Just a few thoughts...

[charmcitymama]

I am grateful for the priviledge of being able to nurse my baby.

I think the worst kind of judgement is from my peer group- age wise, anyhow. I was at Whole Foods nursing and these chicks who were on their work day lunch talking about their relationship problems ("he didn't text me back") and they were snickering and seemed to be embarassed by my nursing. I wanted to just flash them or do something obnoxious. I get not understanding the concept of nursing- who thinks "breast or bottle?" before they are pregnant or thinking of having kids? I remember asking my sister what she was doing when she was nursing her son right after birth, and I was in my 20s. And I do remember my my mom nursing my brothers when I was little. My point is- it's not something people even give a thought to while they are single, at least I didn't.

And the other thing I was thinking was that we have an impending IL visit this weekend and how I am going to be feeding my child. I think it's much easier to do since this is my 2nd, and I have more confidence and less tolerance for BS (like making baby wait until someone else is comfortable). It's just ludicrious that a nursing mom and baby should be concerned about anyone else's comfort! There are so many physical demands and possible discomforts, like a bad latch>sore nipples, just sitting in a way that is not comfortable, having to deal with gassy babies, or distracted babies, etc.

[Joannarachel]

I always knew I was going to nurse my babies. My mother had her faults, but she breastfed all three of us.

When I was first pregnant with my son, I went in for a GYN appointment and as she was doing my breast exam she asked, 'are you going to breast or bottle feed?'

I was so startled...I didn't realize there was an option...I thought bottles were for if something went wrong

[RolliePollie]

Hey Joannarachel, I didn't know babies drank artificial milk until the 6th grade! I assumed it was always breastmilk in those bottles! And recently, a friend of mine didn't know that either. Haha. You're not alone.

[charmcitymama]

That's awesome.
I am just saying that I never thought about it at all, you know? When I realized what BF was all about I was thankful to learn that these things have a purpose.

[minkajane]

I don't even remember "deciding" to breastfeed. In my mind, it was an understood thing. I don't even remember HOW my cousins were fed when they were babies and I was a pre-teen - to this day I have no idea. I also never thought about how long. I just accepted that breast was best and most natural, so that's what I'd be doing. I never thought about when I'd wean until AFTER I discovered the benefits of CLW.

[Ruthla]

Growing up, I only knew 2 bottle feeders. One was a mother that I had little respect for for a variety of reasons- I recall them visiting, her holding the bottle while the baby was in the carseat (basically ignoring the child) and my mother getting so freaked out by this that SHE picked up the baby and cuddled him while feeding the bottle. She was a basically un-attached mother in general.

The only other exclusively bottlefed baby I knew was adopted, and her parents tried to make bottlefeeding as much like breastfeeding as possible- all bottles were given in Mom or Dad's loving arms, never toddled around with.

Most moms I knew growing up BF their newborns, introduced bottles at a few weeks or months old, and weaned within the first year. So I guess I knew that some moms didn't BF their kids at all, but I saw it as either a "last resort" or a "bad mothering choice."

[geek_the_girl]

Hey mama..
Just think..You planted the seed in those gals heads about BF. Perhaps they will remember that what their time comes.
The more people are exposed the more tolerant/educated they become
Good for you! And the same goes for your inlaws.

[runes]

geekgirl...yeah that!

i had a co-worker who was a lactivist, lll leader and she pumped for her toddler son during our work days. this was back in the day when i was a single girl in my 20's. i used to listen to her talk about breastmilk and how breastfeeding is so amazing (she was generally ap, too, she babywore and coslept etc). some of the other young women that i worked with thought she was a little strange, and at the time i have to admit, i did too. but here i am, 6 years later, breastfeeding my own babe. i just got back from a lll meeting and am thinking about either becoming a leader or a lc. i sling my babe, and our family loves our cosleeping arrangement. somehow, by osmosis or just by her confidence, some of what she did and said sunk in, and here i am.

oh, and by the way, she was the one that set me up on my first and only blind date...that guy is my dh now.

my point is, as we go about our daily lives, living the way we live, we do end up being examples to others. especially young single women who might at least think about all of thier options for how to raise their babies with full awareness and consciousness. i was one of those impressionable young women just a few short years ago, and thanks to a confident ap mama, she opened my eyes up to a world of possibilities and today i am an attached mama to my precious little one. she ended up moving away and we have since lost touch, i would love to have to opportunity to thank her. for not only did she introduce me to my wonderful husband, but she paved the way for so many of the parenting and lifestyle choices that we make now.

thanks, marybeth, wherever you may be.

