bf - ammo pro bf past 6 months

I have a family reunion to go on Saturday and I am dreading it.
The reason being that all my SILs never bf'd their children and are VERY
from bottlefeeding. MIL is great but has the belief that some bm is "not
good enough" and keeps telling me that is why DD is not fattening up....and
to make things even more complicated my niece (DH's nephew's wife) had a
baby a month after me and her DS was close to 20 pounds at 4 months and she
had weaned him to formula by 4 months (not sure why but I heard that she
started the pill and her milk dried up).
Anyways....knowing that I might encounter some comments like "bf this
late?", "she's too old already..." and others of the kind I am trying to
gather some ammunition to go through that day...
I don't want to just sit there and smile and look like I don't know what I
am doing by bfing DD exclusively until 6 months (she is 5.5 months now) and
go well into her 1st year (maybe beyond).
I would like to have intelligent replies that will get them thinking and who
knows maybe understand the reasons I have for doing it.
I have the old "the WHO recommendation is exclusively bf for 6 months and at
least for the first 2 years" but I don't think it's working
anymore......they look at me like I am insane and don't know what I am
doing.......and to make matters worse DD hasn't doubled her birthweight yet
which makes them think I am depriving her of food.......:P
Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?

Thanks,

FayeC

FayeTarzwell wrote:

Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?


Instead of waiting for them to approach me on the topic of BF,
I'd go up to your niece and ask "Oh, you don't BF. So, what does a
bottle of formula cost nowadays?" And then ask "How long does it
last you?". Then do a quick calculation and say "Well, that saves
me $$$ a month, thanks for letting me know!"

I would avoid the topic altogether after that, especially with
women who have decided up front that BF is weird.

Good luck Faye!

--
-- Ilse
mom to Olaf (07/15/2002)
TTC #2
"What's the use of brains if you are a girl?"
Aletta Jacobs, first Dutch woman to receive a PhD

Astromum wrote:
FayeTarzwell wrote:

Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?


Instead of waiting for them to approach me on the topic of BF,
I'd go up to your niece and ask "Oh, you don't BF. So, what does a
bottle of formula cost nowadays?" And then ask "How long does it
last you?". Then do a quick calculation and say "Well, that saves
me $$$ a month, thanks for letting me know!"

I would avoid the topic altogether after that, especially with
women who have decided up front that BF is weird.

Some of the benefits of Bfing mentioned here recently included:
1. money saved
2. studies have shown BF babies less likely to be obese at adulthood
(when these things start to really matter).
3. breast millk contains "immunological factors which help protect the
baby" (karen). Children who are breastfed and go to daycare are less
likely to get sick and when they are sick it is less severe than their
FF counterpart.
4. Studies have shown BF'ed baby's to be smarter than their FF
counterparts (can't remember if it was mentioned here).

regards,
Ben


--
BTW. I can be contacted at Username:newsgroup4.replies.benaltw
Domain:xoxy.net

FayeTarzwell wrote:
Does anybody have any good lines I could use if
necessary in those situations?


Honestly, I'd probably get really exasperated with people who are willfully
ignorant about breastfeeding. I'd probably end up saying something like,
"Look, I'm not going to wean my child from an entirely successful
breastfeeding relationship and start giving her an inferior substance like
formula. Formula's expensive and it's nowhere near as good for her."

--
iphigenia
www.tristyn.net

"FayeTarzwell" wrote in message
.. .
I have a family reunion to go on Saturday and I am dreading it.
The reason being that all my SILs never bf'd their children and are VERY
from bottlefeeding. MIL is great but has the belief that some bm is "not
good enough" and keeps telling me that is why DD is not fattening
up....and
to make things even more complicated my niece (DH's nephew's wife) had a
baby a month after me and her DS was close to 20 pounds at 4 months and
she
had weaned him to formula by 4 months (not sure why but I heard that she
started the pill and her milk dried up).
Anyways....knowing that I might encounter some comments like "bf this
late?", "she's too old already..." and others of the kind I am trying to
gather some ammunition to go through that day...
I don't want to just sit there and smile and look like I don't know what I
am doing by bfing DD exclusively until 6 months (she is 5.5 months now)
and
go well into her 1st year (maybe beyond).
I would like to have intelligent replies that will get them thinking and
who
knows maybe understand the reasons I have for doing it.
I have the old "the WHO recommendation is exclusively bf for 6 months and
at
least for the first 2 years" but I don't think it's working
anymore......they look at me like I am insane and don't know what I am
doing.......and to make matters worse DD hasn't doubled her birthweight
yet
which makes them think I am depriving her of food.......:P
Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?

Thanks,

FayeC


I would ask them what made them think they knew more about BF than
WHO.....but then I like a "fight" sometimes.
I mean, if BF wasn't the best thing for babies, then how on earth did the
first baby live long enough to get it together with another human to make
the whole of the human race.......
You don't see cows going to the supermarket to buy human milk for their
calves so why should mothers buy cows milk for their babies.

