Do you or does anyone you know think breastfeeding is abhorrent?

[Audrey]

Personally, I don't mind if a woman is breastfeeding in public. I just think she should do it as modestly as possible (one of those things that goes around her neck to stay in place, whatever it's called. :lol: Even a blanket to cover, if the baby won't pull it off). I don't think she should be sent to the bathroom. :)

We had a lady at church breastfeeding in service. She was sitting in the balcony, which means there were people all around her and above her. He was a very fussy eater (very young) and she kept removing the blanket she was covering herself with to readjust him, etc. It was very awkward for anyone sitting in the vicinity, because her bOOk was just there. IMO, she should have just gone to the nursery or something to feed him - on top of the modesty issue, there is the fussy baby distracting from service...

But anyway, as long as they are covered and I can see None of the breast (not just the nipple), I don't think it's a big deal in public.

 

 

Oh no! (to the bolded above) I think that is probably the most disgusting thing in the world. It's a TOILET! NO ONE should eat anything in a TOILET!

 

Just the thought makes me want to vomit. :ack2::ack2:

[Lovedtodeath]

if I am going to be disgusted by the sight (or thought) of a baby drinking milk from his mother's breast because of sexual aspects of the breast, I should be equally disgusted at the sight of an adult eating food with their lips, which after all have plenty of sexual aspects as well. And of course in some cultures a woman's lips are considered sexual enough to require being covered by a veil when in public...

 

And here I am using these same sexual lips for eating and (gasp!) talking...eww!

 

--Sarah

Thank you!

I respect that people feel that for themselves. Anyone who doesn't want to feed in public shouldn't have to, just like anyone who doesn't want to breastfeed can choose not to. But do you mean to say that your emotional feeling about it should apply to others or that there should be rules against feeding in public? For me, that's where it becomes problematic. If I wasn't allowed to feed my boys in public when they were infants, I wouldn't have been able to leave the house for a year - or, at the least, our neighborhood.

 

This is where it bothers me. Some people feel that tattoos or piercings are wrong or inappropriate or shouldn't be seen or whatever. Or that a showing bra strap is. Or that women showing their legs is. But no one thinks that because they don't like it and they happen to be a Starbucks clerk or an airline attendant or whatever that they can kick the tattooed guy out of their space. But people do make that leap with breastfeeding women sometimes.

:iagree:It is not always the woman who is not discreet. My babies would not/could not cooperate! They had problems breathing and could not breastfeed with a blanket over their heads or cloth bunched up around where they were feeding. I just feel that if you don't have problem with seeing a bottle in public then you shouldn't have a problem with seeing a breast in public. They were both invented for feeding babies. :D

[Mimm]

I haven't read the thread and I'm guess it's gotten kind of heated.

 

I grew up with lots of younger siblings and my mother breastfed for around a year for each of them. Breastfeeding was always very normal to me. I breastfed both my kids, ten months for the first (self weaned when I got pregnant) and two months for the second (had all kinds of problems).

 

But when I really think about it, I find it rather gross. Not because of any sexual aspect (the fact that anyone could see anything sexual about breastfeeding is completely foreign to me and I think it's rather twisted). But because I simply think it's gross to drink fluids from someone else's body. Like, I intellectually get that it's normal (and necessary in many situations in the world) but I find it... oogy. But I have a lot of issues with cow's milk as well so it's nothing against human milk specifically. And I still eat dairy. ;)

[dakarimom5]

I have many stories about varying family members and their feelings about breastfeeding:glare: Let's just say that NONE of my family supported my decision and many were outright rude about it.

[Lovedtodeath]

But I have a lot of issues with cow's milk as well so it's nothing against human milk specifically. And I still eat dairy. ;)

Me too. Not so much lately, but now you reminded me. :lol:

[SonshineLearner]

I was single with my daughter and one of my relatives commented that I needed to stop if I was ever going to get a man. (she was almost 3 months old?) I nursed till she was almost 3, with my son he was almost 5 when he stopped. Almost 8 yrs of nursing with 2 children, so I figure I did my part in the nursing world. I like the way "freer" cultures nurse. Baby's hungy; baby eats. Seriously, it's the most natural thing on earth. As someone else said, babies are meant to drink human milk. Why do the 2nd best for baby, if the 1st is available. (And I would do goat's milk if I couldn't nurse :))

[Mimm]

Me too. Not so much lately, but now you reminded me. :lol:

 

You're welcome. ;)

[mommymilkies]

One of my old anthropology professors has spent his career working with the Himba people in Africa. I recently took my children to meet with him as part of a unit study centered around the Babies documentary (one of the families showcased was Himba). He emphasized when we were talking with him that in the Himba culture a woman's breasts are just not considered sexual. It's a non-issue.

