I have a "good news" culture story, that I had hoped to share at ILCA in
July, but couldn't get to a microphone in time.  I feel the future of
breastfeeding lies, not with us, but with our children and grandchildren,
whose attitudes will gradually become the "norm".  Now for my story:

Our family was having dinner at IHOP (International House of Pancakes, for
you non-Yankees), and my then 6 year old son was doing the crossword puzzle
on the "Kids" placemat.  After completing it (yes, not only can he read, he
can do crosswords!--all due to BF, I tell him!), he was checking his answers
with the ones on the back.  He blurted out, "Mom, they got one wrong!"  The
first word was a six letter word, beginning with "B", & the clue was, "You
feed a baby with this".  My son, of course, had written in breast, and the
restaurant answer was--you guessed it.  What struck me was my son's
unwavering confidence in HIS answer, and that "the establishment" was wrong.
 As our children and grandchildren grow into positions of influence, and
create more BF children, we WILL be able to realize our dreams of a BF
society....

By the way, the reason I breastfed was because my allergist told me to.  I
asked him if there was any way to avoid having my child suffer from the same
allergies (including cow's milk) that I, my husband, and both grandmothers
had had as babies.  He said, "If you want your child to have ice cream at
birthday parties, your only hope is to breastfeed at least 6 months or
longer".  I figured I had endured 9 months of pregnancy, so I could "endure"
6 months of BF.  No one in my family had bf, nor any of my friends.  My
husband basically said, "Whatever you want to do".  We attended a one-hour
class on bf, and that was all we knew.  In nursing school, we hardly talked
about bf at all, & I only had one patient who bf, and I never saw her
actually do it.  Despite having an abscess after delivery, and having to
"pump & dump" for a week while on Flagyl (during which Tim got soy ABM), bf
went wonderfully.  Fortunately, I knew nothing about nipple confusion, &
apparently neither did Tim, because he went back to breast with no problems.
 Needless to say, I found I didn't have to "endure" bf at all.  In fact, it
changed my whole life--made a mother out of a confirmed "rugrat hater",
changed an orthopedic nurse into a mother-baby nurse, and even convinced me
to have a second child!  Both, by the way, still test allergy-free (Tim is
now eleven, and doing 9th grade algebra in school!)

Off the soapbox, thanks for letting me share!  And Jeanette, you realize, I
hope, that you had the most influence on my becoming an LC, with all your
help with Peter.  Thanks once again!

Carol