Quote:
Originally Posted by spughy  http://herbadmother.com/2009/03/they...ses-dont-they/
It was edited slightly, but just for length, not for content. In "Canadian Family" magazine which seems pretty darn mainstream. I couldn't find it on their website but I couldn't find any other articles either... I think it's just in the print copy.
Anyway, YAY!!! It was a really great article, and bang-on in its analysis.
(ETA: The magazine article was actually a bit better - it focused more on how the author was angry that the mother of the baby in question was being judged more harshly than she was, for being "irresponsible" in letting the author breastfeed her baby.)
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I came online to make pretty much the same post
....I have actually read a couple of issues of Canadian Family in dr offices now and I think I may have to subscribe...not as crunchy as Mothering, but it does have its moments.
I did have the experience of nursing a friend's 11 mo -- I was caring for him when mom was having day surgery, and we'd prearranged that if he wouldn't take a bottle, I would offer to nurse. The little guy refused to drink but consented to the breast. He signed "hot" -- I guess my body temp was higher than his mama's, but did nurse effectively and was much happier and calmer in my care after that. I was grateful to be able to give him what he needed till mama was home. My baby was much younger and it was strange to go from his newborn latch to the stronger latch of a bigger baby who really knew what he was doing!
Re: loaning a baby to help another woman who was engorged....When I nursed my oldest, my dad told me a story about something that had always bothered him. He remembered being very young, two or three, shortly after his baby sister was born. His mom tried to get him to nurse and he remembered being horrified at the thought, and had been a worried all his life by the memory -- was his mom being somehow abusive? I told him that his mom probably had engorgement, blocked duct or even mastitis and was trying to get help to relieve the pressure in an era before breast pumps and abx. He knew what that was at once -- they'd raised cattle and he knew mastitis was no joke... but because almost nobody in his life had nursed or talked about nursing during his adult life, he'd never understood what had happened...
I'm sure if grandma had had another nursing mom handy, she'd have borrowed a baby to help relieve the pressure and in that culture, just before the baby boom came along and nursing went out of style, the loan would have been automatic...
Kudos to Canadian Family for putting this on the cover and working to normalize nursing and an issues related to it that many people just don't share. I don't think we'll be back to what I'd consider a "normal" acceptance of nursing in our society without having this kind of conversation now and then.
