Yes, I have no shame..grandchild #11 wearing the dress my mom made for me. And yes, it is an antique! Her mommy breastfeeds her also.
After reading a blog piece about the outrage that seems to follow nursing mommies who dare to nurse in public, I felt compelled to throw my opinion out. Do my thoughts matter? Probably not. But if one new mommy is encouraged even a tiny bit, I say, “Mission Accomplished!!!”.
Back in 1972, I became a rebel. I had managed to get through high school and college without once being tempted by the newly emerging drug culture, running off to live in a commune with a host of hippies or even partaking of adult beverages. Just wasn’t me. I was the oldest sibling. I was responsible. I did what my parent told me. And more importantly, I was hugely aware of Biblical principles and what I was “called” to do. And not do.
That being said…I rebelled wholeheartedly at the ripe old age of 22. I was married for a year and was expecting our first baby. Somewhere along the way, I had determined that I was going to breastfeed my kids. *gasp* I’ve thought about this, and cannot come up with a “WHY” on this one. No idea. Somewhere I had heard that breastfeeding a “natural” thing to do. That it was good for a baby. Sum total of the pluses that sealed the deal.
Believe me when I say that IF you think today’s world is hung up about our boobs, imagine 1972. The bottle ruled. When I told my OB what I had in mind, he looked puzzled. When I informed my mother, she didn’t threaten to lock me up somewhere as she had also breastfed me, but did I REALLY want to do this?!!! And my local peer group was baffled, yea, even shocked. Wouldn’t this mean hiding away in my abode until baby was weaned. HOW would I travel under these dire circumstances?!!
Being the Know-It-All Mommy that I was rapidly morphing into, I smiled smugly and thought “I’ll show you ALL!” Of course, when I looked for “a book” on the subject (yes that’s what we used to do BEFORE internet), I came up with 2 paragraphs in the thick “How to Care for Your Baby” book or something like that. Two. Can I hear an amen on that?
But I persevered. The child lived, along with his 2 little brothers. And I managed to nurse all of them without killing them. I did so with minimal breast exposure, using heavy doses of common sense. Which meant, I nursed easily in the presence of sister mommies and females in general. If males were around, I chose to nurse in private. That was me. I might have thought I knew It All, but had some education to gain yet. But at the time, nursing was pretty much between me and baby and hubs.
I eased up a bit on that attitude when I was home about one month into Motherhood. I was feeding baby dearest when our next-door neighbor from ages back came over to admire our newest offspring. She was thrilled to see my son and asked if she could pull the blankie back so she could see him. At the sight of his wee head, she said words that changed my attitude forever. “There is nothing sweeter than a baby nursing!!!!”
YESSS! She was right!! I didn’t need to hide him. Others could benefit from the sight also. Does that sound warped? No. I don’t think so. It’s called “Mother Love,” people and as scared crazy as I was of this little bundle, he was sweet! And he was being nurtured the way the Lord intended…nurtured physically and emotionally. We were…a TEAM!!!
Which brings us to why I started this piece in the first place.
I think the issue at hand is not seeing working boobs in public (what the heck do you think God gave us them boobs for, anyway??? Decorations?!) 😎 I think not.
Oh there are plenty of boobs flopping around nowadays that are for decoration only. Providing nourishment for an infant is NOT their motivation. And yet, those boobs displayed on TV, movies, ads, mags… are OK in our culture?
So let me get this right…a busty 20 year old who is braless and showing everything that the Lord has endowed her with to anyone who passes by is OK.
But nursing a child is not OK.?
One more thing that is upside down in this crazy world. A world that doesn’t blink an eyelash at overtly “romantical” public displays of affection by couples of any persuasion? A world that screams doing your own thing is fine and dandy. A world that concludes that monogamy is passé. A world that stamps its approval on killing pre-born babies. A world gone mad.
I say put a tent over the 20 year old who is out to prove that SHE is a w-o-m-a-n. Hide that decoration PLEASE! And leave the harassed breastfeeding mommy alone. PLEASE! Especially if she is doing so in a modest fashion.
And now it’s your turn. Am I wrong? Does the lack of modesty in today’s world bother you? For what reasons? Does it even matter? Do we need legislation within the clothing industry? Yes, I am kidding. Sort of.
Do nursing mommies hack you off? Why?
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Country Life 
SO with you on this! I breast-fed all five of my children although my second son didn’t do so well on it so after a month or two I had to revert to putting him on formula. He was, interestingly enough, the only one of my children who ever went through a “chubby” phase as an infant and I’m sure that was down to the formula. Many will heartily disagree with that last bit I know, but I believe that was the reason However, I also acknowledge that for many different reasons it just isn’t possible for some Moms.
My last (5th) child was born 6 years after my fourth and I fed her for 9 months – the longest I had fed any of them for. The first four had all been born within five years of one another and because they were already in school by the time she arrived I think I had more time to relax with her. I can tell you it was a great thrill to see my great-granddaughter being fed by her Mom. As you said, just the way God intended!
