[elehhhhna]

168. Lemme guess. Izzat you, Anne?

[elehhhhna]

169. Lemme guess. Izzat you, Anne?

[elehhhhna]

167. YOU have the courtesy of NOT LOOKING? Who cares what creepy shit

your imagination dredges up. Last time I checked you control your own eyes.

[pitohui]

34. their desire to return women to the kitchen and to slavery

obviously if "breast is best" then men are excused from caring for the infant and women are the ones faced w. the huge gaping hole in their career which is almost never overcome

the woman can never have a chance at equal earning ability unless she has some famous last name or influential man

it isn't just baby sucking at the tit, it forces the mother to become a dependent as well

breast is not best, it is slavery, ask my mom, hell, ask any sane mom

the mothers who are into all this breast-feeding are not just anti-woman and anti-feminist -- they want to take ALL women's freedom, they are not happy just being slaves themselves, they preach and are in-your-face abt wanting women to be slaves to baby forever

a bare breast does not offend me but the "breast is best" movement cleverly designed by fundies and luddites to make woman's life a prison forever -- hell, yes, that offends me and it should offend every woman who wants her daughter to have a future

[Pale Blue Dot]

36. It doesn't have to be that way.

There's a lot more to caring for a baby than breastfeeding. Couples have choices and have to make priorities when having children. Often, it is the woman making them, but if that's not what a woman wants, find a partner supportive to your needs. There are no "HAVE TO's" with family structures. Just choices.

[pitohui]

38. the progressive women i've known well used bottles

i guess it's my age showing but progressive woman once welcomed science and technology, they didn't go screaming from it

sure some unattractive "earth mothers" in the 60s breast fed but to call them "progressive" because they were "hippies" is just silly, since their ideals are anything but progressive -- their only concern seemed to be a neurosis about food -- women who spend all their time being mammals ain't going anywhere in this life or doing anything to help uplift other women

[GirlinContempt]

40. Your implication that women

who make choices you don't agree with aren't progressive isn't helping uplift women, either.

Get over it. The whole point of feminism is providing women with the same choices as men. And one of those choices is staying home if they want to, breast feeding if they want to, doing what THEY want to. Oppressing their choice from the other side is no more free or equitable.

[Duppers]

44. amen, girl!

well put.

[GirlinContempt]

66. Thank you

:)

[Wilhelm Klink Reich]

48. pithoui is perhaps over-stating her case

but this is just naive. Everyhthing has been stacked against a women staying home with her child(ren) for at least the last 30 years.

And yes this "breast is best" campaign is nonsense on at least one level. Are you saying that a formula can't be developed that is equally good for babies? I'm pretty sure science can pull that one off if it wants to. Don't kid yourself into believing there isn't an ulterior motive here, and certainly not a progressive one.

[GirlinContempt]

64. Naive?

I have no idea what can and can't be developed, but until they do studies that show a formula being better for babies, I'm going to stick with the assertion that breast milk is better.

I don't think there is an ulterior motive, and I find the implication that women who decide their breasts being used to feed their babies is best for them are somehow being duped is offensive.

I find it very offensive that there is this idea that women don't know what they want or what is best for them personally, and it comes from all sides. If wanting to breast feed my babies, as MY choice, isn't progressive, then I don't want to be progressive, thank you very much.

And, last, I think this is a ridiculous conversation to even be engaging in. Breast feeding is oppressive? There is an ulterior motive in promoting a healthy baby feeding choice? How about this: As a woman, I have the choice to have babies. I have the choice to breast feed them. I have the choice to stay home with them. I have the choice to use formula. I have the choice to work & use some form of child care. All choices are valid, and to make any one of them is empowering to me, because my choices put me in control of my own life, whatever direction it happens to take.

[fudge stripe cookays]

74. Until science can create

artificial colostrum, breast-feeding will always be healthier. Babies get natural antibodies from breastfeeding. It's been proven healthier.

I don't have babies, and don't want any. But I would never point a finger at any mother for her baby-feeding choices. That's what being progressive is all about.

