America's common misconception................

      .......*gasp* Breast Feeding............

I have come to notice how women, especially the younger generation are split.

By split i mean, they really do stand on two different sides of the fence. I have friends that EBF and friends that just regularly BF (up to the one year mark). But then.....there are the ones that refuse, and i mean down right refuse to even consider Breast Feeding. All because of one little thing........

The stupid Misconception that America has invented that the Breast is a Sexual Object. That in part has ruined or at least tweaked with the way that younger women perceive Breast Feeding. It is a really sad truth. I have had women that i know personally asked why, they simply say that they cannot imagine ; and i quote 'sitting around with a baby sucking on their Tit.' Seriously, that's the reason i have been given.

I just don't understand why there is such a large sexual 'stint' on the human breast. Hello, first and foremost it exsists to feed and nourish our young! We are the only mammals on the planet that feed our young other than breast milk when it is not deemed necessary. And yes there are times that it is necessary to Formula Feed. It's just that people always say that when they are asked why the formula feed. When in actuality; it's only a small percentage that HAS to formula feed. Sick mother, mother seriously can't lactate (only 2% of women i'm talking about here) or the Foster care system, although i feel there could be a way for milk banks to work like blood banks to help the babies in need.

It's the stupid ass stigma that the entertainment industry and PRUDE people have implanted in society to make the human breast this big bad sexual object. When, in fact it is not. It utterly astounds me.  I mean really, once people get over themselves and other human beings body parts it's not a big deal at all. Hello, women are just feeding their children the way that they were intended.

I feel as if our society has failed us.

                                                                       These are the

Breastfeeding Rates Around the World

Country	% of mothers who start	% who continue 6 months or longer
Sweden	98	53
Norway	98	50
Poland	93	10
Canada	80	24
Netherlands	68	25
Britain	63	21
United States	57	20
Sources: Baby Milk Action, Cambridge, England; Center for Breastfeeding Information, Schaumburg, IL

  

Isn't that just remarkable? I don't understand why all these other countries have such hire statistics and us here in the US fall s short. I think partially it has to do with how much our society backs up our decision to BF. For example in countries like New Zealand, Norway and Australia have breast feeding rooms in stores, lots of activism and they don't pass out formula like candy in doctors offices like here in America. Their country does not under mind the decision to Breast Feed and i feel that is a big reason as to why they have such high rates.

All that i ask of Americans is to really weigh in on the decisions you make regarding your children. Especially the decision on how to nourish your children. Because Breast Feeding is so much more than nourishment.

Venting about FF vs BF

           I have nothing wrong with mothers that formula feed because they have to. I can't stand mothers that formula feed because it is convenient for them. For example; my SIL had her daughter at the exact hospital i had mine, but a year earlier. She was a young mom, and still is. She REFUSED to hear ANYTHING about BF, she had nothing medically holding her back. She decided to give her daughter formula so that she could go out and party, which she does almost daily. And what i have noticed in comparison of my daughters health and my nieces is greatly different. My daughter has NEVER been truly sick. Runny nose and coughs here and there but no need to be medicated. My niece on the other hand has had infection after infection, constantly on and off antibiotics. And the ONLY difference between our daughters is how they are/were fed. I've have seen first hand that FF babies get sicker more often, tend to weigh more (over weight) and be at risk of loads of other things. I just don't understand why a mother would chose something like that, when it is NOT A LAST RESORT?......for my SIL it's pure laziness. It might not be for everybody but that's what it is for her. She is a babysitter to her own daughter. Her daughter doesn't even call her mom because of how little she actually mothers the child. I mean for crying out loud this little girl has called ME MOM! Why? Because i actually act like a mother. That

    I get crap all the time for being a BF Mother, especially for being an EBF Mother. I hate how FF Mothers think that THEY are the ones that always get crap. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You wouldn't believe the plethora of crap i get (okay, the other EBF moms would believe me i bet) for being an EBF Mom. Most recently was from the HOSPITAL, the hospital!! Basically telling me that there are no benefits or reason for me to be BF my 14 month old daughter past a year. Always getting on my case for NOT introducing Cows Milk to my daughter. Like MY MILK is going to suddenly do something detrimental to her since she is no longer a 'baby'?......come the hell on!! Here is a great website that breaks it all down about the Advantages of BF and EBF and then the Disadvantages of FF. I found another website that states Formula should be used as a LAST RESORT ONLY. I know that there are instances when a Mother can't feed her child as Science intended,and that is why formula is there. Medications and illnesses to the Mother like HIV/AIDS are a couple instances where the WHO feels using you own Breast milk is detrimental to the babies health. Remember, roughly only %2 of women CAN'T BF.

