Article: Convenience to blame for poor breastfeeding rates

[Smoke Jaguar]

No way did I care if people are uncomfortable when I needed to feed! Finding somewhere secluded would have meant having DS strung out a little longer for a feed, and if he could have understood words, he most certainly wouldn't have understood the concept of "these people don't want to see you eat because, for some reason, mummy's boobies are rude". I was of the 'no asking, no apologies' camp Not out of some idea of a crusade against a selectively prudish society, but because I mainly didn't want to apologise for something so basically natural and life-giving. And I figured that if I could do it at the fire station, there were no limits!
ETA: I never had anyone offended, either, so no-one ever thought I was being militant. I should also explain that most of the daddies in my brigade are pro-BF and their partners BF, so it is very normalised in my circles. Guess I was lucky, cos feeding at the station gave me confidence to do it everywhere else, apology-free.
I seriously don't understand the convenience argument. For the first 6 months, all DS needed was me...and I wasn't going anywhere for too long at a time if I was going on my own. Camping was a breeze, a girls' weekend was great, trips out to my horse were easy peasy, a trip to NZ was fuss-free...it's as hard as you want it to be!!

[Liz]

I just liked to ask coz I seriously doubt anyone is gonna say that they mind.. which then left me free to do it, and them to squirm away if they were uncomfortable.. and they can't say anything coz they've already said they wouldn't mind LOL.

[Smoke Jaguar]

Just made an edit to my post

[Lucy]

Every day that I don't buy a tin of formula is another day I breastfeed, that is how close I get most times.

You and me both honey.

Only by sheer will and fear of regret

......this sums up perfectly why I managed to bf all 3 of mine to 6 months....

[Phteven]

I'm really impressed by both of you Shannon and Lucy. It's easy enough to breastfeed when you enjoy it and think it's the easy option but to perservere despite not enjoying it takes real commitment to your bubbas

[Smoke Jaguar]

On a personal level, I just don't relate to those 'convenience' reasons. I don't drink a lot anyway, so drinking a glass a week is no killer to my BFing (honestly, I can go without the feeling of a hangover!). I CAN go out whenever I want, I just bring my kidlet with me. No, I don't wear non-BF-Friendly clothing, but that only cuts out tight dresses, or non-summer/non/crossover dresses and the fashion world is made up of so much more than that! THere is such a thing as a breastpad for leakages...or bringing a spare top, and if you're bringing a baby bag, how much harder can it be to pack a top? Night feeds are a piece of cake when you co-sleep and everyone wakes feeling rested (unless baby is sick, and even in non-co-sleeping, non-BFing households, neither parent gets a good sleep in the case of sickness!!). I've never felt better in my life, is the honest truth.
I know this won't apply to everyone and that's why this article will resonate with many people. I still believe that the more at peace I was with what I was 'giving up', the less important those things that I was 'giving up' were to my life. I just embraced the new phase of my life and there are so many women who are resistant to that change because of the messages we get - family kills career, fashion sense, social life, holidays, finances etc. Feminism is not a single school of thought, as the author said - there are many shades to it. I wear the feminism that fits me and I don't give a rats @rse what another feminist has to say about it.

[Lucy]

Thanks Chloe......

[Liz]

Mayaness - DH & I are the same, in that having kids was just the next thing in our lives. We didn't feel the impact of it "changing our lives forever". LOL. It was just the next phase. So yep - now I'm a woman who looks for tops & dresses I can breastfeed in, I order juice at a restaurant, and carry my own decaf tea bags! altho, admittedly as DS got older I did have the odd cup of normal tea. No biggy. If we go out.. DS comes with us (we only recently had him minded so we could go to the movies! LOL) I think solids is more inconvenient than anything! I love exclusively breastfeeding - don't have to pack anything! But what'ya do? Let em starve?? It just one of those things that comes with being a mum/parent I reckon.

My BIL gets married at the end of this year, and they want to try for a bub next year.. and (just in my opinion ) I reckon they'll be the types to 'feel it' when they have a baby. DH & I are pretty much homebodies anyway, so having kids hasn't impacted our lives that much.. but I can see them having a bit of resistance to a little being interrupting their social lives etc! hehe.

[castle]