[tigereye]

94. yes, we are saying that there is NO formula as good as breastmilk

it's not a plot. :eyes: there is no ulterior motive.

[trixie]

136. Let me explain it again so you can understand

Not all women have the properties in their milk to sustain a child. Children have died because they were only on the breast. I know mine was almost one of those. Formula saved his life. Doctors don't tell you that. Doctors don't regularly check your milk.

Keep your judgements to yourself.

[GirlinContempt]

140. You're running around this thread saying that over and over again

Yet the only reason this is even being BROUGHT UP is because some nutter was claiming that breast feeding is BAD an enslaves women. I've seen maybe one poster on this whole thread say ANYTHING about it being wrong to NOT breastfeed. The debate over the virtues of breastfeeding ONLY came up because of the whacko. If you really think people here are judging you for not breastfeeding, take another look. If you really think that all the people defending it are 'lactating nazis', get a grip.

All that 99% of the people on this thread seem to be trying to say is, if you want to breast feed, do it, and you shouldn't be judged for it. That isn't saying 'we hate all people who bottlefeed'.

Again, the whole debate about the virtues of breastfeeding ONLY came up when someone started making ridiculous claims.

[Midlodemocrat]

157. I don't know, GiC. I worried that I am a luddite and that my

career was stalled by nursing my three. Never mind that I am earning three times what I earned prior to having children and nursing.

I'm scared. :sarcasm:

[GirlinContempt]

161. You're CHAINED to THREE screaming infants?

Hanging from your teats?
OH MY GOD it's a miracle you aren't back in a cave somewhere :o

[Midlodemocrat]

164. Thank God. Not anymore.

They are able to feed themselves. *whew*

Although it was a LOT cheaper when they were nursing. I actually had money in my wallet.

:bounce:

[Midlodemocrat]

174. That's not exactly true. When you make the decision to nurse,

you are told that you should expect a certain amount of wet diapers and a certain amount of dirty ones to ensure that your child is getting the nutrition he/she needs.

I might be going out on a limb here, but I would think that anyone who was competent enough to use a computer would be able to find that information. When I had my first two, I had books I regularly referred to and they all said that. Every. Single. One.

[LeftyMom]

112. Science still doesn't know all the properties of breastmilk

or how the brain develops, so no, science can't create a formula that's as good as breastmilk. Let alone one that sells for $10 a can and makes a profit, which is why the crap they sell now is full of corn syrup, conventional dairy (or GMO soy) and other crap we know isn't good for anybody.

[progmom]

122. well said, leftymom!

:hi:

[Momgonepostal]

186. Science hasn't YET developed anything as good...

Maybe someday it will, but it certainly hasn't happened yet.

[Dervill Crow]

49. Right on!

Ooops, my inner hippie is showing.

[GirlinContempt]

67. Take a shower why don't you!

;)

[Iniquitous Bunny]

52. That's my feeling as well.

I never grew up with the notion that how you fed your baby negated your brain. My mother (a working professional) and my grandmothers (one was a president of a pilot's organization and the other a post-graduate educated woman) all breastfed.

Brains, beauty, feminism aren't exclusive from breastfeeding. I think it's just harder to see progressive women so unsupportive of other women choices. :( (Sorry, mods.)

[GirlinContempt]

68. Yeah

I was raised with this idea that your choices are your choices, and as long as you have equal opportunity to make them, everything is all good. Make a bad one, you have no one to blame but yourself. Make one different from someone else? It's your life.

Crazy, that.

[astral]

46. Pitohui, you would REALLY be offended if . . . .

pitohui quote: "the progressive women i've known well used bottles

i guess it's my age showing but progressive woman once welcomed science and technology, they didn't go screaming from it

sure some unattractive "earth mothers" in the 60s breast fed but to call them "progressive" because they were "hippies" is just silly, since their ideals are anything but progressive -- their only concern seemed to be a neurosis about food -- women who spend all their time being mammals ain't going anywhere in this life or doing anything to help uplift other women

(I don't know where the 'quote' button is!)