 

Our culture, of course, is different, but really...if I am going to be disgusted by the sight (or thought) of a baby drinking milk from his mother's breast because of sexual aspects of the breast, I should be equally disgusted at the sight of an adult eating food with their lips, which after all have plenty of sexual aspects as well. And of course in some cultures a woman's lips are considered sexual enough to require being covered by a veil when in public...

 

And here I am using these same sexual lips for eating and (gasp!) talking...eww!

 

--Sarah

 

I completely agree with you, but OT, I am intrigued by your unit study. We love the Babies movie and the Himba mother is one of my parenting role models. How did you turn this into a unit study?

[mazakaal]

I wonder if that was a common attitude back then (not sure how old your MIL is), but my mother and my MIL both had the same attitudes.

 

My mother didn't breastfeed because when my brother and I were born, the 'progressive' thing to do was to bottle feed. She said that breastfeeding was considered base.

 

Years gave her wisdom and she was very supportive of me breastfeeding. She had just been led astray by the conventional wisdom of the day.

[lionfamily1999]

Depends. Sometimes all you can see is that the baby's mouth is attached. I've seen people where nothing at all showed, and then I've seen people who just rolled their tube top down to their bellybutton.

 

Honestly, I think that if *you* are uncomfortable feeding in public, you have every right not to. But immodest behavior, imo, should be far more up to the individual person.

So, do we just ditch shirt and shoes required rules? How about pants?

 

As far as covering up, I think bfing mothers should be held to the same standards as anyone else. Show cleavage, sure; show side views, it happens; rolling your tube top down, no.

I don't think breastfeeding is icky. However, I think babies in general are sort of icky. If enjoying the grossness of infancy is some sort of motherly gift, then I never got it!

 

Mine are 3 and 2 now, and I wish I could still throw a blanket over their heads at restaurants so they would eat without attracting glares.

:lol:

One of my old anthropology professors has spent his career working with the Himba people in Africa. I recently took my children to meet with him as part of a unit study centered around the Babies documentary (one of the families showcased was Himba). He emphasized when we were talking with him that in the Himba culture a woman's breasts are just not considered sexual. It's a non-issue.

 

Our culture, of course, is different, but really...if I am going to be disgusted by the sight (or thought) of a baby drinking milk from his mother's breast because of sexual aspects of the breast, I should be equally disgusted at the sight of an adult eating food with their lips, which after all have plenty of sexual aspects as well. And of course in some cultures a woman's lips are considered sexual enough to require being covered by a veil when in public...

 

And here I am using these same sexual lips for eating and (gasp!) talking...eww!

 

--Sarah

I know plenty of parents that don't kiss their children on the lips (or anyone besides their spouse) for that reason. A lot of people pump because they don't want their nip in someone else's mouth (besides their dh). Some don't pump because the idea of bfing dh (even on accident) turns their stomach.

 

It doesn't make them idiots. It doesn't make them short sighted or hypocrites. It makes them of a different opinion. It means they prefer a different option.

[Lovedtodeath]

Some don't pump because the idea of bfing dh (even on accident) turns their stomach.

My breasts were completely off limits to dh for about 6 years.

[lionfamily1999]

My breasts were completely off limits to dh for about 6 years.

I had to wear bath towels in my bra the whole time I bf. I also smelled like a dairy farm... all.the.time. I could not have paid dh to touch them :lol: Even with all the precautions, he still got milk in his face. Silly man, I told him not to confront me when I was topless. :lol:

[garddwr]

I completely agree with you, but OT, I am intrigued by your unit study. We love the Babies movie and the Himba mother is one of my parenting role models. How did you turn this into a unit study?

 

We just spent a week or two studying each area/culture. You could take it as far as you want--make ethnic foods or costumes (wouldn't that be fun for the Himba!), learn about the language, geography, culture, history...

 

We worked with another family on this, and also tried to find someone for each of the foreign countries who was from or had lived in the country. There are plenty of resources online and in libraries for Japan and Mongolia, not so much for Namibia and the Himba in particular. National Geographic had an article from January 2004, also some video clips. I had the anthropologist connection, which was awesome. Dr. Crandall did write a book about the Himba, The Place of the Stunted Ironwood Trees, you might get it through interlibrary loan. One question I had from the documentary that he answered for me was where the father was--he pretty much doesn't show up in the video and I wondered if the men were off herding cattle somewhere else during those months or just not involved with babies. He said the dads are usually quite involved and caring towards their kids, it was probably just a fluke of when they did the filming that dad wasn't there.

 

You can do lots of compare and contrast discussions with this documentary--housing, food, transportation, attitude towards babies (the Himba mother/baby relationship seemed by far the most organic/natural, the American the most contrived (Mommy and me classes instead of baby just being there and participating in what mother was doing), attitudes toward safety, material possessions, baby toys...really fascinating stuff. I thought the Mongolian baby was treated with a sort of benign neglect, Japanese was more like American (so is it socioeconomics that matters more than culture??)

