Fun topic! I heard lots of interesting things, while nursing my kids. For
various reasons, my three black or biracial kids were the ones I nursed in
public the most, which made it more obvious that I was nursing an adopted
baby. I never asked anyone else if they had nursed their babies, or why
not, but quite a few women offered their reasons. There were some that were
legitimate, at least from their point view, usually that a doctor had told
them they couldn;t, and they hadn't had any other support. Of the others,
one that sticks in my mind is the other OB/GYN's wife, who had a baby the
same age as my Thomas, who told me that she couldn't nurse her son because,
when he was a newborn, he wanted to nurse every two hours. So, she didn't
nurse her son because he was normal! I have to wonder, if a mother really
feels good about her decision to bottle feed, why she would feel the need to
offer an excuse to someone who hadn't even asked. I suspect that alot of
mothers who get defensive are actually somewhat disappointed that they are
not breastfeeding. I think the way we respond to them can have an effect on
what they will do, if they have any more babies in the future.
On the topic of moms not wanting to nurse a child of one sex, I remember,
years ago, Dr. Joyce got a question asking if breastfeeding a girl wouldn't
cause her to grow up a lesbian. Dr. Brothers said that this was not a
possibility and pointed out that, if it was, it would have meant that, prior
to the 20th century, the world would have been filled with only heterosexual
men and homosexual women, and that the population of the world would
probably not have gotten as big as it has, under such circumstances.
Darillyn
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