ralfp

It's a strange American attitude. Why is seeing breasts not okay? Americans do not seem to mind seeing horrible violent illegal acts on TV, yet things that more than 50% of the population sees everyday are seen as dirty; exposing one of them creates a national scandal.

Why does seeing a breast hurt anyone? If the reason involves desensitization, then we must really not mind our children (or at least the population as a whole) being desensitized to violence. Or maybe parents are worried that children will have horrible flashbacks to when they were babies.

Here's one good reason to support the right to breastfeed in public: "Think of the children." Preventing women from breastfeeding in public will make some women switch to formula, which, statistically, is harmful. Given that seening breasts is not harmful (other than perhaps mental discomfort in some people), the choice seems clear to me.

tazi

This has nothing to do with why a woman should not breastfeed her baby in public. Unless you are suggesting that when in public, formula should be used. And why does where someone got a degree matter? Is breastfeeding a college course now? It certainly wasn't when the women you mention went to school. Yes, there was a whole generation of women who did not breastfeed. Do you think the marketing of baby formula had anything to do with it?

Exactly. Parents may depend on others for support but until you have done it yourself, you don't have a clue as to what is involved. Especially something like breastfeeding. My SIL and I had an argument about this while she was pregnant with her first. She apologized to me later for being upset with me over it .... said I was right, you really don't know.

l etoile

It means that a generation of women were misinformed and mis-educated by the formula manufacturers and doctors. The doctors were generally mis-informed too, from what I've read. It doesn't change the fact that today we know that breastfeeding leads to healthier children. Breastfed children are prescribed 62 percent fewer drugs than those who aren't in the first year. We now have a much better idea of what's in breastmilk than we did 30 or 40 years ago, and we know that formulas can't duplicate it.


Well, yes, it's a bit like the difference between looking at someone's slides of India and going there yourself. It's simply not the same. You already have ideas that it's painful, when it need not be. There are books and classes to teach new mothers about breastfeeding for a reason - there are a lot of misconceptions out there (a lot of women who start to nurse don't realize what it involves or how it all works). If you really want to educate yourself, check out leleche.org You'll find out more about what your SIL could have done to prevent her pain, for example.

Analise

From my sister and SILs. I called my sister during lunch and asked her about pain management. She referred me to this:

http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,4298,00.html

Count yourself lucky that you weren't in pain; this doesn't mean your experience applies to others.

Ankebello

Breastfeeding has fed the world for a long time. Biologically it works for good reason. Otherwise mammaries would go like the appendix.

nimeta

One thing that has not been mentioned here is that there is some evidence to suggest that women who breast feed are statistically less likely to get breast cancer!!

tazi

Count myself lucky??? Two of the first causes of discomfort on that page indicate that they are temporary symptoms:

Uterine cramping
Some women experience cramping each time they nurse for the first week or so.

Engorgement
Engorgement can be uncomfortable and in some cases painful, but generally only lasts a few days.

For blocked ducts the recommendation is to nurse more frequently and the fourth is an infection that needs to be treated. The infection is causing the pain, not the actual feeding. They also recommend nursing more frequently to clear the infection.

What exactly are you trying to prove here?

I would count those persons unfortunate as I don't think it is the norm.

CDTraveler

The problems described in that link are short term medical problems, not inherent parts of breast feeding. I had problems with plugged ducts - which was horribly painful. I got professional advice on the problem, and in 72 hours it was gone. From the url above there are also links to other breastfeeding pain issue - and proposed solutions. The process of feeding is not painful, but medical conditions related to it and poor technique can cause pain.

Analise

I don't have to prove anything. Cute, though. As I stated, I showed you what my sister showed me. Now have a nice weekend. I know I will. Tootles.

l etoile

Exactly. It's good Analise has nothing to prove, because that link didn't support that breast feeding is painful, except in the cases you mentioned of poor technique and treatable medical conditions.

I can only hope that someone else gained something from this thread and may look more kindly on mothers they see breastfeeding.

Floop1977

If you haven't got anything to prove, then I wonder why you have spent an awful lot of time making numerous posts containing at best dubious claims passed on to you second hand, and at worst misleading, smug and supercilious soundbites of inaccurate information.

Have a *great* weekend.

tazi

Cute though?

dhuey

The intensity of this thread shows how breastfeeding ranks near the top of the list of parenting "hot button" issues, right up there with whether/how long a woman should stay home with the baby.

With breastfeeding in public, the two sources of the intensity are sexuality and parental insecurity. The sexuality aspect is obvious -- one of a woman's sexual organs is sometimes in view (though not usually). Of course, it's never really in view if one has the manners not to stare at her breast.

The parental insecurity is the fact, as noted above, that the "educated" view of a whole generation was that breastfeeding was primitive and that science had brought us a formula that would render it superfluous. Now, volumes of medical research leave absolutely no doubt on the issue -- breastfeeding is vastly superior for the health of the baby and mother (with rare exceptions). That's why the American Academy of Pediatricians recommends breastfeeding until age two, if possible. Lots of woman who chose/choose not to breastfeed feel insecure about that decision. (Emphasis: I said "lots", not "all" or "most").

Breastfeeding advocates (myself included) need to be mindful that there are a host of reasons why a woman might choose not to breastfeed (or to do so for a limited time). That's no one else's business but hers, and we should never criticize, even implicitly.

Folks who would prefer not to see breastfeeding in public need to recognize that their sensitivities here carry little weight compared to the needs and benefits of mother and child. If you can't see the natural beauty of it, please look away.

...and please don't say that she should be using a pump just to avoid making others uncomfortable. One with a passing familiarity with pumping would know how absurd such a suggestion is.

Yaatri

This does happen. My son, who is now 12 rejected the natural nipple after he had to be bottlefed for a day or so. I had written about about our experiences of reteaching him how to get back to the natural nipple. Believe it or not the kid is a FlyerTalker now and has posted in this thread also.

Pumping and bottling works to some extent. On demand nursing is the best as the mother's body adjusts to the baby's demands better when the bqaby is fed at the breast.

Yaatri

He did prove a point but not yours. It is a fact, universally acknowledged, by those who are not ignorant, that an infant in need of nourishment must be in in immediate need of a breast.