[Shaunam]

I always knew I would breastfeed. It wasn't a decision I had to make. It just was. KWIM? But just like I always knew I would bf and there was no question about it, there are lots of women who know that they are going to bottlefeed. My stepsister grew up in a family where everyone bottlefed and her mom always told her bf'ing was gross. She didn't question it and went on to ff her kids.

But I always think...what if she had just one close friend or family member that bf? Would she have questioned it, researched it, and made a different decision?

And by nursing openly, in front of other people, young women especially, you may be giving them their first glimpse of bf'ing.

I also didn't know about formula until I was 16 or so. I had seen babies with bottles of course, but I just assumed it was bm or maybe cow's milk, but just a supplement, ya know? My DH also didn't realize hat lots of babies weren't bf until he was much older. He thought all the women he saw bottle-feeding in church were just being very modest. LMAO!

[Rikki Jean]

I think I always knew I would breastfeed too. My mom stopped nursing my sister around 3 months, and I was only 8, but I just remember being really sad about it. My stepmom nursed both of my brothers and my aunt nursed my cousins, but other than that, I didn't have a lot of exposure to breastfeeding growing up. Somehow though, I never really gave bottlefeeding much thought, as far as I can remember. About four years ago, I met a great girl (who is now one of my best friends), who introduced me to extended bf and clw, and I never looked back. It just all seemed so right!

My sister is now 13, and she has LOTS of exposure to bf. She's around me and my other lactivist friends a lot, and it doesn't make her uncomfortable or anything (although, she thinks I'm kinda weird for having no inhibitions about nip, but she's 13, so I think that comes with the territory). I hope for her to be a future lactivist!

[mothragirl]

i always knew i would breastfeed, i didn't even think about it. i hope that people who see me do it will realize how normal it is, even a tattooed freak like me does it KWIM?

[Mommy2Miles]

Everyone in my family formula fed (including my mother) but I was determined to breastfeed. I have a background in early childhood development so I knew it is the best thing for my baby. I get some comments and stuff from my friends (we all grew up in the formula fed generation), I am the first one to have a baby so I am hoping that I can convince some of them to not be afraid of nursing. I whip it out in front of them and talk it up every chance I get lol

[thefragile7393]

Growing up, women in my church breastfed and I assumed that's all there was. The times I did see bottles were strange and I always thought they had regular cow's milk in there (maybe there was!) It was just an always known thing that I would bf....there really was no other option and it was a "duh" when people would ask me. I remember wondering why anyone would want to formula feed when we were given the tools to nourish. Honestly I don't know how many 9 yr olds have those thoughts going through their heads....maybe I was an odd one

[mamaverdi]

I always thought bottlefeeding was dirty, messy, and smelly. NOT something I wanted for my baby. Ever.

I knew I would breastfeed, period.

mv

[MommyBear]

Sadly I'm on the other side of the fence. I didn't babies could eat anything other than formula until I was probably 16. Everybody I'd ever been around bottle fed and thats just how it was. I didn't ask questions because I didn't know there were questions to ask. I'm lucky I had the internet while I was pg with my first and I happened to read the "right" stuff or who knows where I'd be today...

[graceshappymum]

i never thought of anything but bf.....i happen to live in a supportive community, most mums I know bf, although probably not CLW, but that's ok, they are not judgmental about my choice, nor am I about theirs. Both my brother and I were bf exclusively, so it just seemed like the only choice.

[leafwood]

I had never given much thought to feeding before I was pregnant, but once I was it was really not a question for me. As far as my cohort, I can relate to the lack of education on the topic. I am one of 7 female interns (all of us are between 25-29 years old). I am the only one with a child. I am still nursing and I talk about it. It has raised many questions and thankfully they are all comfortable enough talking with me about it. Recently we all "had" to go on a 4 day conference. So, I came with dd, dh and my parents (they had a nice vacation ). One of the interns made a comment about being able to leave a 2-year old and I gave her my reasons on why that was not OK for my family. Then while we were there, one of the interns was in my room and dd wanted to nurse and I did and the intern asked all sorts of questions. Two of them have already told me that they planned to bottle feed, but now feel motivated to BF.