 

Talking about it makes me want to revisit the video.

 

--Sarah

[Heather in Neverland]

Well my story is a little different. In my family breast feeding wasn't "icky" but it was equated with poverty.

 

My grandmother had 12 children and she breast fed them all. She had no choice. They grew up in abject poverty with not enough shoes to go around so the older kids had to take turns going to school.

 

So when my mom grew up and got married she wanted nothing to do with breast feeding because it reminded her of being desperately poor. NO FEMALE in my family breast fed. No one. No aunts, cousins, nothing. Being able to buy formula was a sign you had made it out of poverty.

 

So when I had a baby it never even occurred to me to breast feed. I had no examples to follow and it was seen in my family as something only poor people in third world countries do. Dh was adopted so his mom had no experience with it and she had already passed away anyways.

 

I wonder what my mom thinks of it now. I think I'll ask her. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

.

[Word Nerd]

My grandma told me that her mom told her she had to use formula because her breastmilk was "like pig swill" and not rich enough to provide nourishment for her babies. I don't think either one of them knew what breastmilk was supposed to look like or that just because it wasn't as thick and white as cow's milk didn't mean it was deficient.

[garddwr]

Well my story is a little different. In my family breast feeding wasn't "icky" but it was equated with poverty.

 

My grandmother had 12 children and she breast fed them all. She had no choice. They grew up in abject poverty with not enough shoes to go around so the older kids had to take turns going to school.

 

So when my mom grew up and got married she wanted nothing to do with breast feeding because it reminded her of being desperately poor. NO FEMALE in my family breast fed. No one. No aunts, cousins, nothing. Being able to buy formula was a sign you had made it out of poverty.

 

So when I had a baby it never even occurred to me to breast feed. I had no examples to follow and it was seen in my family as something only poor people in third world countries do. Dh was adopted so his mom had no experience with it and she had already passed away anyways.

 

I wonder what my mom thinks of it now. I think I'll ask her. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

.

 

Now that we have WIC providing formula for free, I wonder how things have changed? I get the impression that it is the poorest families who are least likely to breastfeed these days...

[Wendi]

When I was PG with dd #2, 14 years ago, I was standing in line with another PG woman. We shared due dates & had a nice conversation until she told me she wasn't going to Bf because it violated the sexual contract between husband & wife.

 

I must have had this face :confused: because she explained that the part of wedding vows about keeping yourself only for your spouse & not committing adultery meant not Bf-ing.

 

Amber in SJ

 

:confused::001_huh::confused1:

 

I have never heard such a thing in my life. I am flabbergasted. Why does she think booKs produce milk when a woman has a baby? Does she really think bf'ing is se*ual behavior? How does she think all the women in the Bible (and all the other women for thousands of years) fed their babies? That is unbelievable. :confused:

 

Wendi

[foxbridgeacademy]

I didn't BF my first 2 because I thought is was weird/gross (I was only 21) later with my younger children (age 28) I was determined to do the "best" for them no matter what. I figured I could manage for at least a couple months.... DS was weaned at 1 yr. old, and DD, refused all bottles and was weaned at 1 1/2.

 

I think some of societies problems with BF is the public aspect and the age of the BF child. So no I don't think you're going to find much true opposition to BF, especially here.

[Wendi]

I can't recall ever having someone I know say that nursing is icky or se*ual. Both my mom and MIL used bottles; that's what was popular at the time. (Plus I was very preemie and in the hospital for a month when I was born, so nursing would've been difficult for my mom.) But neither of them were negative about me nursing, although they both made a wistful comment about how they would miss out on giving ds a bottle. (I made sure Grandma got to be the first to try feeding ds cereal when it was time.)

 

Wendi

[Word Nerd]

When I was PG with dd #2, 14 years ago, I was standing in line with another PG woman. We shared due dates & had a nice conversation until she told me she wasn't going to Bf because it violated the sexual contract between husband & wife.

 

I must have had this face :confused: because she explained that the part of wedding vows about keeping yourself only for your spouse & not committing adultery meant not Bf-ing.

 

:confused: :blink: I don't think there's a smiley that accurately conveys my thoughts about that objection to breastfeeding!

[Bluegoat]

I think the real question is why would they stop showing segments with a baby breastfeeding on Sesame Street? And why show bottle feeding, if eating babies are uninteresting for children?

 

The fact is our breastfeeding and even initiation rates are not great in North America compared to other places - we could do a lot better. So why don't we? One of the reasons people find it makes them uncomfortable is because they don't see it around them in daily life. So I think it would be nice to have it happen on a widely watched children's show, the same way they show people of different races being friends, or people with disabilities having fun.

[cjbeach]

My sister-in-law.

Her words to me with DS #1 were "Breastfeeding is just GROSS."

Mother-in-law thought it was odd and gave me the eyeroll. I was shunned to the bathroom for feedings.

