Breastfeeding advice

Uh oh, I'm about to jump on my soap box again. RANT ALERT! RANT ALERT! :)

Picture this: Bella, Ben and I are all in the midst of a nasty virus that makes your throat feel like it is on fire and has you thinking if you swallowed anything, your head would explode from the pain! So, I elected to sleep on the couch last night downstairs while everyone else slept upstairs; post nasal drip can be a bear sometimes.

So, I was awake, and I was watching the local news, because in case you don't live (or should I say roast) on the East Coast, you might have heard we are having this little heat wave. Needless to say, as I was watching the weather, an advertisement came on where there was a kid standing there with his back pack on and the little caption says, "No earaches, no drippy nose, guess who's going to school today?" Then his TV mom walks up and hands him his lunch bag. So, you're wondering why I object to this? Well, the next caption says, "Breastfeeding helps with your child's immunity and enables them to fight infections better," and then there are a couple more commercials with beautiful children, with the clear implication that it's all due to breastfeeding!


(THAT'S RIGHT, SPORTS FANS, HERE COMES THE RANT...)


As a mother who had the flu when I delivered my first baby and pneumonia the second, I OBJECT to those statements about the supposed superiority of breastfeeding over formula. Due to circumstances beyond my control, my babies did not breastfeed beyond the first couple of days, and as far as I can tell, my kids don't have half a head. Additionally, every child I know, whether they were breastfed or not, gets ear infections. As a matter of fact, one kid I know who was breastfed for 9 months has chronic ear infections and gets the same, if not more, colds than my daughter, who's a smart, strong, beautiful formula fed baby.

So take that, breast feeding Nazis! Yes, it's not a term I use lightly, but that's how strongly I feel about it!

A mother with a newborn baby should make decisions that work for her and her child/children, and we should not be treated like bad parents because we did not breastfeed. If you can breastfeed your children, good for everyone involved; but if you can't or choose not to, you should not be ostracized by others for making that decision. When I was in the hospital after having Isabella, I had a breast feeding counselor tell me that if I did not breastfeed Isabella, then I would not bond with my daughter -- what utter nonsense!

Along that same line of thought, one can say that parents of adopted children can never bond with their children. I happen to know that that is bullshit (pardon my language), as my husband and his brother are adopted, and their parents are wonderful and love them as much as any other parents would.

So, I say to anyone out there watching these commercials - like most things in life, you need to take it with a pinch of salt and slug the shot of... oops, old habits showing up there - you should listen to what people say and then make the decision that best suits you and your family.