I too support the availability of organic formula.  I had occasion to use it
several yrs ago when my almost two yr old was severely ill and refusing to
eat and my milk supply was nil during my 7th month of pregnancy.  It is so
much better than the industrial by-products that are fortified and dressed
up as "food" in commercial formula.

That being said, I have some concerns about this line of thought:

>  Sometimes too much
> emphasis is placed on the "ideal"  which is exclusive
> breastfeeding (at the breast for a minimum of 6 months) and
> continued breastmilk for at least 2 years.  How realistic is
> this for many moms, especially in this day and age?

While I am often the first to remind moms that it is possible to mix breast
milk and artificial milk feedings and certainly preferable to weaning
altogether I feel it sends the wrong message if breastfeeding supporters
start feeling it isn't "realistic".

When my oldest was born I had just turned 18, was struggling to find a place
to live and had no help from her father after we terminated a less than
ideal relationship.  I was in school and had returned to my job as a
waitress when she was 4 weeks old.  The only pump I could afford was a
single electric that iirc was called a "Maggie Moo" that I had gotten from
Sears -- terrible pump and I had to take it apart at regular intervals to
clean out milk from the gears =:-O.

However other than one misbegotten evening at 2.5 months when I thought I
was supposed to "get away" from my baby my daughter received nothing but
breastmilk for 7 months and was breastfed for over 3 yrs.  Why?  Because
that was the *expectation*.  The thought never, ever cross my mind not to
breastfeed -- even during those early days when I would leap from my chair
with after pains when she latched on.  I was breasted (albeit for only 6
months), both my younger siblings where breastfed for over a year.  I
started reading Mothering Magazine that was laying around at 8 -- breastmilk
was how babies where fed.

I have no idea how my family accomplished this shift in attitude.  Growing
up it seemed to be a very middle of the road family in middle America in the
70's and 80's.  But once again if we have the expectation that it is
realistic and normal, if that shift in outlook can be made culturally --
then most of us would be out of work :) -- but that shift is going to have
to start here, because I can't imagine it happening on a grand scale
anywhere else.

Jessica Mattingly M.Ed., CCE, CBE, LLLL
Kansas City, MO

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