In response to my comment
<Given the culture today and how seldom an older child usually nurses, why
would it be necessary to do it in public, or in such a public way?>>

Norma wrote, <<Maybe, precisely BECAUSE of the way our culture views the
nursing of an
older child?>>


Perhaps I misrepresented my thoughts or failed to present them clearly
enough.  I don't have a problem with older children nursing.  On the
contrary I have been singing the same song as you for 20+ years.  My
youngest weaned herself just before her fourth birthday.  I was a LLLL for
10 years and anyone in our group was welcome to nurse whatever age child
they brought with them.  I also don't believe we can force independence on
children, but that it comes naturally when their needs were attended to
promptly and with love during the stage of their greatest dependence.  We
are not on different pages here.  I only question the public way in which
this mother asked her child (sorry I thought it was a 6 year old) to nurse
and only then because Melisa questioned whether there was more to it than
just a mother responding to her child's need.  Often when something
instinctively doesn't feel right to us, we are correct.  I wouldn't say
anything to anyone nursing whatever age of child, but I don't think it's
altogether fair to the child to nurse an older child in public just to make
a point as you have suggested.  When the founding mothers were "closet
nursing", they were nursing toddlers, or at least that was totally
unacceptable then.  We're still trying to make that acceptable.  Why do we
have to shock society and have them label us totally nuts by pushing this in
their face with an older child?  I don't think we open doors by displaying
the extremes without caution.  We may wish for this to be a non-issue
someday, that nursing any age of child won't even be noticed, but we start
with baby steps, which we have, and work up from there.  I, for one, have
been smarting from the broad brush with which all LLLL were painted, as
worse than zealots, nuts and whacko's over the years, and especially when I
became an OB nurse.  When people found out my background, I had to work for
years to overcome just the stigma before I could hope to impact
breastfeeding practices in the hospital.  (I have recently had the term
breastfeeding nazi, the subject of recent posts, used in an email sent to me
by a physician who did not know me personally but was using that same broad
brush to paint all LC's with.  I could post my reply to him, it was
respectful, but that is not the subject of this post.  Suffice it to say, I
pointed out that I have heard negative comments about doctors also, but did
not presume that they applied to him without meeting him.)   I think things
are better now, but, if so, it is because cooler heads and reason have
prevailed, as has been so eloquently pointed out in the messages of Barbara
Wilson-Clay and others on Lactnet.  We need to treat others with respect for
their feelings -that is the message of LLL- and I think that includes the
society at large.  I think we have far better success opening the door
gradually than by trying to force it open.

Warmly,
Marsha, who remembers from my LLL days the idea that social change takes a
generation to see a difference.  Since I am the same age as LLL (I could
have been one of those babies at the picnic, only I was formula fed ;-(),
I'd say we've come quite a ways in 2 generations!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future generations
as all other earthly causes combined.
C. Abbot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html