      I don't understand WHY  people give  their children FOURTH BEST at feedings. It completely boggles me. I hear again and again....." I couldn't BF, don't be little me!"....but is that really the case? And the classic "Food is food, there's nothing different to the baby if i FF vs BF." Are you serious? Your choice is your choice......i don't necessarily want to be one of those psychotic "Lactivist" but facts are facts. Why would you spend so much time, money and energy to purchase; make formula and clean bottles when the PERFECT FOOD is readily available with nothing for you to do, except lift up your shirt ;)!? My first child i BF for 7 mons, but had to stop because i was going back to work after graduation and couldn't afford a medela pump to pump my milk. But at least i tried and kept at it for 7 whole months. This time around i am EBF my 14 month old daughter, happily. Yes she eats table food; constantly, but i still BF her when she wants it. Yes she is in the bottom of the Stupid US Weight/Height Charts; 16 lbs 10.3 oz (7.549 kg) and 27in (68.58 cm). But she is perfectly healthy, who cares that she isn't 24 lbs (10.886217 kg) or 32in (81.28 cm), or whatever the AMERICAN FORMULA FEED Charts claim that she SHOULD be. According to the WHO MY daughter is perfectly fine in Weight AND Height. Tell me why the American Association of Pediatrics and the CDC says otherwise? According to them my child is SEVERELY UNDERWEIGHT and SHORT, in the bottom 2% for Height and Weight. Why is this? Because all the charts are based on FF babies......

     What does that do to BF and EBF families you ask? It makes them feel as if they are failing they're children because the doctors in whom we trust under mind us by saying WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH, LOOK! It's utterly ridiculous. So the next time that a FF mom tries to say that they are always under attack from BF moms, what about all the BF moms that are under far more attack from FF moms; doctors and other random people who think they know better. I know that both sides get beef about their own decisions, and YES they are just that DECISIONS. But remember this, decisions DO have CONSEQUENCES.

Risks of Formula Feeding For Infants and Children:

The effects of formula feeding on infants and children continue to be studied, and several significant risks have been identified. There is an increased risk of:

• Mortality – this applies in Western countries as well as developing countries. For example, according to Lucas and Cole (1990), if all the preterm babies in British neonatal units were fed breast milk rather than formula, 100 deaths a year from necrotising enterocolotis would be prevented.
• Asthma and allergy
• Acute respiratory disease
• Childhood cancers
• Nutrient deficiencies: e.g., fatty acids, essential for brain development, and amino acids, essential for central nervous system development, as well as calcium and iron, are not in the correct proportions and/or as easily absorbed from formula as breastmilk.
• Infection from contaminated formula
• Diabetes
• Chronic diseases
• Cardiovascular disease
• Gastrointestinal infections
• Otitis media – inflammation of the middle ear
• Urinary infections
• Sudden infant death syndrome
• Necrotising enterocolotis – an infection or inflammation that causes destruction of the bowel or part of the bowel.

as well as

• Reduced cognitive development

Disadvantages of Formula Feeding For the Mother:
If a mother feeds her baby formula rather than breastfeeding, this has an effect on her health too. There is an increased risk of:

• Breast cancer – the risk of breast cancer is decreased by 4 % for each year of breastfeeding, according to D Hollander in Breast cancer Risk is Reduced By 4 % for Each Year of Breastfeeding [International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 28, 2002].
• Being overweight
• Ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer
• Osteoporosis
• Reduced natural child spacing, putting more pressure on the woman’s body and causing general stress, particularly in developing countries where resources are scarce
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Stress and anxiety
• Diabetes

Read more at Suite101: The Risks and Disadvantages of Formula Feeding: Facts About Breastmilk Substitutes Used in Bottle-Feeding Infants http://infant-toddler-health.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_risks_and_disadvantages_of_formula_feeding#ixzz0i05jsO1q

I just want to put all of that out there, so that Families are informed with the proper details about what FF and BF does. It is your choice. Nobody else's; just please make an informed decision for your children.