Breastfeeding and Your Federal Government

First Lady Michelle Obama has added breastfeeding (by way of tax free breast pumps) to her charge to combat childhood obesity.

Her reason is because a recent study shows that breastfed babies are less likely to become obese.  This science is debatable, as some studies have shown that if formula fed babies do gain weight faster than their bf'd counterparts, that all levels out after age 4.  And since a kid is only bf'd or formula fed for a year, obesity becomes more about what the parents are putting in front of the kid after year 1, and not what they gave them before.

I get very, very irritated with "pushes" for moms to breastfeed.  It's presumptuous, rude, and over-reaching for another individual to push or prod a mom to breastfeed.  It assumes a few of things

1) that all women are capable of breast feeding. Not so.  Age, diet, over all health and condition of a woman's tissue impact if she will be successful at breastfeeding.  Sometimes, the milk just doesn't come in.  Often, a woman's stress level decreases her chances of success.

2) That all women want to breastfeed.  I'm going to leave this one here.  You can imagine for yourself about a 100 reasons that a woman would not want to. (I started to go into it but it go icky).

3) That the kid wants to breastfeed.  Many children, for whatever reason, do not like it.  They don't like lying down to eat (kids with bad reflux - mine included prefer to sit up), they don't like the texture, the taste, etc, etc ad naseum.

4) That all breastmilk is the best nurition.  All breastmilk is not created equal.  Some women have really fatty milk, which helps their kid beef up quickly.  Some women don't eat a good diet and therefore all the necessary nutrients aren't in the milk to begin with.  So some womens breastmilk is Grade A, and others get an F.  For some, it might be better nutrition for the baby to recieve formula.

5) That working mothers can make the time to pump to keep up supply.  Or, that pumping alone is enough to keep up supply.  For many women it isn't.  No matter who long they do it, no matter what size sheilds they use, no matter the suction, pump style or relaxed setting, some women can not keep up their milk supply with pumping during the day.  And 10-12 hours with no nursing (assuming you drop kiddo off at 7 and pick back up at 6, you're nursing early morning at like 6ish and then nursing again, at the earliest, 7PM) is a long time.

I 100% support breastfeeding.  I 100% support formula feeding.  I 100% support whatever decision mom and baby come to on their own.  With no outside pressure, influence or opinion.

And the federal government is an outside entity, and they should have no say, opinion or what have you on what a woman and her child decide in the most intimate of settings.

And let me point out ... just because you are breast feeding ... you are not a great mom.  You are not superior.  You are not all things good and wonderful.  Breast feeding is just one way to do it.

I also hate the Texas WIC commercials that have that catchy jingle about breastfeeding and how its so much better for baby and mom.  It's a good public service announcement I guess, and it's good for the WIC guys because less money to spend on formula is more people are breast feeding.

But kids that are given formula turn out okay too.

It's the ones that are given formula and then 6 years worth of McDonald's that end up obese.  We need to target parents who are over scheduled and tight on time and need quick and easy dinners.  Those are the kids who end up obese.

So Nanny State, leave the bf'ing alone and try and balance the budget.  Please?

I was a formula fed baby.  I am not obese.  So there.

I also feel like I need to add that I'm still breastfeeding my son.  And he's never taken formula.  I just don't want a medal for having done it.  I was lucky it worked out for us.  For many women it does not, for a number of reasons.