Shannon, I thought your remarks on the article were right on target. I think the author was making the point that many women don't bf, or cut back, because of the perception that it's more convenient to bottle feed....and our society places a high emphasis on personal convenience.
My third baby had to have comp feeds nearly the entire first year because I was very ill after his birth. Having had a taste of both, I think that bottle feeding *initially* seems more convenient...little coaxing to latch on, feed finished relatively quickly, someone else can do it if needed.
However, as the baby grows older, the convenience (to the mother) of breastfeeding becomes more apparent. What psychologists call "contingency response" is very important--you can respond immediately with the breast, formula takes a bit more time. And as Mayaness said, night feeds are a piece of cake when you're breastfeeding. You are out and about more with an older baby, and the planning required for bottle feeds surprised me. Even bringing a bottle that was already made up had its own annoyances.
I think we have become very preoccupied with bending over backwards to acknowledge the necessary exceptions. Yes, there are caesareans that absolutely have to happen. Yes, bottle feeding was a godsend to me when I was lying semiconscious in the intensive care unit. But people take those exceptional cases and decide that their own convenience (for want of a better word) makes them fall into that category too. Every time someone speaks on breastfeeding, you always hear near the beginning, "Of course, a few women will be unable to breastfeed because of...." We end up giving the fact that a FEW can't, far more weight than it needs, rather than focussing on the idea that NEARLY EVERYONE should be able to do it. When you add the fillip of "convenience" on top of that, it's easy to see how the statistics tumble down so quickly.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I have answered the door breastfeeding in the early days, but if I'm out and about I ask before I feed - although the in-laws say they're OK then leave the room! Only if someone has invited us out for the day do I not ask - after all, they know he'll need feeding - but I ask DS if he wants a feed first so they have time to move off if they want. While solids are easier for pubs etc, breast only is so much better for carrying all the food! I just think that people let me know if they're going to do something, so why shouldn't I?

Bec, you poor love with the poo story! DH still has to hide if DS poos - as he did last night. I agree, if partners help a bottle may be easier, but if not then breast is certainly easier.

And I'm in a bit of pain breastfeeding now (going to see a LC today about it), so I can see where bottles would be useful, but I really can't afford to use formula, nor do I have the time to make all those bottles as DS still has 6-7 feeds a day (and 3 solid meals) and 2-3 feeds overnight.

[Emma72]

Shannon, I thought your remarks on the article were right on target. I think the author was making the point that many women don't bf, or cut back, because of the perception that it's more convenient to bottle feed....and our society places a high emphasis on personal convenience.
My third baby had to have comp feeds nearly the entire first year because I was very ill after his birth. Having had a taste of both, I think that bottle feeding *initially* seems more convenient...little coaxing to latch on, feed finished relatively quickly, someone else can do it if needed.
However, as the baby grows older, the convenience (to the mother) of breastfeeding becomes more apparent. What psychologists call "contingency response" is very important--you can respond immediately with the breast, formula takes a bit more time. And as Mayaness said, night feeds are a piece of cake when you're breastfeeding. You are out and about more with an older baby, and the planning required for bottle feeds surprised me. Even bringing a bottle that was already made up had its own annoyances.
I think we have become very preoccupied with bending over backwards to acknowledge the necessary exceptions. Yes, there are caesareans that absolutely have to happen. Yes, bottle feeding was a godsend to me when I was lying semiconscious in the intensive care unit. But people take those exceptional cases and decide that their own convenience (for want of a better word) makes them fall into that category too. Every time someone speaks on breastfeeding, you always hear near the beginning, "Of course, a few women will be unable to breastfeed because of...." We end up giving the fact that a FEW can't, far more weight than it needs, rather than focussing on the idea that NEARLY EVERYONE should be able to do it. When you add the fillip of "convenience" on top of that, it's easy to see how the statistics tumble down so quickly.

I agree with you 100%. Thought it was an excellent article that cut through so much of the BS surrounding this issue. Its not society that stops women breastfeeding, its their own choice.

I read it as a very pro breastfeeding article that acknowledges some of the benefits of formula feeding and lets face it since so many women stop breast feeding after a couple of months there must be alot of truth to what she has written. If only 5% of women can't breastfeed, what about the other 65% who have quit by 6 months?

I'm sick of hearing society makes it hard. Society makes it very easy these days. Its drummed in to us from conception through midwife and obstetrician visits and pre-natal classes that breastfeeding is best for baby. Then we have midwives and lactation consultants to help us, then there are support groups and aust BF assoc and so and so on.

If mothers want to bottle feed, than thats their choice, just please don't blame "society" for it. I had to go back to work part time at 2 months (hardest thing I ever did) and full time at 6 months and I still breastfed, every work place is obliged to give you time to express milk, sure I had to do it in a ugly tiny room full of stock but so what? In my eyes its worth it.

I also think that one of the problmes behind poor breastfeeding numbers is the number of women who go on about how easy it is. I didn't find it easy and neither did anyone in my mothers group, a few of us perservered with it but most had given up by 6 weeks let alone 6 months. Maybe if women knew that its not easy, then they wouldn't quit when they run in to a few hurdles.

[Bathsheba]

Nah (hand up) me too Hoobley.

Me too!

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Emma, I found BFing hard-going, still don't find it easy, just more convenient. I do attend BF support meetings every week and take my friends along. I wasn't prepared for it to be this hard or uncomfortable, but I was prepared to stick with it. People need sticking power more than the lie that bottles are convenient, easy and "just as good".

[Emma72]

Agree Ryn, maybe if women knew that for alot of them breastfeeding is going to be hard (at least for awhile) then so many wouldn't give up when they run in to a few hurdles. I found it really hard too for about 3 to 4 weeks. Now we're all good!