They were completely thrilled when doc suggested formula for reflux and even bought me a CASE of formula. :001_huh:

[yucabird]

Not long ago, I was getting ready for a (rare) date-night with husband. Our sitter was here (sweet local lady we have known for years, late 40s/early 50s with six teenage/adult children), and she was playing house with the girls.

 

As we were leaving I saw that they were all feeding their baby dolls. My girls were bottle feeding, and she was breast feeding.

 

It made me smile.

[kiana]

So, do we just ditch shirt and shoes required rules? How about pants?

 

As far as covering up, I think bfing mothers should be held to the same standards as anyone else. Show cleavage, sure; show side views, it happens; rolling your tube top down, no.

 

 

Hmm, I'd make the exception in that you're not allowed to display nipples normally, and I think brief views are gonna happen, especially if baby is a 'lookaround!' type.

 

However, I should've said "whether to breastfeed in public or not because of modesty ought to be up to the mother", and I'll stand by that. If a woman feels immodest no matter how she's covered, she shouldn't do it. Her choice. But someone else should be able to without looking for someplace to hide or letting the baby go hungry.

[Myeightkiddies]

I've been bullied and forced to rooms where no one would possibly enter. It was as if I had the plague. It was from my side of the family and dh's. Even when they came to visit me in my own home they expected me to hide the hideous act of nursing my babies.

 

Their loss as the baby and I simply stayed home and rarely visited them.

[mommymilkies]

My breasts were completely off limits to dh for about 6 years.

 

:lol: After the initial engorgement, I haven't found it to be a hinderance. With our first child together, he insisted I wear bras and pads to minimize him being leaked upon. With the next kid he realized that unless he's actually suckling that it's a non-issue. He was...exuberant this time. :lol:

 

We just spent a week or two studying each area/culture. You could take it as far as you want--make ethnic foods or costumes (wouldn't that be fun for the Himba!), learn about the language, geography, culture, history...

 

We worked with another family on this, and also tried to find someone for each of the foreign countries who was from or had lived in the country. There are plenty of resources online and in libraries for Japan and Mongolia, not so much for Namibia and the Himba in particular. National Geographic had an article from January 2004, also some video clips. I had the anthropologist connection, which was awesome. Dr. Crandall did write a book about the Himba, The Place of the Stunted Ironwood Trees, you might get it through interlibrary loan. One question I had from the documentary that he answered for me was where the father was--he pretty much doesn't show up in the video and I wondered if the men were off herding cattle somewhere else during those months or just not involved with babies. He said the dads are usually quite involved and caring towards their kids, it was probably just a fluke of when they did the filming that dad wasn't there.

 

You can do lots of compare and contrast discussions with this documentary--housing, food, transportation, attitude towards babies (the Himba mother/baby relationship seemed by far the most organic/natural, the American the most contrived (Mommy and me classes instead of baby just being there and participating in what mother was doing), attitudes toward safety, material possessions, baby toys...really fascinating stuff. I thought the Mongolian baby was treated with a sort of benign neglect, Japanese was more like American (so is it socioeconomics that matters more than culture??)

 

Talking about it makes me want to revisit the video.

 

--Sarah

Thank you. I think we should really do this. There's no way we'd find anyone locally from the other cultures (we live in the middle of NOWHERE), but maybe if we go out of state. I also thought that about the Mongolian baby. Especially when he was being beaten on by his brother!

[Scarlett]

I think the real question is why would they stop showing segments with a baby breastfeeding on Sesame Street? And why show bottle feeding, if eating babies are uninteresting for children?

 

The fact is our breastfeeding and even initiation rates are not great in North America compared to other places - we could do a lot better. So why don't we? One of the reasons people find it makes them uncomfortable is because they don't see it around them in daily life. So I think it would be nice to have it happen on a widely watched children's show, the same way they show people of different races being friends, or people with disabilities having fun.

 

Eating babies! :lol:

[lionfamily1999]

My grandma told me that her mom told her she had to use formula because her breastmilk was "like pig swill" and not rich enough to provide nourishment for her babies. I don't think either one of them knew what breastmilk was supposed to look like or that just because it wasn't as thick and white as cow's milk didn't mean it was deficient.

The longer this thread goes the more I realize that I (bf all three of my dc) actually find it kind of icky... While pig swill was pretty darn far, my dad once complimented my milk (it was in a bottle in the fridge)... I thought my skin was going to crawl off completely. I have a hang-up I didn't even know about.

Hmm, I'd make the exception in that you're not allowed to display nipples normally, and I think brief views are gonna happen, especially if baby is a 'lookaround!' type.

 

However, I should've said "whether to breastfeed in public or not because of modesty ought to be up to the mother", and I'll stand by that. If a woman feels immodest no matter how she's covered, she shouldn't do it. Her choice. But someone else should be able to without looking for someplace to hide or letting the baby go hungry.

