Believe it or not folks but one of our readers has asked us to please write about the importance of breastfeeding. At first I laughed because why would someone ask a couple of old bags about that? And Margaret only has dogs and a bird so I don’t know if she even has an opion about this. Unless of course one of the dogs breast fed that damn bird. But this person has now sent several emails including information about the La Leche League. For those of you who don’t know La Leche is a group that promotes breastfeeding. Pardon the pun but I have a mouthful to say on that…
From Helen
If I had a dime for every exposed breast I have seen recently, I’d have about a buck-fifty. And I don’t hang out at those nude beaches that have become so popular. What I am talking about here is public breast feeding. One of the women in my quilting group has three daughters. I can’t remember a time in recent memory when one of them wasn’t pregnant. The last time we were at her house, her youngest daughter was there with her three boys. So in the middle of quilting I look over and she’s sitting there fully exposed feeding the baby. In my day, you left the room and came back about 20 minutes later -often times wearing your blouse inside out by mistake. But times have changed so I just looked away. But then her four year old came into the room and said, “ChiChi Momma. ChiChi“ And I wouldn’t have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes, but the four year old reached up and grabbed his momma’s ”ChiChi” and had himself a little milk with his cookies. Well you could have knocked me over with a feather.
It seems that all three of her daughters are members of that La Leche group. Well, I don’t know how far this group is willing to take it, but if a child is old enough to ask for it, their too old to see it. And if a 4 year old ever grabs for one of my breasts their going to get their hand slapped. Now a 44 year old is another story but don’t tell Harold I said that.
Breastfeeding is fine by me. But putting it out there for everyone to see is like chewing with your mouth open. It’s just not polite. And that’s all I have to say about that.
From Margaret
First of all Helen, what did my bird ever do to you?
Believe it or not dear, I have to agree with you 100% on this one. I know they say breastfeeding is a natural bodily function, but so is a bowel movement. You don’t see people dropping their drawers and doing that in the middle of your living room, now do you?
For goodness sakes Helen. Let me pick the topic next time. That’s it. I’m done.
Now keep safe this coming holiday. Thanks for stopping by again. I mean it. Really.
[...] this post – a blog written by two ladies in their 60s. One of them says this about breastfeeding in this post “Breastfeeding is fine by me. But putting it out there for everyone to see is [...]
By: Breastfeeding « as a pilgrim on February 15, 2009
at 10:54 AM
Breast-feeding grown children.
What a choice of behavior serves, provides the evidence for why it is taking place.
I believe that it is self-evident that breast feeding children is a form of sexual molestation.
The evidence that continuing to breast feed a baby after it begins to function as an independent human being, is sexual molestation, is that there is no other bodily function of a baby that is continued in these cases except breast-feeding.
This is the evidence that the mother is continuing the breast-feeding to serve her own sexual pleasure.
There are two functions within the design of breasts of women… One is the sexual function and the other biological function is to feed a baby who can’t feed itself.
The vagina also has two design functions… one function is sexual, and another function of it, is it provides the ability to create a baby and bring it out into the world.
None of these mother’s being reported about continued to keep their children in diapers for eight or eleven years.
They didn’t continue to dress their children and undress them. They didn’t continue to wash their children’s bodies as the child grew in the same manner they did when the children were babies. They allowed their children to act out childhood within every other childhood ability, except the stopping of the breast-feeding.
It is the mother that refused to stop the breast-feeding, in spite of the baby learning to feed itself.
This choice of the mother is what provides the evidence that it was the mother that wanted the breast-feeding to continue because it became a form of sexual pleasure (in other words, they chose to allow the baby function of the breast to become a sexual function acted out by the child to the mother… an abnormal reversal of natural function of the breasts).
To the rational mind, how can this refusal of the mother to free the growing child from her breast not be considered a form of sexual molestation.
By: surfed in on January 3, 2009
at 1:45 AM
Helen, sorry but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you on this one, but without any ill feelings. I can completely understand where you are coming from as when I was breastfeeding my kids I really didn’t feel comfortable hanging it out for all to see. However, I have to agree with some of the other comments in that it is not always easy or convenient to only breastfeed in private. I had to come to terms with the fact that there would be times when I had to oblige my children when my dad was still in the room and to tell you the truth I was very grateful he was able to be so respectful about it because picking up a screaming, hungry infant I was still learning how to attach to my breast and carrying them to another room would have been completely beyond me during the early days. I have to ask with all due respect did you breastfeed your babies?
By: Shelley on January 2, 2009
at 7:35 AM
“Past the age of 1, children get no nutritional benefits from breastmilk. It may be comforting and a bonding experince between mother and child, but it’s not physically necessary.”
This is completely untrue and inaccurate.
Breastmilk does not suddenly turn into water at twelve months. It is still milk, still full of nutrients and immune system benefits just like it was at birth, and at 11 months, 364 days. It is no longer the primary source of nutrition, but it is still a beneficial part of a healthy diet for any child above the age of one year.
While breastfeeding may not be physically necessary for the survival of your average 12 month old child, it does have benefits. If your child becomes ill, and is unable to keep anything down but breastmilk, you may be very glad if you can still nurse them, as my friend was when her child was hospitalized for severe vomiting.
As I also pointed out, children with an allergy to cow’s milk benefit greatly from continued breastfeeding. As does any child who continues to receive it, at any age.
If someone does not wish to breastfeed past a certain age, that is their choice, but to state there are no benefits is factually inaccurate and untrue. It does a disservice to those who do choose to continue, by leading others to believe there is no valid reason for their choice, and increasing pressure to conform to the preferences of others regardless of their own decision for their family.
By: Kathryn on December 7, 2008
at 3:13 PM