Dear Friends:
    This mother writes about her struggle to keep breastfeeding her toddler
while her body is rebelling and hating it.
    Maybe she should wean. A relationship is only as good as it is for both
people. Why persist if she is so miserable? What good is it for the toddler
if mom hates it?
    I have encountered another woman who was determined to breastfeed her
middle child as long as she breastfeed her first. She felt obligated to give
the first as much as the second. 5 1/2 years. When the third baby got to be
about a year old, she began to hate breastfeeding the middle one. She kept
doing it. I always wondered what the impact was on that middle son of
engaging in an intimate act that the mother was loathing. Would that teach
him to expect physical intimacy with women whether they liked it or not?
    Breastfeeding is far more than an intellectual exercise or an obligation.
    Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI
craniosacral therapy practitioner; childbirth educator
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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