Redbook Article!!!!!! - Page 2

[jennybear]

Originally Posted by Pookietooth

Yes, the article makes it sound like women are made to feel guilty for formula feeding, when in my experience women are made to feel like freaks for breastfeeding. There is another Redbook article that is pretty much anti-breastfeeding as well, so I think it really behooves them to provide at least one clearly pro-breastfeeding article. To whom do we write?

Really? That surprises me that our experiences are so different (I live in Seattle).

Really, I don't know anyone who has had kids recently who hasn't BF. I get asked all.the.time whether I'm breastfeeding and it's clear that the only acceptable answer is "yes."

I have a friend who can't BF because of heart medications she's on (meds that she literally MUST take) who is constantly made to feel guilty. I don't think we should dilute the breast is best message, but I wish there was a way of doing it without making moms who can't (or don't) BF feel guilty.

[Mamapits]

Originally Posted by jennybear

Really? That surprises me that our experiences are so different (I live in Seattle).

Really, I don't know anyone who has had kids recently who hasn't BF. I get asked all.the.time whether I'm breastfeeding and it's clear that the only acceptable answer is "yes."

I have a friend who can't BF because of heart medications she's on (meds that she literally MUST take) who is constantly made to feel guilty. I don't think we should dilute the breast is best message, but I wish there was a way of doing it without making moms who can't (or don't) BF feel guilty.

I have to say that around here, it is the breastfeeding moms who are looked at as if they are committing some horrid act.
I do have friends, who are naturally minded that are judgmental and make it a point to only hang with "like minded" moms, and look down on bottle feeding as well as other non natural styles of parenting but they are by far the minority.

I have to say I have never heard any of them say anything to a bottle feeding mom that would make her feel bad, even with their caddy judgments. Yet just today I experienced a few woman who complained to management of the exercise class a friend and I went to because she nurses her baby there before and after classes.

[Quinalla]

She really missed the point herself, but made it quite well to someone with a lot of breastfeeding knowledge. The problem is not breastfeeding being encouraged strongly (to the point of guilt for some, but mom's feel guilty about everything nowadays IME, BFing should not be singled out), it is that we have lost a lot of our cultural/societal BFing knowledge. BFing is encouraged so much now, but there is little to no help for new mothers and quite often folks trying to help that don't know much and actually end up hurting instead. Most women don't have someone they can go to for BFing help and support, especially those first few days and weeks when spending 20 minutes with someone who really knows BFing can make a HUGE difference. You can see from her article that she doesn't know much about BFing, as others said, she is lucky she didn't get another plugged duct! And she talks about her breasts being cracked and bleeding and the horrible pain, sounds like a latch issue to me, but no mention of that at all. It sounds like she doesn't understand that it shouldn't be that painful and that there was a reason for it even if she and the LC never found it.

I went to a BFing class, read tons of books, researched online, etc. and I still had problems at first because of hospital nurses who thought they knew what they were talking about but did not. When the LC finally got in to see me (I delivered on Saturday and she stopped by Monday), she helped a great deal, but if I hadn't been completely proactive getting into my ped and seeing the LC there the next day, I could have easily been another "tried BFing and it didn't work". For my next baby, I'm getting a LC in to see me right away and I will keep calling her back until I am satisfied!

That IMO is where the biggest disconnect is. Women are super encouraged to BF, but then they give birth and try but run into common issues/problems that wouldn't even be problems if they had support like we should, but become magnified especially by well-meaning folks who don't know what they are talking about!

[Nazsmum]

Originally Posted by Quinalla

She really missed the point herself, but made it quite well to someone with a lot of breastfeeding knowledge. The problem is not breastfeeding being encouraged strongly (to the point of guilt for some, but mom's feel guilty about everything nowadays IME, BFing should not be singled out), it is that we have lost a lot of our cultural/societal BFing knowledge. BFing is encouraged so much now, but there is little to no help for new mothers and quite often folks trying to help that don't know much and actually end up hurting instead. Most women don't have someone they can go to for BFing help and support, especially those first few days and weeks when spending 20 minutes with someone who really knows BFing can make a HUGE difference. You can see from her article that she doesn't know much about BFing, as others said, she is lucky she didn't get another plugged duct! And she talks about her breasts being cracked and bleeding and the horrible pain, sounds like a latch issue to me, but no mention of that at all. It sounds like she doesn't understand that it shouldn't be that painful and that there was a reason for it even if she and the LC never found it.

I went to a BFing class, read tons of books, researched online, etc. and I still had problems at first because of hospital nurses who thought they knew what they were talking about but did not. When the LC finally got in to see me (I delivered on Saturday and she stopped by Monday), she helped a great deal, but if I hadn't been completely proactive getting into my ped and seeing the LC there the next day, I could have easily been another "tried BFing and it didn't work". For my next baby, I'm getting a LC in to see me right away and I will keep calling her back until I am satisfied!

That IMO is where the biggest disconnect is. Women are super encouraged to BF, but then they give birth and try but run into common issues/problems that wouldn't even be problems if they had support like we should, but become magnified especially by well-meaning folks who don't know what they are talking about!

THis is so true.

[ashleybess]

Redbook (and all those mags) are so harmful for women to be reading... it's just depressing to think many people actually believe what these mags have to say and look to them for advice. I see in the margin "Are You Guilty of These 8 Sex Mistakes?" Whaaat??!?!! You can't make a mistake if you're making love... just silly stuff.