I agree to an extent. I just feel like some measure should be taken to limit the odds of a peek-a-boob moment.

 

Personally, when my littles started looking around I was even more careful to cover up securely. Not so much to keep from squirting anyone as to keep my nip from being stretched. Ow.

I think the real question is why would they stop showing segments with a baby breastfeeding on Sesame Street? And why show bottle feeding, if eating babies are uninteresting for children?

 

The fact is our breastfeeding and even initiation rates are not great in North America compared to other places - we could do a lot better. So why don't we? One of the reasons people find it makes them uncomfortable is because they don't see it around them in daily life. So I think it would be nice to have it happen on a widely watched children's show, the same way they show people of different races being friends, or people with disabilities having fun.

Anyone can bottle feed a baby. Sesame Street targets kids and (ime) when it comes to older siblings it's all the rage to encourage them to help out and bond with the baby themselves. Well, a big brother/sister isn't going to bf the new baby. Dad can't bf the baby. So, when your target audience is incapable of doing something one particular way, it makes sense to show it more often being done the way they can do it.

 

What do you mean by "initiation rates"? How high do bfing rates have to be to be considered "great"?

[justamouse]

I completely agree with you, but OT, I am intrigued by your unit study. We love the Babies movie and the Himba mother is one of my parenting role models. How did you turn this into a unit study?

mine, too-amazing.

 

Except for the tongue bath. I draw the line there. Though her kids were clean.

 

We just spent a week or two studying each area/culture. You could take it as far as you want--make ethnic foods or costumes (wouldn't that be fun for the Himba!), learn about the language, geography, culture, history...

 

We worked with another family on this, and also tried to find someone for each of the foreign countries who was from or had lived in the country. There are plenty of resources online and in libraries for Japan and Mongolia, not so much for Namibia and the Himba in particular. National Geographic had an article from January 2004, also some video clips. I had the anthropologist connection, which was awesome. Dr. Crandall did write a book about the Himba, The Place of the Stunted Ironwood Trees, you might get it through interlibrary loan. One question I had from the documentary that he answered for me was where the father was--he pretty much doesn't show up in the video and I wondered if the men were off herding cattle somewhere else during those months or just not involved with babies. He said the dads are usually quite involved and caring towards their kids, it was probably just a fluke of when they did the filming that dad wasn't there.

 

You can do lots of compare and contrast discussions with this documentary--housing, food, transportation, attitude towards babies (the Himba mother/baby relationship seemed by far the most organic/natural, the American the most contrived (Mommy and me classes instead of baby just being there and participating in what mother was doing), attitudes toward safety, material possessions, baby toys...really fascinating stuff. I thought the Mongolian baby was treated with a sort of benign neglect, Japanese was more like American (so is it socioeconomics that matters more than culture??)

 

Talking about it makes me want to revisit the video.

 

--Sarah

 

I thought the same about the Mongolian baby. -though you could see the mother loved him-it was strange, the separation at times. Though it was hysterical when he was dragging the cat behind him.

[Dustybug]

I had to wear bath towels in my bra the whole time I bf. I also smelled like a dairy farm... all.the.time. I could not have paid dh to touch them :lol: Even with all the precautions, he still got milk in his face. Silly man, I told him not to confront me when I was topless. :lol:

 

:lol::lol:

 

Well my story is a little different. In my family breast feeding wasn't "icky" but it was equated with poverty.

 

My grandmother had 12 children and she breast fed them all. She had no choice. They grew up in abject poverty with not enough shoes to go around so the older kids had to take turns going to school.

 

So when my mom grew up and got married she wanted nothing to do with breast feeding because it reminded her of being desperately poor. NO FEMALE in my family breast fed. No one. No aunts, cousins, nothing. Being able to buy formula was a sign you had made it out of poverty.

 

So when I had a baby it never even occurred to me to breast feed. I had no examples to follow and it was seen in my family as something only poor people in third world countries do. Dh was adopted so his mom had no experience with it and she had already passed away anyways.

 

I wonder what my mom thinks of it now. I think I'll ask her. :tongue_smilie:

 

 

.

 

This was interesting to me. Thanks for sharing. I never think of things like that. My MIL has 14 siblings and my FIL has 17. I wonder if that's why they view bf so differently?

 

 

Now that we have WIC providing formula for free, I wonder how things have changed? I get the impression that it is the poorest families who are least likely to breastfeed these days...

 

I don't know about everywhere, but when I received WIC, breastfeeding was encouraged. Our WIC office even has a breastfeeding room to go to, complete with comfy chairs, pillows, etc., if you need to nurse while waiting in the waiting room.

[Momof3littles]

 

I don't know about everywhere, but when I received WIC, breastfeeding was encouraged. Our WIC office even has a breastfeeding room to go to, complete with comfy chairs, pillows, etc., if you need to nurse while waiting in the waiting room.

