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Friday, December 09, 2005

Laid-Off Dad's detailed description of his two-decade lust affair with breasts underscores why women feel uncomfortable performing the most natural and basic of human needs--nursing an infant.

It's sad really that this perception discourages women from nursing, makes them feel like they are doing something perverse or that their baby's need to nurse is perverse. It's sick and twisted, but it's the reality of our society. Fundamentally, breast is best. But with men objectifying the source, it sure makes it easy to turn to packaged infant formula.

That said, if you can get beyond the sideways looks from strangers, and go for the boob, figuring it out is hard. I didn't get to try to nurse Toddler in Chief until he was nine days old. And I fully understood at the end of those first 24 hours why women just go to the bottle. It ain't that easy to get the hang of. Plus, while hospitals and doctors say breast milk is best, their actions speak louder than words. How many moms do you know who were sent home with free samples of formula?

Permalink | Breastfeeding | Comments (2)

Comments

Good point about the fomula samples! With my second baby they kept the formula for a mom who would use it (with my permission of course).

Posted by: Amie | Dec 9, 2005 1:58:39 PM

I did not breastfeed my first child. Partly because no one in my family supported it, secondly becasue I did return to work at 6 1/2 weeks post partum, and I had no knowledge that I could pump, and thirdly, I had those lovely formula samples when my grandmother kept telling me the baby was hungry becasue I wasn't producing "strong enough" milk. I had no idea that 2-6 week olds can breastfeed every hour and a half, and it has nothing to do with how "strong" my milk was. I spent a lot of time reading, and researching breasfeeding while I was pg with #2. I had a wonderful 14 month breastfeeding realtionship with her, and look forward to a hopefully equally as successful one with #3.

Posted by: Amanda | Dec 16, 2005 11:37:49 PM

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