Disclaimer: This post is in no way intended to offend. Whether you are a proud breastfeeding mother, an exclusive pumper, or you chose formula as your form of feeding, you are NOT a bad mom! You just made a different choice and that’s ok. Here is the deal. Don’t make excuses for your choices, and use those excuses to try and “convince” others that what they are doing is wrong or inappropriate.
So my buddy Brooke over at Determined Momma sent me a link early today entitled “5 Reasons Not to Breastfeed”. I have to say I didn’t WANT to read it. I knew that I was just going to get pissed off when I did, but my curiosity got the best of me, I had to see what she could possibly have to say about the subject. After reading it, I wish I could have taken it all back! In fact it aggravated me so much that it made my boobs hurt! You can find a link to the post here, although I have paraphrased it below for your convenience.
1. “Just because it doesn’t gross you out, doesn’t mean your child won’t be horrified by the thought when they get older.” Apparently the writer had her teenagers take a poll at school of some of their friends and of all the teenage boys that they asked about being breastfed, not one of them would “admit” to it, and only two girls that they asked admitted it. Here is my problem with the logic that these children are horrified about the thought of having their mouth on their mother’s breast. First off, there is a good chance that 15 years ago, these children truly WEREN’T breastfed. My guess is that they weren’t necessarily horrified about the idea, but that they were truly NOT breastfed as children or just didn’t know. I have three boys, with #4 on the way and I can tell you that all of my boys understand that breastfeeding is a good thing. If they were to ever be embarrassed by the idea of having their mouth on my breast as a baby/toddler I would be TRULY shocked!
2. “It’s incredibly unsanitary” Really!?!? The argument that there are zillions of bugs running around your skin and you wouldn’t want to put that into your childs mouth if you couldn’t boil and sterilize it first is really just crazy! Do you have any idea how many ZILLIONS of bugs are swimming around in the water that you are using to make your child’s formula, or how many ZILLIONS of bugs are in the air every time you take a breath? And just you can sterilize and boil bottles and nipples, but unless you are putting them into your babies mouth smoking hot, all of those little bugs are still gonna be there by the time you give it to your baby. At least the little “bugs” crawling around in your breastmilk are sterile and there to HELP your baby thrive.
3. Its not natural any more. God also gave us an appendix? Men have breasts? Ok yes I agree that men have “breasts” and no we no longer need our appendix, but because we don’t “need” them for their purposes they no longer function. Men’s breasts don’t make milk, and our appendixes no longer function in our bodies. If breastfeeding were no longer natural our breasts would not produce milk any longer. As long as after we have a baby our breasts continue to produce milk it will still be natural! And NO just because men have nipples doesn’t mean that they should be used as a pacifier!
4. “No one wants to be in the room with you when you ‘Whip it out’” All I have to say to this is if you don’t want to see then don’t look! If you are sitting across the table from me chances are that I’m not just gonna whip it out on to the table, but I am going to take care of my child’s needs. Most mom’s who nurse in public are fairly discrete about it, we understand that we are in public and having our entire breast exposed (while not illegal) may offend some people. The truth is you probably see more boob on a mom in a low cut shirt feeding her child from a bottle than you do from me when I’m nursing.
5. “Breastfeeding mom’s seem to think that they are doing such a wonderful thing and that everyone should be subjected to it.” She is actually right in her statement, but wrong in theory on this one. Yes we do think that we are doing a wonderful thing, and yes we so no problem with other people being exposed to it. Awareness spreads understanding! I am unaware of a state in the US that states that I am not allowed to have my child on my breast in any public space where the two of us are legally allowed to be. I have just as much right to be there feeding my child from my breast as you do feeding your baby from your no longer sterile bottle. I’m not offended by you bottle feeding your baby, so if you are offended by me breastfeeding mine you are more than welcome to walk away.
Twitter: determineddiary
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I have to admit number two makes me laugh the most. I’m pretty obsessed with cleaning, but I know a swab of the counter would still turn up some pretty nasty bugs where I prepared the boys’ bottles.
I didn’t breastfeed my kids for medical reasons, but I was able to buy a high-powered pump (torture device) that worked. I’m pretty sure that the milk picked up more ickies going through all the tubing of the machine than it would have right from the boob.
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Thank you for chiming in Brooke! You are so right! There is nothing more sterile than the fluids that come out of our bodies! Heck even urine is Sterile until it hits the air!
Twitter: Yrthrivinfamily
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How appalling! I’m not going to read it because I too would be pissed off. Her reasons are ridiculous!
Sara recently posted..Prayers for Praising not Pleas
Sara that is exactly why I paraphrased it for you!
