Why no one breastfeeds anymore...

 

     I happen to have "liked" many parenting, breast feeding and birth pages on Facebook.  One thing I have noticed about ALL of them is that despite posting daily about normal behavior in babies, especially breastfed ones, about how to successfully breastfeed, and more,  at least once a day and sometimes as much as every hour a mom asks the page a question that baffles me. 


"My baby wants to eat every hour or two at night and I need sleep. Why is she doing this and how can I stop it"


"My baby is using me as a pacifier. What can I do?"


"My baby nurses once a day and I give him LOTS of solids and water and juice and bottles of formula while I am at work. My supply seems to be dwindling, how can I get it back up?"


"My baby is 2 days old and not acting satisfied after nursing, so, I let him nurse for a minute and then give him a bottle of formula. How can I get him to nurse more?"


These are just some of the questions I have seen and they all can let me know a few things about modern society that help me to know exactly why hardly anyone breastfeeds or why they quit early if they do.


 We are under the impression that a baby should eat quickly and remain satisfied for hours after a feed(like the modern formula fed counterpart), we believe that babies should go to sleep immediately once placed in a crib and should sleep soundly for most of the night(8 hours is good, but 12 hours is best), we believe that sucking beyond feeding and for comfort is for pacifiers only because breast aren't pacifiers(even though pacifiers ARE breast substitutes for when the breast isn't available to be suckled), we are under the impression that breastmilk isn't supply and demand and should turn on and off like like a faucet(even doctors and nurses don't seem to get this one).....


Then, you add in the fact that "breastfeeding is a private thing reserved for mom and baby alone and hidden from view of the world.", that daddies "absolutely CANNOT ever, ever bond with baby unless he gets to bottle feed at least a million times.", that " breasts are sexual ONLY and only for your husband to touch because a baby touching them is child porn and exposing he child to sex.", that "breastfeeding is GROSS and that formula is WAY easier and full of SO MANY vitamins and minerals that breastmilk doesn't have"., and "everyone and their mom and sister and grandma and best friends and dog had formula and are JUST FINE even though they all have breast cancer, hypertension, strokes, diabetes, asthma....and so on." .....


Every ad you see has a bottle fed baby, every show you watch has a bottle fed baby, every family you see in town is bottle feeding their baby in public, every doll you own has a bottle, every book you read has a bottle fed baby...


Your mom keeps telling you that baby isn't satisfied if he wants to eat every 2 hours and you should formula feed, your grandma thinks it's gross and tells you to formula feed, your hubby doesn't want you to nurse in front of ANYONE and wants you to formula feed, the doc thinks baby is a little lighter than average and wants you to formula feed, your best friends baby was formula fed and slept all night from day one(she also allowed baby to scream until it passed out from day one)...


So...If you have believed these things, saw these things, heard these things and were told these things....


It's no wonder we all quit. How could you not? It's just failure waiting to happen and IF, IF you happened to nurse beyond the first day, week, month or year...you deserve a standing ovation.  Think of everything you overcame. The obstacles are MANY. The help is few.


How can we counteract ALL this that is SO against breastfeeding? Can you think of some ways?

Gallery Of Nursing Moms and Babies(Our attempt to make breastfeeding the norm and not the feared)

A beautiful display of babies fed straight from the breast....Nothing here is wrong, ugly, gross, sexual, shameful, to be hidden, for mom's sick pleasure or anything else negative you can come up with. If YOU see something icky, wrong or sexual here, YOU need psychiatric help. And to Facebook: Bite me, you can't delete these!!!!

Here is a picture right when my little princess Olivia was born.. I Love this picture. She was looking for the breast right away. ~Heather (Aww...a newbie to the bewbie. LOL ~TM:I)

Isn't nature beautiful?!

Thanx for your efforts on FB!

Carmen feeding her little one.... (Thank you, it's my pleasure ~TM:I)

This is Stephanie and her bundle of goodness!!! 

(I want to pinch some cheeks! ~ TM:I)

Nursing, in a wrap, with our Supplemental Nursing System.~Nyssa 

(P.S.: TM:I thinks this is fantastic)

My sweet Lexi nursing .. 23 months old ~ Margaret    

(Who says that kids need to stop at one or sooner? ~TM:I)

Me feeding Gianna on my wedding day 8months old ~ Arielle 

(Awww!! ~TM:I)

Suzy's little boobie monster.  

