makes me sad...BF is "nasty"...

[leosmommy]

I have to put this somewhere...

We (dh, ds, and I) live with dh's parents. My BIL and his wife (who had a baby 3 weeks before my lo was born) come over all the time. My SIL refused to breastfeed her son (who is 3) and her newborn daughter. She is uneducated and says it's gross, etc. However, dh's parents are VERY supportive of all the AP we do, especially BFing (dh and his brother were both BF by my MIL). I was nursing ds the other day on the couch in the living room and Conner (the 3 y/o) walks in and says, "aunt emy, what are you doing?" All he saw was Leo's feet laying over my leg...I told him I was feeding his cousin. Later, after I had switched ds to the other breast (and it was more obvious what I was doing) Conner came back in with my MIL...and looked at me and said "he's sucking on her boobie, that's nasty, Grammie!" Grammie explained to him that's how babies are supposed to eat (she's not fond of her other DIL) just like all baby animals and I make milk for the baby just like she made milk for her sons when they were little. It's sad how BFing is abnormal to him...
and he has horrible allergies and asthma and is always sick...but they also live on fast food in their house...

[kriket]

I wouldn't put too much stock in the DS saying your boobies are 'nasty' they pretty much think everything is nasty, especially girls until they are like, 40 (all except the girls part ) to grammie for handling it so well! and too bad you're the 1st BFer that your nephew has seen. hopefully he can make informed choices and support his wife when he's old enough. Do your part mama!

[Ruthla]

I'd be much more upset if your SIL said BF was "nasty" than those words coming out of a 3yo. Sure, he might have overheeard one of his parents make that comment about BFing, but it also might have been a "spur of the moment" kind of comment because it's such a new concept for him and he didn't know how to react.

Good thing Grandma was there to set things straight! Thanks to you he'll have a chance at having a good attitude towards BFing.

[hipmummy]

Educate her DS get him while he is young Maybe you will have a postive impact and he will remember it when his partner has to make the choice

My dh though BF was nasty, and NIP was horrible (and I am a CLC and Doula and my mom is an IBCLC) and he until Ds was born DH was so anti bf. Now we don't practice CLW we practice Father lead weaning meaning ds will BF until he is off to college This is the same man who two days before ds was born said "you are never going to whip out your boob in public" now almost TWO YEARS later his famous last words are "just give him some boob"

[4Blessings]

That Grammie is a keeper!



BTW please don't assume that all cases of allergies are due to a lack of breastfeeding. My middle child has LOTS of (severe) allergies even though he was breastfeed and never received formula. Our other two are completely allergy-free (for now, knock on wood).

[Daqar]

It's too bad that you were the first run-in he's had with breastfeeding, but I actually had a boy who was 9 (!!!!) not know what I was doing when I was breastfeeding my daughter.
Good for your MIL to be straight with him about what was going on. Hopefully between the two of you, you can let him know there are other options as he grows.

[aprilv]

Originally Posted by Proud2BeAnAmerican

That Grammie is a keeper!



BTW please don't assume that all cases of allergies are due to a lack of breastfeeding. My middle child has LOTS of (severe) allergies even though he was breastfeed and never received formula. Our other two are completely allergy-free (for now, knock on wood).

same for me. ds has serious allergies to dairy and eggs, and i was so mad that breastfeeding didn't prevent it. but the op is right that statistically formula fed babies do have more allergies. ds's allergist told me that had he not been breastfed, he would probably have even more allergies since they hit so hard and so young. hopefully he wasn't just trying to make me feel better!

[boheime]

What a wonderfully supportive MIL! I wish mine was like that.

[LittlePeanut]

Way to go Grammie for turning it into a teachable moment!

LP

[Belle]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I'd be much more upset if your SIL said BF was "nasty" than those words coming out of a 3yo. Sure, he might have overheeard one of his parents make that comment about BFing, but it also might have been a "spur of the moment" kind of comment because it's such a new concept for him and he didn't know how to react.

: I don't think that my 3 year old knows what the word "nasty" means. When her 3 year old cousin came to visit he was confused as to what dd2 was doing under my shirt. But he wouldn't have considered it "nasty" unless his parents said so.

[TefferTWH]

I wish my MIL was like that. I do recall nursing my 1 month son with my SILs all around and my 4 year old nephew watching. He keep moving K around so he could see the latch and asked his mom if he nursed like that! I was so happy that they were all so suuportive!

[miche28]

Good for grandma - I remember my godson watching intently as DD nursed (he'd never seen it before). Finally, he asked: "Why is she doing that?" I said, "She's drinking milk from my breast to fill up her tummy."

He rolled his eyes and gave me a look that was like "You don't have to tell me what she's doing, but don't lie about it...". It was funny, but also sort of sad.

[Artemnesia]

The other good thing about breastfeeding is that if your baby does end up with health problems (allergies, etc.) you never have to wonder "what if."

I almost feel bad for people who think nursing is gross. It's some seriously messed up thinking.