Formula is a substitute, it's not the genuine thing. Some people like fake
things....others like yourself prefer to use the real thing.

And if all else fails scream "You do it your way and I'll do it my way. Now
shut up and lets talk about something else"

Clare

Clare L wrote:
And if all else fails scream "You do it your way and I'll do it my way. Now
shut up and lets talk about something else"

Or if they bring up the topic say "Oh, you're one of those are you?" and
walk off laughing...

:-)

regards,
Ben

--
BTW. I can be contacted at Username:newsgroup4.replies.benaltw
Domain:xoxy.net

FayeTarzwell wrote:

I have a family reunion to go on Saturday and I am dreading it.
The reason being that all my SILs never bf'd their children and are VERY
from bottlefeeding. MIL is great but has the belief that some bm is "not
good enough" and keeps telling me that is why DD is not fattening up....and
to make things even more complicated my niece (DH's nephew's wife) had a
baby a month after me and her DS was close to 20 pounds at 4 months and she
had weaned him to formula by 4 months (not sure why but I heard that she
started the pill and her milk dried up).

With the very large percentage of obese people in this country today, I am
always surprised that everyone still thinks having a baby get as big as
possible as early as possible is so great. As long as your baby is following
a healthy weight-gaining pattern, why would they want her to gain any extra
weight?

Anna


Anyways....knowing that I might encounter some comments like "bf this
late?", "she's too old already..." and others of the kind I am trying to
gather some ammunition to go through that day...
I don't want to just sit there and smile and look like I don't know what I
am doing by bfing DD exclusively until 6 months (she is 5.5 months now) and
go well into her 1st year (maybe beyond).
I would like to have intelligent replies that will get them thinking and who
knows maybe understand the reasons I have for doing it.
I have the old "the WHO recommendation is exclusively bf for 6 months and at
least for the first 2 years" but I don't think it's working
anymore......they look at me like I am insane and don't know what I am
doing.......and to make matters worse DD hasn't doubled her birthweight yet
which makes them think I am depriving her of food.......:P
Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?

Thanks,

FayeC

Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?


Well, while I don't know that I'd actually have the guts to do it myself, if
they are going to be rude to you, I'd be tempted to be rude back and say
something like "Why on earth would I want to give my child an inferior food
that been scientifically proven, time and again, to increase her risk of dozens
of illnesses and health problems? Hmmm???" And maybe even "Just because YOU
were stupid/lazy enough to choose to do so, doesn't mean that I have to be!"

But, in truth, I'd probably just say something a little less inflammatory like
"Well, my baby is doing well on breastmilk, and my pediatrician says she is
doing wonderfully. I can't think of a reason to change a thing!"


Naomi
CAPPA Certified Lactation Educator

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

OSPAM wrote:

Well, while I don't know that I'd actually have the guts to do it myself, if
they are going to be rude to you, I'd be tempted to be rude back

At a family reunion? No way. Humor is the way to do it.

--Helen

Faye,

I feel for you (probably a little too much). My spouse's family doesn't
get it either. What always kills me is they feel free to judge what I'm
doing but they never ask why or allow me to support what I'm doing.
They really don't want to know. They just want me to stop.

I was once ask if I were going to continue "that long" after one of
those endless discussions of some TV program where the mother bf for 5
or 6 years. I told them I thought we could make it work through college
if we tried. It shut them up and told them it really wasn't any of
there business. I said it so it was a joke and not snotty.

DH never get's the questions or comments. They think I make all the
decisions on my own. My next ready to go response is to "ask DH about it".

Now I just try to not do it or talk about it when they are around. My
DS usually only nurses before bed and 1st thing in the morning. If we
are someplace else he is usually too busy to nurse.

Good luck,

LB

FayeTarzwell wrote:
I have a family reunion to go on Saturday and I am dreading it.
The reason being that all my SILs never bf'd their children and are VERY
from bottlefeeding. MIL is great but has the belief that some bm is "not
good enough" and keeps telling me that is why DD is not fattening up....and
to make things even more complicated my niece (DH's nephew's wife) had a
baby a month after me and her DS was close to 20 pounds at 4 months and she
had weaned him to formula by 4 months (not sure why but I heard that she
started the pill and her milk dried up).
Anyways....knowing that I might encounter some comments like "bf this
late?", "she's too old already..." and others of the kind I am trying to
gather some ammunition to go through that day...
I don't want to just sit there and smile and look like I don't know what I
am doing by bfing DD exclusively until 6 months (she is 5.5 months now) and
go well into her 1st year (maybe beyond).
I would like to have intelligent replies that will get them thinking and who
knows maybe understand the reasons I have for doing it.
I have the old "the WHO recommendation is exclusively bf for 6 months and at
least for the first 2 years" but I don't think it's working
anymore......they look at me like I am insane and don't know what I am
doing.......and to make matters worse DD hasn't doubled her birthweight yet
which makes them think I am depriving her of food.......:P
Does anybody have any good lines I could use if necessary in those
situations?

Thanks,

FayeC



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