Breastfeeding in the news.

Today I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about breastfeeding.  I saw the Time cover and at first I was taken back a bit but then I thought why not.  Breastfeeding is hard and also wonderful. For me the hardest part of nursing my children was the looks I got from other women. Damian was 9 pounds six ounces when he was born and he was an eater.  He was a big baby and those women would stare at me trying to nurse this big baby and sometimes they would even say something hurtful. I was doing the best that I could for my child. My first child I wean him the night before his first birthday. Because I thought that is what you do and I had been taught that if they can ask for then they are too old. I was sad and hated just saying okay you are one now. Then I had James and I decided to let him self wean and he stopped nursing at eighteen months. It was easier and we were both ready.

All of these judgments that we make about other people is normal but saying awful things about each other is wrong. That woman on the front of time probably just wanted to help raise awareness. That picture is not child porn! They are fully dressed and there is nothing sexual about breastfeeding at all. Those people who are saying that this falls in to abuse need to reevaluate what abuse really is. Abuse is not a nurturing mother comforting her child. This issue is a nonissue.  Really we are all just trying to do the best we can for our children. I cannot tell you how many parenting books I have read, or how much I have researched so that I can be a better parent then the one I had. I had not heard of attachment parenting until recently even though I practiced most of those theories on my own. I held my babies all the time, co slept with them, and of course breastfeeding that first year. It is not our business if the mother has a hard time weaning because her child cries for it and it breaks her heart to say no. Breastfeeding is good for the child and you know that The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breastfeeding continue for at least 12 months, and thereafter for as long as mother and baby desire. The World Health Organization recommends continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond.

Also this battle of breastfeeding doesn't end with how long you do it for. No, the woman who chooses not to breastfeed, can't physically nurse their children, or decides to stop early for whatever reason are hit hard to. There is no reason for us to try and tear each other down.  As long as we are trying to be the best for our children then what mothers need is support, not criticism. All of us are in the same muddy water trying to see where we are headed in a storm.  There is no way to see how our actions will affect our children until they are grown.  No one is perfect, everyone worries.

 What it comes down to is please mind your words, and be kind. Isn't hard enough to raise our own children without pushing judgment on someone else? I know friends that you are good kind people. So I am not judging you but this subject was weighing on my mind and I wanted to share my thoughts.  Thank you for reading.

I hope that you have a glorious week filled with Love and Laughter. Be well my friends.