WIC historically gave out things like juice to 4 month olds though. Giving solids and juice on 4 month olds can come across as a pseudo endorsement to someone lacking in education. I think they stopped with the juice fairly recently, however. I'm not sure.

[6packofun]

Not heated at all, IMO! It's been very eye-opening to me. I just wasn't aware that so many people, especially of our generation, still thought the *concept* of breastfeeding was icky. I certainly didn't love doing it and ended up stopping, but I don't think it IS icky, kwim?

[PeacefulChaos]

I breastfeed because I can and because I still enjoy it.

Regarding the comic, I actually thought of that last night. We live in a college town - you can imagine the outfits we see once its, oh, 70 degrees. :glare: (I'm going to have to tell my boys to always look at their feet in the car! :lol: )

One of the first things I tell new B-feeding moms is the teA/O let down spray. Make sure you have a towel handy cause it goes everywhere.

I heard about that! Yikes! My sil just said that she wore a bra all the time. She hated the larger bOOks, though. Her clothes didn't fit anymore. (I could see that being a definite drawback). :)

Eating babies! :lol:

(Yeah, when I read that, I chuckled, too.)

The longer this thread goes the more I realize that I (bf all three of my dc) actually find it kind of icky... While pig swill was pretty darn far, my dad once complimented my milk (it was in a bottle in the fridge)... I thought my skin was going to crawl off completely. I have a hang-up I didn't even know about.

 

I agree to an extent. I just feel like some measure should be taken to limit the odds of a peek-a-boob moment.

 

Personally, when my littles started looking around I was even more careful to cover up securely. Not so much to keep from squirting anyone as to keep my nip from being stretched. Ow.

 

Anyone can bottle feed a baby. Sesame Street targets kids and (ime) when it comes to older siblings it's all the rage to encourage them to help out and bond with the baby themselves. Well, a big brother/sister isn't going to bf the new baby. Dad can't bf the baby. So, when your target audience is incapable of doing something one particular way, it makes sense to show it more often being done the way they can do it.

 

What do you mean by "initiation rates"? How high do bfing rates have to be to be considered "great"?

You know what's funny? The longer I've been reading this thread, the more I think about how everything I said earlier (regarding covering up, etc), I really just said because I've always said it. I was looking through a curriculum sale last year and a lady was breastfeeding as she was walking around. I dropped a book and she leaned over to get it and the baby looked up at me and I didn't think twice about 'what I was seeing'. It never even occurred to me, other than that I thought to myself 'should I be bothered that I just saw that woman's breast?' For some reason I thought it should. :confused: A friend of mine breastfed her son at her daughter's cheerleading practice and a lady came over, told her off for 'doing that in public where my 13 year old son can see you' and calling her a cow. I was livid. So I've had the opposite realization, I guess. :) I've realized I'm more pro breastfeeding than I thought, and that, honestly, I would try it if I had another kid. (Which I won't). And I guess, admitting that makes me feel a little bad, like saying that what I did in the past wasn't the right thing, even though it was just as good of a decision. So rather than be totally ok with it, I try to make myself feel better by trying to hold on to former negative feelings about it.

Does that make any sense?

mine, too-amazing.

 

Except for the tongue bath. I draw the line there. Though her kids were clean.

I thought the same about the Mongolian baby. -though you could see the mother loved him-it was strange, the separation at times. Though it was hysterical when he was dragging the cat behind him.

The Mongolian baby was the story that was the most surprising to me. I loved Babies, though. :)

I don't know about everywhere, but when I received WIC, breastfeeding was encouraged. Our WIC office even has a breastfeeding room to go to, complete with comfy chairs, pillows, etc., if you need to nurse while waiting in the waiting room.

When I received WIC, they pushed breastfeeding on me. Like, when I was pregnant with DS7, I said I wasn't going to and the lady lectured me for an hour. Yeah, that's really going to change my mind. So I learned with DS6 to just say I was considering it - even though I wasn't.

But I live in a TOTALLY different culture than many of the people here, I think. Here, everyone breastfeeds. Example: When DD was born in 2009, there were 13 women total who were pregnant at church. 3 of us bottle fed. And there is a big breastfeeding culture here. It's the thing to do, apparently.

WIC historically gave out things like juice to 4 month olds though. Giving solids and juice on 4 month olds can come across as a pseudo endorsement to someone lacking in education. I think they stopped with the juice fairly recently, however. I'm not sure.

 

I gave my kids a little bit of juice at 3 months. And started them on rice cereal at 4 months and baby food (veggies first) at 5 months. :leaving:

I also went to full table food at 9 months and had them off bottles at 9 months, and had them switched to whole milk by the time they turned 1. (weaned over the last couple weeks between 11-12 months).

