First Negative Comment About Me Breastfeeding....
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Monday, December 25, 2006
Obviously the holidays are a good time to get out and about and see lots of people that you don't see very often. It's also one of those times when a lot of moms have to deal with negative comments that they don't otherwise have to put up with.Thus, it was while home for the holidays that I heard my first negative comment on breastfeeding (and yes, it had to do with doing it "in public.")
I'm about 11 years out of high school and each Christmas, a high school buddy of mine throws a Christmas party. It's the only time each year that I get to see many of my high school friends, though I only get to go about every other year due to holiday scheduling and in-laws. So last Friday night was the party and off I went with Emmitt in tow.
About 30 minutes after I got there, 10 of us were sitting around the dining room table eating pizza and chatting. Emmitt was getting hungry, so I sat him in my lap, reached under my shirt to unhook my nursing bra and slipped my nursing pad into my pocket.
"Oh my God! What was that!" shrieked (yes, actually shrieked) one of the "girls" (she's 28) at the table.
"It's called a nursing pad." I replied.
"You aren't going to do that HERE!?!" she said in horror (LOL)
And just as I was about to say "well why wouldn't I?" pretty much EVERY other person at the table (none of whom have kids) jumped down her throat with choruses of "oh grow up!" and "get over it!" LOL...
What made it even better is that the friend sitting on the other side of me is a year out of med school (and looks like she's 15). She's a family practice doc in the Air Force at a base in California and happens to catch babies. She actually LECTURED said friend on how great breastmilk was and how awesome it was that I was giving my baby the absolute best food. (It reminded me of that fairly annoying commercial where the party girls get lectured on that birth control pill by their "hot" doctor friend...only this wasn't hokey.)
So I nursed Emmitt while she continued to occasionally go "Oh ew! hurry up! get it done, get it done!" and everyone else continued to tell her to grow up and stop acting like a baby.
Personally, I found it kind of entertaining. It was also great to find out that my doctor friend hasn't been sucked over to the "dark side." She's VERY pro-breastfeeding and was thrilled to hear that I'd had Emmitt at home with a midwife. I of course was thrilled to hear that she was catching babies and had to work hard not to start grilling her on details and her birth philosophies. ;)
Oh yeah, the topic of extended breastfeeding also briefly popped up (You know, the whole "if they're old enough to ask, they're too old to nurse) and just as I was starting to point out that it's a cultural thing and that the international average weaning age is around 3, the doc friend jumped back in about how you really SHOULD nurse until the age of 2. LOL.
Anyone looking for a good family practice doc about halfway between San Fran and Sacramento needs to look her up. ;)
Labels: Lactivism, Life as a Mom, Nursing in Public
It's great that your doctor friend is so smart about breastfeeding! And that other girl sounds like a real gem to be around@@
Thanks for the funny story! :)
That's great! Personally, I would have said something like, "We're eating. Why can't he?"
"If they're old enough to ask, they're too old to nurse" phrase is one of my biggest pet peeves. My son asked for it when he was 10 months old. He said "pees" (please) while tugging on my shirt. According to people who say this stupid phrase, I should have weened him right there.
By the way, he's 2 years old now, and his asking has evolved. Besides the plain "please" and "nurse" he also says "mama I'd like to nurse now please".
That's comical. At least your first negativity was something you couldn't even consider taking seriously.
I hope my first negative experiance is as entertaining.
Is that girl anyone I'd know?
Nope, no one you know. Someone that graduated a year behind me back home. She was part of my group of friends, but never one of MY close friends.
As you said, nothing I needed to take seriously.
Greg's theory is that I must have a look about me that makes people not dare to approach me when I'm nursing in public. I think he thinks I'm just itching for a fight.
In reality, I'd be very polite about it. I wouldn't stop or move, but I'd be polite. Now if they pushed the issue...well...I might have to let some of that Lactivist wit come shining through. ;)
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