This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on the Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is about how the mothers before you influenced your choice to breastfeed. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!
Breastfeeding has always been normal to me. You have a baby, you breastfeed. I've watched my aunt, neighbors, etc breastfeed. My mother breastfed me. My mother-in-law breastfed her kids. I didn't know anything could possibly be weird or gross about it until I got married and learned that it wasn't normal within the extended family. I think one of my big influencers though was my friend Shae. I saw her nursing her baby in church next to me even though many of the women in my ward were super uncomfortable with it. I got a lot of negative comments when I started nursing Monkey in church. I won't go in to the nursing in public yet (that's another day :) ) but I did some research and practiced a lot before our first time going out in public.
Breastfeeding is considered taboo in the extended family. I'm supposed to go in another room AND cover up to make everyone happy. That doesn't make me or either one of my boys so far happy so after each got a good latch and I was able to nurse discreetly I gave up and basically said I don't care. Unless a baby with a bottle is required to go in another room I don't feel I should be forced to either. The OPTION is nice if it were an option. Baby K often gets distracted because he's 6 months and with both the distractable age starts at about 4 months. It's nice to be able to go in another room sometimes but I don't like feeling forced in to it.
I knew ALL of this was a strong likelyhood before I started breastfeeding Monkey as a baby. Because I grew up with the idea that breastfeeding was normal though I felt very strongly about it, especially seeing so much research about how much better it was for baby, etc. We had a lot of struggles and I constantly got "Well just give up." but that wasn't an option to me. I fully felt like when you have a baby your body makes milk therefore you need to breastfeed unless the benefits of NOT breastfeeding far outweigh the risks of formula feeding.
I'm grateful for the strong women influences in my decision to breastfeed. Had I not seen breastfeeding as normal throughout my childhood that could have made me quit when times were rough. I hope I'm able to help influence my children someday to encourage that their children are breastfed (or future daughters will breastfeed their kids).
Here are more post by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.
- Sylko @ Chaotic Mama-Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival: Day One
- Claire @ The Adventures of Lactating Girl-Learning Lessons From My Mom
- Renee @ Just the 5 of us!-Well That's What They're For, Right?
- Lindsy @ The S.L.C. Blog-Posts on the Importance of Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival
- Timbra @ Bosoms and Babes-Quiet Influence
- Ana @ Motherhood: Deconstructed-My Mother’s Gift
- Amy @ Anktangle-Dear Mom, Thank you for breastfeeding me.
- Amy @ Wildflower Ramblings-Generations of Breastfeeding Joy
- Judy @ Mommy News & Views Blog-The Mothers Before me
- CJ @ Imperfect Happiness-Mothers Before me
- Shelly @ Lousy Mom-Breastfeeding: Mothers before me
- Ashley @ Adventures with my Monkeys-Breastfeeding Carnival Day 1: Mothers Before Me
- Laura @ Day by Day in Our World-Breastfeeding Influences... from Women Who Walked Before Me
- Natasha @ Natural Urban Mama-Breastfeeding Mothers Before Me
- And of course the guest poster on the Breastfeeding Cafe’s blog today is Laurel Miller-Jones-Taught Without Being Taught
Great post! I love your line about how you should breastfeed unless the benefits of not breastfeeding far outweigh the risks of formula feeding.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it's nice to have another room to go into (especially when I'm trying to get my wiggly toddler to sleep), but it certainly shouldn't be required. Just like covers are nice for moms who feel more comfortable using one, but a mother should never be forced to use one.