[lionfamily1999]

I don't know about everywhere, but when I received WIC, breastfeeding was encouraged. Our WIC office even has a breastfeeding room to go to, complete with comfy chairs, pillows, etc., if you need to nurse while waiting in the waiting room.

They used to give you vouchers for fresh fruits and vegetables if you were bfing too. WIC, ime, is very very big on coaching people in nutrition and healthy living.

You know what's funny? The longer I've been reading this thread, the more I think about how everything I said earlier (regarding covering up, etc), I really just said because I've always said it. I was looking through a curriculum sale last year and a lady was breastfeeding as she was walking around. I dropped a book and she leaned over to get it and the baby looked up at me and I didn't think twice about 'what I was seeing'. It never even occurred to me, other than that I thought to myself 'should I be bothered that I just saw that woman's breast?' For some reason I thought it should. :confused: A friend of mine breastfed her son at her daughter's cheerleading practice and a lady came over, told her off for 'doing that in public where my 13 year old son can see you' and calling her a cow. I was livid. So I've had the opposite realization, I guess. :) I've realized I'm more pro breastfeeding than I thought, and that, honestly, I would try it if I had another kid. (Which I won't). And I guess, admitting that makes me feel a little bad, like saying that what I did in the past wasn't the right thing, even though it was just as good of a decision. So rather than be totally ok with it, I try to make myself feel better by trying to hold on to former negative feelings about it.

Does that make any sense?

:lol: Aren't we something else.

 

Cow comments tick me off. It's like (to me) being called a breeder. I immediately feel my hackles rise and I go into kill mode. No one's died yet, but one day someone is going to drop cow and breeder in the same sentence and I may go off the deep end.

 

Hind sight blah blah blah. I bfed. I hated it. I wonder now if I should have. Was it so much better nutrionally that it made up for me being so uncomfortable, smelly and grouchy? It doesn't really matter though, because what's done is done. :shrug: Your kids are okay? M'eh, don't beat yourself up about it then. Just remember this so when you're a gramma you can bug the living daylights out of them ;)

 

ETA, my kids did all their teething on pork chop bones and dog biscuits. Don't tell though :p

[kiana]

ETA, my kids did all their teething on pork chop bones and dog biscuits. Don't tell though :p

 

There's something wrong with that? :D

[kiana]

You know what's funny? The longer I've been reading this thread, the more I think about how everything I said earlier (regarding covering up, etc), I really just said because I've always said it. I was looking through a curriculum sale last year and a lady was breastfeeding as she was walking around. I dropped a book and she leaned over to get it and the baby looked up at me and I didn't think twice about 'what I was seeing'. It never even occurred to me, other than that I thought to myself 'should I be bothered that I just saw that woman's breast?' For some reason I thought it should. :confused: A friend of mine breastfed her son at her daughter's cheerleading practice and a lady came over, told her off for 'doing that in public where my 13 year old son can see you' and calling her a cow. I was livid. So I've had the opposite realization, I guess. :) I've realized I'm more pro breastfeeding than I thought, and that, honestly, I would try it if I had another kid. (Which I won't). And I guess, admitting that makes me feel a little bad, like saying that what I did in the past wasn't the right thing, even though it was just as good of a decision. So rather than be totally ok with it, I try to make myself feel better by trying to hold on to former negative feelings about it.

Does that make any sense?

 

I'm pretty impressed by your self-evaluation :D

[delaney]

My SIL thought it was gross and that breasts were for sexual purposes only:confused:. She wouldn't even though her only baby was a preemie and could have used it. For me I find it glorious. I could be a wet nurse. No better time than that 2 am feeding when the house is silent and they gaze into your eyes. I just weaned number 6 at 3 and 1 month! Never thought I would go that long with a kid for sure but it was a really tight bond for us. He still needs to cuddle up to my boobs to feel secure when he gets upset.:tongue_smilie:

[lionfamily1999]

There's something wrong with that? :D

:lol:

[Scarlett]

I'm pretty impressed by your self-evaluation :D

 

Me too! LOVE it.

[Scarlett]

ETA, my kids did all their teething on pork chop bones and dog biscuits. Don't tell though :p

 

:001_huh:

 

Real DOG biscuits?!

[mommymilkies]

mine, too-amazing.

 

Except for the tongue bath. I draw the line there. Though her kids were clean.

 

 

:lol: Maybe little babies if I had to, but I don't know if I could go through the corncob to clean baby poo off of me, either. It wouldn't be the most disgusting thing I've had to do as an adult, though...

[ChristineW]

I guess anyone who doesn't know that Sesame Street pretty much exists to slip in social agenda messages doesn't know much about Sesame Street. :D

 

 

 

I don't think of people who object to breastfeeding for others or basic breastfeeding education as being especially well-educated in this day and age, honestly. If you, yourself, were raised in such a way that you feel like it's icky or uncomfortable, if you're reasonably well-informed, then surely you don't think others should be discriminated against for breastfeeding or should be stopped from doing it? I support anyone's right to choose not to, but every bit of research shows us that it's the healthiest thing for a baby. Just like if you want to choose less healthy foods, that's your right, but I'm glad Sesame Street is "slipping in" the message that carrots are good for you.

