Breastfeeding is the most natural, healthy way to nurture the mother and baby relationship. The emotional and physical bonding that takes place when a mother nurses her baby is something special that only a mother and her child can share. My prayer is that every mother will make a wise and informed decision about breastfeeding.
If you are currently bottlefeeding your baby, and have given up breastfeeding for whatever reasons, please don't read this article with the idea that I am condemning you for
bottlefeeding. I, myself, used to be a bottlefeeding mother. I gave birth to my first child, my son, just one month after I turned 16. I was very uneducated on breastfeeding. Bottlefeeding was the norm where I grew up since all the babies my mom babysat were
bottlefed. After my son was born, I had to go back to school when he was only two weeks old. I was told not to start breastfeeding him because it would just be harder that way. I was told it would be an inconvenience. So I did not even take him to the breast once. Am I sad about that? Yes, I am. I wish there was one person there that would have told me that I could have finished high school and still have nursed my son. I am very sad because I feel like we both missed out on
something special. But I cannot dwell on the past. What’s done is done and I believe that
from my past experiences, I truly know the benefits of breastfeeding.
Why is there such shame involved nowadays when it comes to seeing a mother nursing her child? Sadly enough our culture frowns on seeing a baby nurse, and the extended nursing relationship (nursing a baby past 12 months) is looked upon as "freaky". Why is this? Do others see it as something sexual? Do they think that since the breast is a "private part" that breastfeeding should be done in secrecy? I heard the comment from a friend's husband, "Going to the bathroom is something that God invented and I'm not ashamed to urinate. But I wouldn't think about urinating in public. I think the same should go for breastfeeding. It just shouldn't be done in public." I believe all of the fears and discrimination aimed at breastfeeding are acquired out of a lack of knowledge.
Until recently, breastfeeding has been enjoyed by mother and child without embarrassment, shame, or harassment. In the Bible Samuel and Moses, according to the tradition at the time, were nursed at the breast until they were 3 years old. And the average age of weaning around the world is 4.2 years. Apparently mothers in third world countries are more aware of the health benefits and emotional comfort that extended nursing offers.
It is sad indeed when a country as enlightened as ours looks upon a peaceful, tender act of nursing so harshly. We aren't disgusted any longer when we are bombarded on our TV's with silicone-injected breasts or other form of exploiting and degrading women. But when Canada aired a brief commercial promoting breastfeeding, the calls came pouring in about how the image of the mother nursing her child shouldn't be on television. It is also very sad when a country as advanced as ours resorts to giving our babies something as unadvanced and unhealthy as formula. It might be more convenient to use a bottle, but we
should weigh the benefits of convenience with the threat of illness. It is a known fact that bottle-fed babies develop more ear infections and in general
are affected with more colds than breastfed babies. Thousands of babies in the U.S. become sick each year because of formula that has been recalled or expired, but is still sold to stores.
Kaiser Permanente has publicized their findings in a recent study: Formula-fed
babies cost at least $1000 more per year in illnesses, medications, antibiotics, and
doctor and hospital visits. You can find other information on formula at breastfeeding.com by reading their articles: All About Formula or What Every Parent Should Know About Formula.
The ingredients of formula are not "as close as ever to mother's milk" as the formula companies would like you to believe. There are no comfort proteins, no living antibodies, and no disease-fighting hormones. Formula is only a dead substance mass-produced in factories. By breastfeeding for an extended time period, mothers substantially reduce their chances of breast cancer and most of the other female cancers. Mothers who demand-feed their babies will have about a 12-month break from their menstrual cycle. I believe this is God's way of naturally spacing children. Breastfeeding is the oldest source, and most widely used source, of birth control, according to the Couple to Couple League.
With all this said, why would I want to pay $75 a month for something that is not in the best interest for either my baby or me?
Breastfeeding.com- A great breastfeeding site! La Leche League 101 Reasons to Breastfeed Birth Control and Natural Family Planning article from Couple to Couple League. Incldues natural mothering and ecological breastfeeding