_____________

You might be really offended if an "Attractive" mother was nursing her baby in front of you --- is the problem that they are sexy looking, or that they are not sexy looking?

"Women who spend all their time being mammals" ---- ? EXCUSE ME BUT THAT IS WHAT WOMEN ARE. Men too. Biologically meant to nurse, swallow, and pee and defecate and all the other bodily functions mammals share. Women can breast-feed or not, women can wear make-up or not, women can spank their kids or not -- there are good things and bad things we can take from 'technology.'

I find your outlook astounding to say the least, but maybe your issues are what the crux of the problem is -- some people are uncomfortable being reminded that we ARE mammals, and there's nothing to bring it home like the sight of a woman breastfeeding her child.

[Dervill Crow]

50. If they would just invent a formula that doesn't make baby poop stink.

Practically speaking, breastfed babies are far more pleasant to deal with.

I respect a woman's right to CHOICE, however.

[Sugar Smack]

51. .

:rofl:

[Susang]

59. Science & technology....

It was male doctors who insisted on women not breastfeeding in the first place, saying that formula was better for the infant. My mon told me that this was actually taught in schools in the 50s (all girl classes, of course). When my brother and I were born in '61 & '65 respectively, she says that the hospital never even gave her the option to breastfeed, they handed her a bottle of formula when they handed her her baby. Breastfeeding was never mentioned, and Mom, being a Catholic school educated 21 year old, didn't know to ask.

During the 1960s, commercial formulas grew in popularity, and by the mid-1970s they had all but replaced evaporated milk formulas as the "standard" for infant nutrition. During this time, the percentage of women who breastfed their newborn reached an all-time low (25%), in part because of the ease of use and low cost of commercial formula and a belief that formulas were "medically approved" to provide optimal nutrition for young infants (Figure 2).

A major factor in the acceptance of commercial formulas was their use in hospitals to feed newborn infants during the 1960s and 1970s. To encourage acceptance, formula companies began to provide inexpensive or free formula to hospitals in ready-to-feed bottles, enabling the phasing out of hospital formula preparation rooms. Mothers who witnessed how well their newborns accepted these easily prepared formulas were often convinced to continue this practice at home. Moreover, although pediatricians did not dissuade mothers from nursing, it was not strongly encouraged, as it is today.

http://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/contpeds/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=111702




So, I think that one could make a case that feeding your infant formula is an anti-feminist choice. }(

[Midlodemocrat]

84. Formula is an extremely poor substitute for breast milk.

Breast milk has different components and the child reaches satiety differently than if they were being fed with formula.

Formula is a life saver for some people and if you choose not to breast feed that is your CHOICE, just like it was mine to nurse. My now four year old niece would have died after birth without formula, because her mother was diagnosed with cancer and was unable to feed her. Thank God for choices.

[Divameow77]

144. I wouldn't say formula is an

"extremely" poor substitute. I understand that it's not as good as breast milk but you make it sound horrible. We can't always predict our childrens health but I formula fed both my boys, because I had to, and they were 2 of the healthiest babies I have ever heard of, still are really healthy kids.
If I would have breastfed I would have been descreet, but an accidental sighting of a boob does not freak me out, and if my 9 year old sees it, Oh Well! I woudl think that most woman want to be discreet while breastfeeding in public.

[Midlodemocrat]

146. Like I said in my post, formula ensured my niece's survival.

But, from a biological point of view, it is a poor substitute. When a child is being breast fed, the initial milk that lets down after colostrum is called 'fore milk', which is not as fatty and therefore easier for the baby to 'gulp' when they are hungry.

After a few minutes, depending on the child, 'hind milk' replaces fore milk and that leads to satiety. Formula doesn't offer that choice.

This is one of the reasons that statistically, breast fed babies tend not to become obese.

(I didn't mean to offend you. Everyone has to make the choices that are best for them. I meant in a clinical sense) :hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

92. I was a Sanilac baby myself

fed by a working mom when such was very unusual; but that was in the days before breast pumps.