(Has the newborn, boobie bigger than head phenomena going on. ~TM:I)

Nursing my 15 month old while 40 weeks pregnant ~Serena   

(Awesomesauce! ~ TM:I)

Stacie and her nursling enjoying some outside feeding and the sunshine!!  

(Kudos to you momma. ~TM:I)

Joslin and her bitty baby... (Aww...I want one!! ~TM:I)

I just have to say... I love your blog/Facebook page!! PLEASE keep up the good work. I'm delighted to be able to share a favorite picture of my little Bobby quietly nursing (though this was several month ago, he's more of a gymnast while nursing now).

Thanks for all that you do!

Sincerely,Rachel                

(Thank you Rachel. I appreciate you and your comment. Makes me want to keep going stronger than ever. ~TM:I)

Ellie as Yoda nursed by me as Princess Leia

Ellie nursed during the Komen Oregon Race for the Cure, she's the newest member of our race team "Just in Case" ~Cyndi 

this is mommy Abby and baby boy Jack (now 4 months). we live in chicago, il. there is one where you can see my nipple (oh my!) so not sure if you can use it but its my favorite, he stopped to give me the stink eye for talking while he was eating. he likes it quiet! thanks for taking the time to do this.
(You're welcome!! And I love the "stink eye")

 (Stink eye)

Billy with mom Caroline (Sweetness!! ~TM:I)

That is my baby boy, Jackson, at 12 weeks.Christie 
(Lovely and an awesome nursing necklace to boot~TM:I)

Thank you for being such a strong and informative voice on facebook. I love your blog as well :)
Kim and my beautiful 4 month old daughter Summer on a cold winters eve
Much love. (Thank you!! ~TM:I)

1st pic: Taken about an hour after my 2nd son was born.
2nd pic: About a month old. ~ Kimberlee   (Sweet little one)

This is a photo of my 3rd son. Still in the hospital. Maybe one day old. At this point in my life I'd been either pregnant or breastfeeding (or a combination of the two) for 5 years ;-)Molly (Love the hat!! ~TM:I)

Picture #1:  nursing my daughter immediately after my VBAC.  With my firstborn daughter, I ended up not even getting to hold her for hours, so nursing and holding my baby right away was such a wonderful moment.
Picture #2-#5: nursing her in the hospital
Picture #6: post-nursing cuddles and milk-coma! ~Kylie 
(Glad you got to hold after the VBAC! ~TM:I)

My two week old son happily enjoying moms milk. :)~Amy 
(He looks blissed out. ~TM:I)

My son Jack, he has Downs Syndrome and is still breastfed at 15 months! We were told not to expect him to breastfeed and after he was whisked away to a different hospital for 48 hours we were told again not to expect him to feed as we had missed the window of oppurtunity, this is him a few minutes after coming back to me feeding like a pro!x~Jenny (Absolutely wonderful!!! ~TM:I)

Gabriel, 3 months.
Oh, and I'm Kathryn Plasencia from facebook or ~kp~ 
from Mommyhood By the Handful.Have a happy day =)
(The hand on the boobah is awesome!!! ~TM:I)

  My 9 month old nursing as we are choosing bridesmaids' dresses for my wedding. ~Ashley 

(What a cool pic!!~TM:I)

 First i want to tell you how much i love your page and blog. It is so nice to feel connected with other mamas like me. This is Silas at one day old. This is the first nursing photo i took and you can see how he felt about it. Thanks for letting me share, i love the message you are sending with this. -celina

(Aww, look at that little hand. And thank you so much!!! ~TM:I)

This is Stephanie and her bundle of cuteness!!! 

(Yes, baby IS nursing here)

(Apparently, baby LOVES to hold a handful of 

breast while she eats too!! LOL ~TM:I)

(Don't even think about it!!)

(First feeding. Look at the vernix!!)

(Bright eyed)

Zachary nursing, 6 months, love that boy! ~Emily 

(Look at those eyes!!! ~TM:I)

  

It's hard to see he's nursing......right after our shower, 

nursin naked :) both of us.
Thank you for all that you do, I am so glad you're here for all of us, 

and in turn we can all be here for you! ~Hannele

(You're welcome!! And thank you!! ~TM:I)

(Awesome shot!)

                                                                                                                                                     

So you see...breastfeeding is what kids do. It's why you have breasts and why they make milk. They aren't there just for holding out your shirt. They actually have a job. Stop flipping out when you see a breast do its job. If you have breasts and a baby, try nursing and see if you like it. Don't just assume you won't or can't.