Dear Lord, please forgive me for the post I am about to pour out. Please do not let it turn into Formula-gate 2.0. Please let me speak my mind freely and openly, and let my readers (new and old) realize that this is NOT a breast-vs-bottle debate. Amen. _uacct = “UA-4888259-1″;urchinTracker();
…Whip it real good.
Honestly, when was the last time you saw a breastfeeding mother lay her child down on her lap, unhinge her massive boob and let it flop around offensively for several minute before bringing the child close enough to grasp, but far enough away to expose the offensive nipple?
Oh right – never.
At least, not in my recent memory.
And even if she did? I really don’t care. Her body grew those boobs in puberty for one function: to nourish any offspring she may choose to have in her adult years. Yes, they were pretty and perky and bouncy before, but any breastfeeding mama remembers looking into a mirror and seeing purple-veined, bulging orbs where her girls once sat. There ratio of sexuality to functionality is decidedly one-sided when the milk comes in 
So when I read about Forest Park GA passing a law that prohibits mothers from breastfeeding children over 2 years of age in public, it makes me very upset. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum 2 years of nursing, and North America already falls far short of that average. Why on earth would a community go further and deem in criminal to breastfeed a toddler??
I am baffled. I understand that there are people who find it offensive, however I have a ridiculously hard time understanding why they are offended. We are so desensitized to overt sexuality as a culture, and yet we are offended by a decidedly un-sexual act. There are outcries of disgust, claims of women “whipping it out” to feed a self-sufficient toddler.
First, see my above question regarding “whipping it out”…second, what toddler do you know who is actually self-sufficient? Now, I’m not advocating extended breastfeeding as an alternative to nurturing your child into an independent functioning member of society. It’s the exact opposite, in fact: I think that children who are raised in a safe, secure environment grow up to better-functioning members of our communities. Of course “safe and secure” isn’t exclusive to extended nursing; it’s inclusive of any act that allows your children to grow up in a safe and secure environment.
I just happen to believe that extended nursing is a behaviour that can translate that to a toddler who doesn’t yet understand the intricacies of our spoken language.
It’s the same as sharing my bed with my children. Yes, it makes for a difficult night at times, but I wouldn’t change the safety it provides them when they wake up scared in the night or can’t fall asleep at bedtime. It is a physical way of showing them comfort. It might not work for your family, but it does for mine.
And contrary to my beliefs, I don’t have hairy armpits, bike to work, eat granola, or fall into very many other (false) stereotypes about attachment parenting. Those stereotypes arise when we try to deny our instincts about how to nurture our young and instead try to treat them as small adults.
They aren’t small adults though, so why rush the process? As it’s been so eloquently quipped: We spend 2 years begging our children to walk and talk, and the next 16 begging them to sit down and shut up.
We are in such a hurry to have our inconvenient offspring mature into independent adults that we ignore the biological truths. One of those is that, as a species, we are meant to nurse our young beyond the first 6 months. There is a solid, substantiated reason that the WHO recommends 2 years as the minimum breastfeeding timeline, not the absolute maximum. That isn’t to say that those of us who stop early (or never start) are damning our children to a lesser life; it just means that we need to listen a little closer to our bodies and a lot less to the world around us.
I am ashamed that a city feels that it has the right to dictate whether or not a toddler can nurse in public. I think it is tantamount to denying a hurt child a bandaid or blankie or other comfort object. They are not at the age of reason. It has very little to do with nutrition and has everything to do with providing a child with comfort and safety regardless of location, regardless of audience.
I can guarantee you that an extended-breastfeeding mother isn’t “whipping it out” or flopping her boobs around to offend you. She’s probably gotten enough flack from those around her to have mastered the fine art of discretion.
Perhaps we should all learn the fine art of discretion as well. After all, you can always discretely look away.