I worked full-time during my son's infancy. I pumped and nursed. I regard the breast just as much part of the reproductive machinery as the uterus. What comes from the breast was made for the child, just as he got nourishment from the placenta in the womb.

[Dervill Crow]

54. Actually now they're saying that the breast is NOT the best.

I didn't read the article, but I think it was Google news that had the headline that breastfed babies don't deal with stress as well as bottlefed babies.

[Susang]

70. Who is "they"?

And why would you cite an article you didn't read? :shrug:

[Dervill Crow]

80. Good question.

Just because another poster implied there is a conspiracy afoot to force all women to breastfeed their babies, and I stumbled across an article that (I thought) said bottles were better. However, in hunting it down it looks like perhaps the headline was misleading:

"Children who were breastfed cope better with stress at ages 5 and 10 than those who were fed with a bottle, suggests new research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

"The researchers evaluated almost 9,000 children who were part of the 1970 British Cohort Study. They considered birthweight, feeding practices and other relevant factors, such as maternal depression, parents' educational levels, their smoking habits and social class."

edited to add link: http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/2365

edited again to add: I'm a dork. Note to self: Don't cite a headline without reading the article.

[Susang]

97. Interesting article

Having been bottle-fed myself, it explain a lot. ;-)

[Dervill Crow]

81. Uh . . . you got that backwards.

No offense, but you really should read the whole article.

[Dervill Crow]

82. Okay. n/t

[skygazer]

79. That's the silliest thing I've ever read

Let's see, I'm not a fundie, I'm not a "hippie" (whatever that is) and I'm not a slave or dependent. As a matter of fact, I've raised three kids while working pretty much full time and breast fed all of them. Not because I'm anti-woman or anti-feminist but because I had two breasts full of milk that was produced specifically for those children and it seemed pretty damn stupid to go out and purchase formula when I could feed 'em myself for free.

If you don't want to breast feed, don't. But lumping all women who do into some fundie, anti-feminist category is absurd. I'll do whatever I like with my breasts, thank you very much.

[XemaSab]

95. I worked with a woman who had had twins

and she pumped a couple times a day, took the milk home, and her stay-at-home husband fed it to the babies the next day in a bottle.

It's only a "prison" in a society that does not allow women OR men that kind of flexibility to feed their babies and work at the same time.

Who else is going to feed the baby if mom goes to work? And why should this other person feed the baby formula and not breast milk?

Society is very unkind to mothers, but I think we should change society and not motherhood.

[NMMNG]

106. Are you against diapers too?

After all, changing them over and over traps the woman in an endless cycle for years. Oh how anti-feminist it is to chain women to their babies in such a way! :sarcasm:


Trying to turn a natural, healthy means of feeding a baby into some vulgar means of opression is plain bizarre. Nobody is suggesting the mother stay chained in the house the entire time she is breastfeeding the child. I know of plenty of women who have professional careers and still breastfeed. That is what breast pumps were made for.

[SeattleGirl]

110. Buffy Baby, right on!

I absolutely agree. Thank you, thank you!

[elehhhhna]

171. I'd like to refute your inane crap. This line, especially:

the woman can never have a chance at equal earning ability unless she has some famous last name or influential man


Hubs stayed home w/ our girls. I nursed each for 3 months. My income grew from 50k to 100K in the first 2 years he stayed home, and stayed over 100 for the remainder. So, you're full of baloney.

[Arkansas Granny]

176. The "breast is best" movement wouldn't have been designed by

fundies because it relies on scientifically proven fact that breast milk is superior to man made formulas. Fundies don't like science.

I don't criticize women who decide to bottle feed their babies. It's all a matter of choice. I nursed all four of mine by choice and enjoyed the experience. It was best for them and best for me.

And, by the way, I consider myself to be a sane mom.

[Duppers]

45. not exclusive to 'this country'

Try it in England! They made me go to the restrooms (and I was covering myself and baby very well).

