Patricia wrote:

"I wrote to the artist of Ben in regards to his
character, Patti, breastfeeding her son Michael. Her
older one asked to nurse and he was told the milk was
for baby. I mentioned to the artist that it was
possible for him to nurse and many moms do tandem
nurse.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received a return
email stating that he was aware of tandem feeding and
it being okay to offer the breast to an older
child....he just didn't think the public was ready for
that quite yet!"

If the cartoonist writes a story line in which an
older child asks Mom if s/he may nurse and mom says
"No, that's for baby" the cartoonist is saying:

Older children do not nurse.
Siblings do not tandem nurse.

If the cartoonist truly believes its "okay' to offer
the breast but the public isn't ready he says nothing,
does nothing, moves on to other issues in his story
line.  By no stretch of the imagination would anyone
read the story line described here and conclude "Hey!
It's perfectly alright to nurse an older child, in
fact some people tandem nurse!"  The only possible
conclusion is "older kids shouldn't nurse because
that's for babies."  Unless of course the next frame
shows perplexed responses from children and
bystanders, or Mom's thought process in deciding not
to nurse the older one...

Patricia & others in-the-know:
Where does this comic strip appear?  I haven't seen
it.  Could you share an address for the cartoonist on
Lactnet, or email me privately?  Thanks!

I'm pleased every time I see a positive reference to
breastfeeding in the media but the thought "Stop while
you're ahead..." comes to mind in this case.

The cartoonist's response reminds me of the mothers
who smugly tell me they tell their doctors,
mothers-in-law, and sadly sometimes husbands, that
they've weaned -- when they haven't.  The mothers are
proud of the fact that they secretly know better.
Why?  Mindfully or not, they have acted to suppress a
greater understanding of the breastfeeding
relationship.  Better to have said nothing rather than
contribute to the misunderstanding.

Patricia's experience reminds me of the times I've
made friendly complaints to mail order catalogues
showing babies with bottles only to be told "that's
expressed breast milk" in the bottle turned to show
every letter of the manufacturer's name and that
they're more politically correct than I am because
that's Dad giving the bottle while Mom gets a break &
goes to work...

I'm glad "Ben" portrays breastfeeding.  I just want
more.


Susan Johnson  MFA, IBCLC




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