I saw this article earlier and was boiling! The thing that got me the most was the unsanitary part- Later on, the blogger admits (in comments I believe?) That she is a germaphobe, and that she wouldn’t allow her babies to put their hands in their mouths, that she used purell on them all the time, even as babies (lotion on first, so their skin didn’t dry out) and that she sanitizes her floors with clorox every day. How can her children possibly have working immune systems if they aren’t able to practice against these harmless bugs? I don’t’ live in a pig sty, I do clean my house frequently, but with more natural products and I’m not psycho about germs. Kids have to be exposed to germs to be able to build up their systems! I wouldn’t’ be surprised in the least if her kids all have awful environmental allergies! She sounds like my MIL when it comes to cleaning and my husband has always had awful allergies!
This is so ridiculous it hurts. How can anyone be this ignorant and insulting at the same time is beyond me. My son is 19 months old and he doesn’t breastfeed anymore – but I donate my breast milk through the use of a pump, to hospitals for preemies. And I’m damn proud.
Well done. Respectful and amusing. Too bad the other 5000 people that read my post today didn’t have the tact that you do.
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Actually, our appendixes DO have function it’s just not greatly understood. We can live without them, but they are a part of our digestive process. Every part of our bodies has a purpose. Even the bacteria that live on them. I’d much rather my baby get my germs, that live symbiotically with me, than the germs on my countertop.
And it’s obvious the original article was just laughable.
I read through the comments after reading the article and she admits to being a germ freak and incredibly modest. Based on most of her comments she seems to have some pretty serious hang ups. She basically says she doesn’t even like having breasts. She said she “doesn’t even expose them to open air”! So I’m guessing there is a huge amount of shame tied to her body image. She seems to have quite a distorted idea of the world, and even called a friend of hers who breastfeeds “lazy” because she feeds from the breast. She also said she used hand sanitizer on all 3 of her kids when they where crawling, disinfected her floors daily with bleach and wouldn’t allow her babies to put their hands in their mouths. This girl suffers from severe OCD. No doubt about that.
This is a breath of fresh air! Man, I wanted to rip into her. I just had to take a deep breath and realize that some people lack education. I really wish she would read the book “The History of Breasts.” I wish she could see how amazing they are and how feeding our young has evolved. I seriously believe education is power. Nice post!
Thank you for responding to this, to give us a place to direct idiots who think her article makes any sense. Unfortunately, I doubt you’ll change her mind. You can’t argue with crazy! But you CAN spread the truth to counteract ignorance and stupidity.
“Breastfeeding mom’s seem to think that they are doing such a wonderful thing and that everyone should be subjected to it”
Breastmilk IS wonderful as well as powerful! My lactating breasts have the power to: soothe my child when sick/hurt, feed her when hungry and give her drink when thirsty. Not to mention cure pink eye, diaper rash and ear pain all with a little squirt of my liquid gold(Disclaimer: I’m talking home remedies folks, I’m not a doctor, but it does work!!)
Julie I did a post on that exact thing!!! Here is the link.
http://www.tailormademomma.com/2012/02/29/top-ten-other-uses-for-breast-milk/
I see I am not the only one who posted of the amazing alternate uses for breast milk!
Isn’t it truly amazing!?
Becca recently posted..The Benefits and Alternative Uses for Breast Milk
Thank you so much for this!! You are so awesome lol. I swear I wanted to choke this women, but then it hit me that she has some serious issues within herself and already suffering from it.
Twitter: TylerMarieMcbee
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Love this!!! That article made me so mad as well. This one is much better, keep up the good work!
YES! Thank you for posting this! I was shocked to read her post and was extremely aggravated by it. I just have one comment in regards to the ‘men have breasts’ one… Men don’t have breasts, they have nipples, but not breasts. Breasts are made of mammary glands, which men do not have. Also, to add onto what you have about the appendix, humans used to eat grass so we used to have a second stomach (appendix), but since our diets have changed, it has become a vestigial organ and is slowly disappearing through evolution. Anatomy/biology is fascinating, isn’t it!? Keep spreading the truth and love momma!
Becca recently posted..The Benefits and Alternative Uses for Breast Milk
Yay!!!! Good job out of you!! That article was so annoying, as was her response. I’m so glad you write this!! ,
Well said…thank you! The only thing I’d add is on #2. Giving baby only sterile things adds to immunity problems and increased illnesses later. Exposure to bacteria (small amounts, naturally occurring/encountering…nothing crazy like giving baby a petri dish to suck on or anything) is actually necessary to build immunities!
Just an FYI men can and do produce breastmilk. Routinely they don’t but it’s not unheard of.