I’m at a loss to understand why anyone should get bent out of shape to see a mother feed her child in public. The majority of moms I have seen are very discreet about it. Back in the late 80’s when we were in NZ, I was very impressed to see that some shopping malls had really nice private areas with comfy chairs and couches where Moms could nurse their wee ones! There were even toys and such for older siblings to play with. I had never seen anything like that in Canada at that time and even now some only have baby changing facilities. To me this is an indication that nursing a child in public is still taboo! I find that so sad.
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I meant to add – that is one cute Grandbaby you have there! Loving that little gold/red peach fuzz on that sweet little head. I always wanted a “bald” baby as to me they just seemed to look clean! Mine all had great heads of dark hair, even though some of them changed to blonde later! 🙂
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Awww, thanks! Madi is such a happy, smiley baby! I loved dressing her up in my antique dress!
Breastfeeding seems to have more proponents now than certainly there were in 1972! Thank goodness. I can imagine how you felt seeing that great-grandbaby being tended to by your granddaughter!! I can’t fathom raising a baby an other way, altho I do understand that it’s not for every mommy!
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Sweetest picture! She is such a cutie! Because I was on meds after our son was born and he was a preemie, couldn’t breastfeed as I had planned. (My mother breastfed my sis and me.) I did use a breast pump for weeks to get a small amount of milk each day to fed him via bottle in order to receive my antibodies. This may sound strange, but I also had a friend who had too much milk for her child and had to use a breast pump. She graciously saved that for my son, so he received antibodies from both of us! And to suppliment, we pasteurized raw goat milk to give him since he didn’t take to well to formula. Needless to say, he thrived and never got sick as a baby and very seldom was sick growing up! I am a big advocate of breastfeeding. I am not bothered by nursing moms in public, but I do think those mommies should respect others around them and do their best not expose themselves. That’s what those pretty little baby blankets are for! It may make others uncomfortable, and to me is just common curtesy. I know I’m old school, but that goes for any excessive exposure of the body!
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You DO know who that neighbor was?!!! So glad Matt had the extra help from your friend. Mother told me one time that she remembered it was common practice, especially among sisters, to nurse each other’s baby if the mommy was busy or gone. Healthier babies were the big plus for my decision to nurse! Just made sense.
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Oh, was that neighbor my momma? That does sound like something she would say!
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Was that neighbor my sweet momma? That does sound like something she would say!
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Sorry for posting twice! Thought the first failed.
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Yes. Yes. And it’s OK!! LOL!! I can still see and hear her saying that! I was sure everyone thought I was crazy for nursing him. She took care of that!! 🙂
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Such a sweet story…makes me miss her. She would be thrilled she encouraged you! She was strongly in favor of breast feeding.
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I breastfed my only–33 years ago–and loved it when our daughter-in-law chose to breastfeed the 3 grands, even though it only happened for a few days each time for various reasons. However, I do have a problem when there is a lack of modesty from nursing moms. I honestly feel that sometimes it is a “I can do what I want to do” rather than the genuine bonding between mom & baby. I like the comment above about respecting others by not exposing themselves–“common courtesy” because it might “make others uncomfortable.”
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Yep, that “in your face” attitude grates against me too. It’s almost like they’re daring you to say something. Just a little common sense works wonders. In many things!!!!! 🙂
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I didn’t have much luck breast feeding my babies, but if a woman is breast feeding modestly, I say way to go! It doesn’t bother me if she is breast feeding in public. I feel the same way as you do, you usually see more breast’s on TV and movies, than women breastfeeding in public!
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Sorry about that Myna but you tried!! It just doesn’t work out for some. I only nursed our oldest until he was about 4 mos. old. We were lucky we lasted that long!! Another story….
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We are in agreement. Too many girls showing their “girls” to “provide nourishment” to the INFANT MINDED!.
I nursed both my babies and loved it. For many years after they were weaned, whenever I held a baby, I would get that I-need-to-empty-these-mammary-glands-RIGHT-NOW sensation (you know the one). When my grands were born & I was the DDCP (designated day care provider), I suggested to my daughter that I could be their wet nurse during the day & she wouldn’t have to find a private moment in her busy teaching day to express her milk. She didn’t like that idea.
I recently read that mothers who use expressed milk should note the time of day the milk was expressed b/c mama’s body adds something to night-time milk that helps baby sleep better / longer. Interesting.
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I never heard of that. I’ll be sure to pass that info along to DiL! Thanks!!!
And I know the “one” you’re talking about. 😀
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For some reason (probably my sleep deprived state 3 years ago) I just NOW saw your comment on my blog post that popped up on my Facebook today reminding me it had been 3 years since I wrote that post. Anyway, your encouragement and knowledge means more than you know. I’ve passed the book you sent me after I had Claire around to multiple friends because it helped me so much. I’ll never forget when Grandma met Luke the first time. He was fussy and hungry and I didn’t have a cover or blanket in site. For some reason I was worried nursing him in front of her would offend her, but she sweetly looked on and said “there is nothing sweeter than a nursing baby”. So so true.
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LOL! I just recommended that book for a new mommy as I had none at the house!! I did discover that you can get it for Kindle now tho.
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