 

:iagree::iagree:

[PeacefulChaos]

I'm pretty impressed by your self-evaluation :D

 

I'm mildly embarrassed by it. :D Kinda feel silly, kwim? :blush:

[justamouse]

I'm mildly embarrassed by it. :D Kinda feel silly, kwim? :blush:

:grouphug:

[Bluegoat]

Eating babies! :lol:

 

 

Oops! How embarrassing.

 

I would object to Sesame Street depicting babies being eaten.

[beaners]

My mom nursed my siblings and me, so it seemed normal for me to breastfeed my children. I mentioned in a different thread that I only know one other mom who breastfed her children in this area. I did have one person tell me that breastfeeding is weird when she stopped by to see me after my second daughter was born.

[Bluegoat]

 

Anyone can bottle feed a baby. Sesame Street targets kids and (ime) when it comes to older siblings it's all the rage to encourage them to help out and bond with the baby themselves. Well, a big brother/sister isn't going to bf the new baby. Dad can't bf the baby. So, when your target audience is incapable of doing something one particular way, it makes sense to show it more often being done the way they can do it.

 

What do you mean by "initiation rates"? How high do bfing rates have to be to be considered "great"?

 

I don't think that is why they show babies being fed on SS though. I think they are just trying to show kids what babies are like, and the things that babies do, especially things that are different from what older children do - like only nursing or drinking from a bottle, not speaking, sleeping a lot. Just like they show farm animals, or people at different jobs.

 

Initiation rates are the rate of moms that give bf a try initially - about 70% in the US. fewer than that continue. So if we want to know if that is a good result or not, or if there is some reason for that, we compare it to other groups, ideally with similar kinds of circumstances, and then look at what is different.

 

So, there are western, wealthy countries where the overall bf rate is over 90%, and in some cases these were places that back in the 1970's had similar rates to what we had and have in North America. It probably isn't because we are biologically different.

[JennifersLost]

Just a quick reply to the modesty issue:

 

I don't care what other women do, but I am modest about my breasts and I managed to breastfeed four babies in every sort of social situation without EVER giving anyone a peek at my breasts.

 

I always carried very lightweight baby blankets with me, threw one over my shoulder, popped the kid under it and nursed. I could pull the top of the blanket (Just under my chin) open a little so baby and I could have some eye contact, and voila - instant privacy everywhere.

 

My babies learned fast, that if they wanted milk, they kept covered up (in public). If they pulled the blanket off, I unlatched them and we stopped nursing. Babies are smart! They learn really fast!

 

I found the whole thing pretty darn easy.

 

I'm the kind of person who isn't going to get worked up about someone else flashing a body part around, but as far as I'm concerned you've got to EARN the right to see my breast!

[Lovedtodeath]

My SIL thought it was gross and that breasts were for sexual purposes only:confused:. She wouldn't even though her only baby was a preemie and could have used it. For me I find it glorious. I could be a wet nurse. No better time than that 2 am feeding when the house is silent and they gaze into your eyes. I just weaned number 6 at 3 and 1 month! Never thought I would go that long with a kid for sure but it was a really tight bond for us. He still needs to cuddle up to my boobs to feel secure when he gets upset.:tongue_smilie:

:grouphug: Aw, my little guy was 2 and a half.

 

as far as I'm concerned you've got to EARN the right to see my breast!

:lol:

[lionfamily1999]

:001_huh:

 

Real DOG biscuits?!

:blush:

I don't think that is why they show babies being fed on SS though. I think they are just trying to show kids what babies are like, and the things that babies do, especially things that are different from what older children do - like only nursing or drinking from a bottle, not speaking, sleeping a lot. Just like they show farm animals, or people at different jobs.

 

Initiation rates are the rate of moms that give bf a try initially - about 70% in the US. fewer than that continue. So if we want to know if that is a good result or not, or if there is some reason for that, we compare it to other groups, ideally with similar kinds of circumstances, and then look at what is different.

 

So, there are western, wealthy countries where the overall bf rate is over 90%, and in some cases these were places that back in the 1970's had similar rates to what we had and have in North America. It probably isn't because we are biologically different.

Sesame Street is very big on showing kids how to do things themselves, how to help out, how to be 'big kids.' I'm sure that's why they've shown babies being bottle fed as well as spoon fed. I agree that showing that it can be done differently it a good reason to show bfing, but it's not something that applies to most Sesame Street viewers in a personal way (they can't bf).

 

:lol: I was wondering what cloak and dagger group we weren't joining :lol: (regarding initiation)