[Amaya]

58. Fucking insane!

it's a Breast!! OH MY GOD!

[MiniMandaRuth]

65. The only difference between a boob and my hand

is that they're on differnt parts of the body and society thinks that one's sexual.

If we keep with 'Boobs are used for sexual activity' then hands, feet, and legs are also BAAAAD because they're used in sexual activities. Don't even let me get started about mouths.

[XemaSab]

96. Hands can be very sexual

:D

(shit, am I corrupting a minor? damn.)

[nosillies]

85. At times it's not natural, and breasts don't always make milk

Or enough of it, in my case. Breastfeeding my son was the worst three months of my life. I didn't make enough milk. He would feed for about an hour and a half, and need to feed again a half hour later -- because he wasn't getting food. Yes, I was a slave. I only had about six hours a day that I didn't have a baby attached to me. I also lived about an hour and a half from the nearest area where I could do any shopping (had to drive through the desert to get to Vegas), so you can imagine what THOSE trips were like for somebody who was trying to do the right thing by breastfeeding. Ever sit on the side of a highway in the middle of nowhere praying you didn't get hit by a speeding Mack truck just so your kid could get some extra antibodies? There is no convenience in that. And I'm not a prude, but I didn't try to feed in public. My tits are my business, not everybody else's. And I was in Vegas, so nobody would have really noticed a stray tit anyway.:D

I would have loved to have breastfed, but it wasn't happening.

So there's my saga. But the whole point of my story, and what amazes me the most, is that SOME of the people (I will not paint everyone with one broad stroke here -- some were wonderful) who most claimed to be kind and supportive -- the breastfeeding earth mothers, La Leche folks, etc. -- were and still are some of the nastiest people on the face of creation whenever they hear me talk about any of the above. Somehow I'm an evil person, unfit to be a mother, because my hormones don't work right. I'm pregnant now, and I hope I can breastfeed my second child, but if I can't, I won't lose sleep over it this time. This is a medical decision, like any other -- right for some, not right for others. And I believe that someone else's medical decisions are none of my business. Do what's right for you!

P.S. Baby BHole's little formula-fed self is happy, smart, and super healthy, if I do say so myself.

[suzbaby]

90. I've heard of that happening to women on numerous occasions.

Sometimes, a woman's body just doesn't make enough milk to fully feed the baby and the mother spends almost all of her time nursing. I'm all for breastfeeding if you can do it, but if you can't I don't understand why anyone would make you feel bad about it. Sorry you had to go through that! :hug:

I'm a freak of nature who couldn't digest my mother's milk. She tried breastfeeding me, but I never gained any weight. The nurses thought my mother was neglecting me. The second I went on formula everything was fine...gained weight, finally became healthy.

Breastfeed if you can and you WANT to. Don't if you can't or if you DON'T want to. Every family has to make these decisions, and every family has their own reasons for making the decision that they do. We should just respect that.

[patsimae]

98. It's not a problem

Do these nursing fanatics realize that not everyone can breastfeed? This has always been the case since the beginning of time. Back in the old days, before formula and bottles, they had wet nurses, who fed babies whose mothers were unable (or unwilling ie rich and could afford it) to breastfeed.

[GirlinContempt]

99. I don't think anyone is suggesting

that every mother can and should breastfeed. What most people seem to be suggesting is that every mother who can and wants to breast feed should be able to do so without being harassed, ridiculed, or told they aren't progressive. Not exactly 'fanatical'.

[MrScorpio]

104. Excellent point

Bravo

[GirlinContempt]

111. Watch out

You may not want to give kudos to such a rabid woman hating anti-progressive slave driving luddite. ;)

[MrScorpio]

113. Those were ridiculous points

The key for me is what's best for mom and child and the freedom to pursue that goal without fear or persecution.

[trixie]

141. Finally , someone who know the actual truth

:applause:

They just don't get it. Not all women can make milk or if they do, not all have the right mix.

