google-site-verification: google25a08fc65649193e.html Living in Mommywood: Breast feeding

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Breast feeding

Happy Hump day, hope my post ignites plenty of chatter :)

I've wanted to write about this subject for a very long time now but every time I sat to write I was not able to be clear on my thoughts or even in the direction I wanted to go.
I have A LOT to say on this matter both due to my own experience with it and because of all I have seen and heard throughout the years.

Our thought process sometimes go back to our childhood, things we recall, smells, flashes of memories that come about when we experience something. At times it can feel like Deja vu.

As a child of the 70’s I never saw a mother Breast feed outside of the privacy of an enclosed space that is first of all. Secondly, I never heard a mother complain or even comment on her experience. It was “natural”. It was what it was, almost ALL mothers Breast feed unless they couldn't for some reason and even that wasn't really discussed.

My mother had 2 babies in the 80’s and she Breast feed again, the usual. No one made comments or shared experiences because it was just part of the package.

Here I come in the 90’s having my daughter and “TALKING” about “EVERYTHING”. Breast pumps, lotions, special bras, pain, cracked skin, leaking, full breast, arousal, nipple soreness, what the milk “TASTE” like, how my partner feels about my Breast, more soreness, more pain, how long should I Breast feed, should I do both Breast and regular milk, should I keep going even if it hurts, how to store the milk, best method of pumping milk out, how often…the “TALKS” were endless.

My girlfriends and I Breast feed in front of one another but NEVER out in public or without finding a place to cover ourselves at.  We would use restrooms or go back to our cars or excuse ourselves from wherever we were if in public.

Hit 2000’s and I am bombarded by Breast feeding in restaurants, parks, doctor’s office and so forth. I am reading about not only the ups and downs of Breast feeding but how it’s my duty as a mother to Breast feed. I am supposed to provide my child with the most natural resource of nutrition. I am supposed to Breast feed for x amount of time I am supposed to have the right to expose my boobs anywhere I chose because my baby needs to feed.

Sorry, I disagree. I have the RIGHT to do with MY body as I wish. I have the RIGHT to listen to my body whether it’s because it’s unable to perform certain acts due to pain or just by choice. I have the RIGHT to sit at a PUBLIC place and NOT be imposed on by another MOTHER'S CHOICE.

No business should be sued because they didn't provide me with a changing table or place to sit and breast feed. No kid friendly zone should be called out in a magazine or on the news because they asked a mother to cover up.
I would think these are just common courtesies. I mean smokers have to go outside now to smoke. They can’t impose their life choice on me.

Obviously I’m a mom, I love being a mom and I have an enormous respect for women and for freedom of choice. I am supportive of all things to help empower women as a whole. I have a daughter that I have raised to be strong, independent and loving.

This being said Breast feeding is a CHOICE.

I am including a link to a story I ran into a while ago and saved because I hoped to at some point to write on this subject.

http://www.cafemom.com/group/115189/forums/read/18870998/Breastfeeding_in_public_THIS_is_what_makes_me_angry?email_id=876860930&utm_medium=cmi&utm_source=cafemom&utm_campaign=General&utm_content=daily_newsletter&utm_nooverride=1

Let’s start a conversation? Is it wrong of me to Not want to see a strangers boob while I eat? Is it wrong or unreasonable of businesses not to accommodate a mom? What other accommodations are mothers missing out on, if any?




8 comments:

  1. As a breast feeding mom of 2... I am fine with breastfeeding in public but, I agree that covering up is just polite. I don't show my boob nor do I want to see someone else's. But, to each his own. :)

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    1. Thanks for visit and comment! Polite is a nice route to go :) Hope to hear from you again :)

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  2. Hey Mari, lol, liking this post. Hope i can tweet it when I'm done with my comment.I am going to agree with you on this and I also clicked over to to post you included and the picture of that lady smh. Cover it up, I understand the freedom to breastfeed your child but be respectful to others around you.

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    1. Camii, thanks for visit. I feel covering up is the respectful way, no need to push your choices on others is all I am saying :)

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  3. I never felt completely comfortable breastfeeding in public. I always found a room or a place to do this privately. Maybe it was because my daughter kicked and flailed while feeding...that reminds me, airplane travel was the WORST!
    I think to each his own, but it takes someone who is aware of others to cover up in public. SOmetimes people are just in their own little world and not aware that we all have personal preferences...some people like seeing breasts, others don't. I just always felt a bit more exposed than I was comfortable with. Just my 2 cents!

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    1. Lori thank you for visit and comments. I welcome your 2 cents!!! Hope to hear from you again :)

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  4. * years ago, with my first born, I remember sitting on the bathroom counter in a restaurant and awkwardly trying to feed my newborn son, by the time I weened him I had graduated to the comfort and freedom of feeding my child anywhere. I will sit in a restaurant and "wip it out" but that said there is always room for discretion. I choose shirts and layers that still hide me while I feed (I hate those cover-ups). Recently my BFF had her second baby and mentioned to me that she had no intentions of breastfeeding, it just wasn't her. I wont lie, I was horrified. But I know her, and I can't change her mind, so I offered her all the samples and coupons I have piling up because my little girl doesn't want anything but mama's milk.
    Thanks for the article.

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    1. Megs I appreciate your honest comments and your visit. Thank you for adding your view to my discussion. Hope to hear from you again :)

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