Real Simple Magazine - simplify your life by NOT breastfeeding!

On another breastfeeding board they are saying that this months issue of
Real Simple magazine has an article on simplifying your life, and NOT
breastfeeding is one of the suggestions. Does anyone get this magazine?
If this is true, they should be ashamed of themselves.

This was discussed in another thread a week or so ago. The article includes
'not breastfeeding' in a list of '20 ways to simplify your life' describing
that 'the worst thing that would probably happen is that you'd miss out on some
bonding.'
Of course the article fails to mention that you DON"T simply your life by
having to buy and mix formula, take your kid to the doctor more often, deal
with stinkier diapers, and all the other things that go along with formula
feeding....


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)

"Pamela" wrote in message
On another breastfeeding board they are saying that this months issue of
Real Simple magazine has an article on simplifying your life, and NOT
breastfeeding is one of the suggestions.

It wasn't quite so bad as that; it was not quite a suggestion. But, it was
bad enough, indeed, and they should be ashamed, indeed, and I'm betting they
are getting plenty of mail, including from me. It's generally a very
agreeable magazine.

The gist of the article was "20 Rules You Can Break Now ... As it turns out,
you don't have to do everything you're told."

The good news is (must find the bright side ... must find the bright side)
they consider breastfeeding the rule.

The bad news is, here's what they said ...

*********
What's the worst that could happen if I don't breastfeed my baby?
most likely: "In the long run, nothing," says Boris Petrikovsky, chairman of
the department of obstetrics-gynecology at Nassau University Medical Center,
in East Meadow, New York. When you're bottle-feeding, you know exactly how
much food the baby is eating, and Mom may be less tired because Dad has no
excuse to sleep through 3 a.m. feedings. "There is also absolutely no
conclusive data on breast milk's effects on brain development," adds
Petrikovsky.

worst case: "The biggest downside of not breast-feeding is that the mother
misses out on some of the bonding," says Petrikovsky. And since breast milk
is specially designed to meet the nutritional needs of infants and contains
antibodies that help protect them from a variety of illnesses, "babies who
are breast-fed are more likely to have a stronger immune system and be sick
less than formula-fed infants."
*********

It all irks me, you can rip apart each of the points made by Dr. P., but
particularly that the biggest downside, according to the "expert," is *for*
the mom. Heck, if breastfeeding were that much about me, I'd totally have
formula-fed kids. That and my other thoughts on Dr. P's opinions have been
forwarded to the editor.

I look forward to reading what y'all would say! Have at it! Rip away!

--
Marnie
--

"Naomi Pardue" wrote in message

This was discussed in another thread a week or so ago. The article
includes
'not breastfeeding' in a list of '20 ways to simplify your life'

Not quite. It's a subtle difference from what you are saying. It's "20 Rules
To Break Now." Most of them were silly (eg what's the worst that could
happen if you swallowed gum).

As I said in another post ... at least they considered breatfeeding "the
rule" or the conventional wisdom. But other than that, it was a so-called
expert chock-a-block full of opinion disguised as advice, in a puff piece
that did nothing but tell formula feeders it's OK.
--
Marnie
--

Not quite. It's a subtle difference from what you are saying. It's "20 Rules
To Break Now." Most of them were silly (eg what's the worst that could
happen if you swallowed gum).


Ok. Fair enough. But I still assumed that, given the title of the magazine,
the idea was that these are rules you can break which will, by breaking them,
make your life easier.


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

(either remove spamblock or change address to to e-mail
reply.)