Well, I was a little shocked.
We were at a party thrown by his old first sergeant...DH asked me something about alcohol and breastmilk (I wasn't drinking - it was a random question). Anyway, this is the conversation that ensued between one of his friends and me:
Friend: "Hmmm. I heard you talking to Ben. So, um, is Katie still breastfeeding?"
Me: "Yes..." (Technically, I pump, but, he said "breastfeeding", not "nursing"
)
Friend: "How old is she?"
Me: "Almost two"
Friend: "But, she has a mouth full of teeth...shouldn't she be chowing down on a t-bone or something?"
Me: "Well, yeah, she does that, too, but the World Health Organization actually recommends breastfeeding until at *least* two. Plus, breastmilk has all sorts of antibodies and what not in it."
Friend: "Really? Huh. I didn't know that. So, she just, like, drinks breastmilk instead of cow's milk?"
Me: "Yep..."
Friend: "Wow...that's cool."
Knowing this guy - who would have had no problem calling me out (jokingly) on something he thought was "weird" - I think he really had just never even heard of the idea that babies/kids would nurse past a year or whatnot, let alone that it was recommended.
And then (this is the *great* part) ANOTHER friend of Ben's (another single army guy, of course) volunteers that his nephew is incredibly lactose intolerant (and has a ton of other food allergies), and his sister is still nursing her son, and her son is THREE, and it's the best thing in the world for him.
I would not have expected single, childless men to be that cool with "extended" breastfeeding.
We were at a party thrown by his old first sergeant...DH asked me something about alcohol and breastmilk (I wasn't drinking - it was a random question). Anyway, this is the conversation that ensued between one of his friends and me:
Friend: "Hmmm. I heard you talking to Ben. So, um, is Katie still breastfeeding?"
Me: "Yes..." (Technically, I pump, but, he said "breastfeeding", not "nursing"
)Friend: "How old is she?"
Me: "Almost two"
Friend: "But, she has a mouth full of teeth...shouldn't she be chowing down on a t-bone or something?"
Me: "Well, yeah, she does that, too, but the World Health Organization actually recommends breastfeeding until at *least* two. Plus, breastmilk has all sorts of antibodies and what not in it."
Friend: "Really? Huh. I didn't know that. So, she just, like, drinks breastmilk instead of cow's milk?"
Me: "Yep..."
Friend: "Wow...that's cool."
Knowing this guy - who would have had no problem calling me out (jokingly) on something he thought was "weird" - I think he really had just never even heard of the idea that babies/kids would nurse past a year or whatnot, let alone that it was recommended.
And then (this is the *great* part) ANOTHER friend of Ben's (another single army guy, of course) volunteers that his nephew is incredibly lactose intolerant (and has a ton of other food allergies), and his sister is still nursing her son, and her son is THREE, and it's the best thing in the world for him.
I would not have expected single, childless men to be that cool with "extended" breastfeeding.
Isn't it great to be pleasantly surprised?
