friend's comment

A friend of mine, who is pg, said to me at the weekend, "You are the only
person I know who ever has anything positive to say about breastfeeding!"

I thought, that's so sad! All the mothers we know (including our own!) and
I'm the ONLY person that this pregnant woman knows who is encouraging her to
bfeed. I have given her a gift membership to the Association of
Breastfeeding Mothers, and I've been really honest with her about the first
few weeks being really tough, etc. but it being worth it in the end ... I
really hope she bfeeds, but I live a long way from her so I won't be able to
offer daily support in person.... I will try and ring her all the time...

Made me feel really sad though, that something which has been such a
positive thing to me is seen by most people as so negative, or 'not worth
trying'.

ROSIE

Rosie wrote:
A friend of mine, who is pg, said to me at the weekend, "You are the only
person I know who ever has anything positive to say about breastfeeding!"

I thought, that's so sad! All the mothers we know (including our own!) and
I'm the ONLY person that this pregnant woman knows who is encouraging her to
bfeed. I have given her a gift membership to the Association of
Breastfeeding Mothers, and I've been really honest with her about the first
few weeks being really tough, etc. but it being worth it in the end ... I
really hope she bfeeds, but I live a long way from her so I won't be able to
offer daily support in person.... I will try and ring her all the time...

Made me feel really sad though, that something which has been such a
positive thing to me is seen by most people as so negative, or 'not worth
trying'.

ROSIE

I've had the same experience with my sister. She says if it wasn't for me
she wouldn't be BF now (her DD is 4 1/2 months).
It saddens me too, especially when I hear some of the reasons that
people give.

Mary Ann

I keep reading all these messages about our previous generation not
being bf friendly etc... I guess in my case it's the exact opposite.
Everyone in my family was breast fed as babies. Atleast up to a year.
Ofcourse my mom tells me I nursed until I was 5. I remember being
"very attached" but I don't remember if I actually nursed until I was
5. Anyways, the point is, in my generation it became reverse. Not even
a single cousin or a friend nursed their offspring. It's all because
of lack of information. My sister told me that had she known all this,
she would've nursed. She gains that satisfaction through me. She kept
telling me not to give up when I had really big problems with my baby
initially. Even though my mom and MIL bfed (my sister and SIL didn't.)
they have no clue about the process, really. They think "if you drink
milk, you'll make more milk" and if you "have" milk you can bf, some
people just "don't have" milk, nursing doesn't necessarily produce
more and more milk. It's all determined by if you "have" milk in your
breast.. similar things along the line. With this kind of bfing
knowledge, it's not surprising, in my generation nobody's bfing in my
family. I'm not really that outspoken about this. I know for sure
every mum likes to bf the baby. If someone tells me they tried and
failed I just offer my sympathy and say, atleast you tried. I don't
have the heart to tell them if they tried harder, they would've made
it. I know how incredibly hard it was for me initially. I cried every
time she took a bottle and refused me. I kind of took it personally
and cried dd was actually refusing "me".

Anyways enough rambling for a day!


Mary Ann Tuli wrote in message ...
Rosie wrote:
A friend of mine, who is pg, said to me at the weekend, "You are the only
person I know who ever has anything positive to say about breastfeeding!"

I thought, that's so sad! All the mothers we know (including our own!) and
I'm the ONLY person that this pregnant woman knows who is encouraging her to
bfeed. I have given her a gift membership to the Association of
Breastfeeding Mothers, and I've been really honest with her about the first
few weeks being really tough, etc. but it being worth it in the end ... I
really hope she bfeeds, but I live a long way from her so I won't be able to
offer daily support in person.... I will try and ring her all the time...

Made me feel really sad though, that something which has been such a
positive thing to me is seen by most people as so negative, or 'not worth
trying'.

ROSIE

"ted" wrote in message
m...
I keep reading all these messages about our previous generation not
being bf friendly etc... I guess in my case it's the exact opposite.
Everyone in my family was breast fed as babies. Atleast up to a year.
Ofcourse my mom tells me I nursed until I was 5. I remember being
"very attached" but I don't remember if I actually nursed until I was
5. Anyways, the point is, in my generation it became reverse. [ . . . ]

I know that my mother bf my brother (b. 1964) and me (b. 1967), though she's
never mentioned for how long (will have to ask). She's as pleased as can be
that I'm bf, and never has anything negative to say. My husband's
stepsister bf both her children, daughter b. 1971 and son b. 1978. With the
first, she weaned early (I think 3 mos?) b/c her then-husband pushed her
into it (wanted to "participate" in feeding), but she bf her son until age
5. She also co-slept! My SIL is still nursing her DD, now 16 months.

The mother of a friend of mine bf my friend (b. 1966) and friend's brothers
(b. 1969 & 1971, I think). She (the mom) told me how unsupportive the
hospital was, treating her as if she must be some crazy hippy to bf. She
fought with the hospital staff to bring her nutritious food during her stay:
"I'm breastfeeding a baby here!" My friend thought that seeing her mom
nurse her baby brother was the coolest thing ever, and wanted mom to do it
for her class for "show and tell." Her teacher didn't think that was such a
hot idea, but mom came in and showed him to the class w/o bf him.

Belphoebe