Comebacks

I came across this article on comebacks to negative, untrue, or misinformed comments about breastfeeding on Kellymom via Facebook.

As far as myself and many other breastfeeding moms are concerned Kellymom is the place on-line go-to place for breastfeeding tips, pointers, and general education.   And while The Alpha Parent article is full of a lot of good information and comebacks it has a rather combative tone; and I don't understand why there needs to be a "us versus them" attitude in regards to breastfeeding versus formula feeding, and sometimes I think the whole culture developing around the discussion is detrimental to increasing the breastfeeding rate in the US (although this is clearly not written by a US mom).

In my year plus of breastfeeding Monkey (combined with my 9+ months of when I breastfeed Turkey) I have come across many of the "why are you breastfeeding" questions posed in this article.  I've had well meaning friends and family try to scare me away from breastfeeding with their own experiences, I've been given recipes so that I might "cook" my own formula, I've been incorrect information from medical personnel that are not lactation education, and I've been questioned many many times on when we plan to wean.

Personally I have just taken the nod my head and keep my mouth closed approach.  Really, I don't like confrontation; except at work I love arguing at the office.

I think this is partly why I blog about my breastfeeding experience to really get out my feelings and experiences with the subject.  And I also hope that by helping educate others, in a non-combative tone, they too will see the benefits of breastfeeding and make more informed decisions about breast versus bottle.  I am very happy when readers share m articles on the subject with family and friends that are struggling with breastfeeding; and I really hope they have found some support or insight into the matter.  It took a long time to get America on the formula bandwagon, so I expect it's going to take a long time to get main-street America back onto the breastfeeding wagon.

It's support that we need for mothers (and fathers and siblings and grandparents) of infants in the breastfeeding process, not an argument and certainly not a war.



And with that final note I thought I would share with you what I am hooping to become a breastfeeding counselor in the future, the application and referral letters for the testing and course are underway.