[gollygee]

142. Not all have the right mix?

I have no idea what that means.

But certainly if women can't breastfeed, thank goodness we have safe formula available. It doesn't make a mother less of a mother or woman if she can't breastfeed.

It doesn't make a woman less of a mother *or woman* if she can and does either.

[trixie]

150. If you look at a post you can see the # of the post it replies to

So you must scroll up to see the actual post that was replied. That might clear it up for you.

[Midlodemocrat]

163. I had a similar issue with my son..

My thyroid shut down after he was born, so I wasn't producing any of the fatty, rich, 'hind milk'. THerefore, he was eating every 1 1/2 hours around the clock.

I had nursed his sister for a year and was determined to do it with him as well, plus I KNEW something was wrong with me because I felt so badly. I couldn't imagine that having two small kids under the age of two would make a person feel THAT badly.

Fortunately, I had a great MD who put me on medicine for my thyroid and gave me oxytocin nasal spray to encourage additional let down and my son is great. 14yo and handsome and nice as can be.

It DOES happen that people can't make breast milk. My dearest SIL was diagnosed with cancer right after giving birth and if that baby hadn't been able to tolerate formula, I don't know what my brother would have done. Formula is a wonderful thing. And, my thing with nursing is if you are a good mom, you will always do what is right for you and your child. No one should judge.

This thread started out about this country's negativity towards seeing a nursing mom, not as an indictment of people who didn't nurse.

[Monk06]

181. Right on amybhole. BF is not for every women. My Mom tried breast feeding

my brother but she wasn't producing enough
milk and he was losing weight.

She was tiny with very little body fat. Not
a prime lactator.

The rest of us were bottle fed. No problem
for me. Fifty five and still alive.

On the other hand I had a girlfriend who
was divorced with three kids. The first two
were adopted and then she got pregnant.

When her second daughter was born she turned
out to be a lactating machine. The nurses were
throwing babies at her to keep her milk down.
She was feeding two other babies besides her
own and at one point she was feeding a baby
on each breast.

No big deal. Some women are born breast feeders.

Go figure.

[LostInAnomie]

114. It's harder to get a boner when a kid is attached to 'em!

DUH!

[Broken_Hero]

117. I got nothing against nursing mothers...

but whenever I hear about "nursing mothers" I think of the movie Me, Myself and Irene, for some strange reason....;)

[Jamastiene]

120. So, now nursing is sexual?

Does that person intend to start performing citizen's arrests on any woman nursing a baby, claiming it's pedophilia? Those people need to grow up and live in the real world with the rest of us. I've had it with that BS. :banghead:

[judaspriestess]

129. i dont' care if someone breast feeds in public

but I don't necessarily want to see someones tit hanging out at dinner and then get accidentally squirted. I don't see anything wrong as a courtesy to drape a blanket over the moms shoulder to shield the child while its breastfeeding.

[gollygee]

134. The problem is

the baby often will pull it off. They like to see their moms. Also, if it's warm for a blanket, they can get too hot.

Though I was always able to feed discretely without a blanket. It isnt' that hard - it just takes some thought when choosing a wardrobe.

[Midlodemocrat]

175. With my first. She would just sort of pull off and pull back

and stare at me. I will never forget it. We stared at each other, I talked to her and she latched back on.

That kind of experience is something you can't pay for. Nursing my three was something I will never regret. It was awesome.

[elehhhhna]

172. Exactly how often have you been squirted at dinner?

And try not STARING. Your eyes are under your control.

[Dastard Stepchild]

178. Soooo.....

I'd say that I was shocked to learn that some Americans were appalled by a youngin' latched on to a mammary, but this is the same populace that goes haywire over the thought of a man getting a hummer from another man in the dark of their own bedroom. When aren't some Americans displaying evidence of righteous outrage?

edited: effin' spelling.

[rustydog]

180. If I wanted to see someone sucking on a boob, I'd watch Liberman/Bush

[elehhhhna]

183. Best. Post. Ever.

[rbnyc]

184. Me and G: