Nursing

I must say I am so excited to nurse a new baby. It is such a special time with a mommy & her baby.

It is also no secret I often joke I will nurse my next baby until they are 5. Jake stopped nursing all on his own. Which really is the way you want it, but it was too early for me. It was a week before his 1st birthday and all of a sudden he refused to nurse any more. I tried for about 2 weeks after, but he wanted nothing to do with me. It was pretty sad for me...I thought I had a couple more months at the least. It was just over one day without any thought of weaning or stopping. This is why I have often say my next one will be nursed forever. I really am hoping the next time will be on a much more mutual decision.

Have you heard of all the recent controversy on breast feeding? A mom was recently asked to leave American Girl for breastfeeding her baby. She moved to the fitting room to continue, but could hear the employees talking about her. This link shares some of the story & also has a response from American Girl in the comments.

The saddest thing of all is this is not the only story like this. I could probably give you half a dozen links of moms being asked to leave wherever they are for simply feeding their babies. Really? Is nursing a baby in public that offensive for people?

I have seen a lot of moms nursing their babies in public & have never once seen a mom that you could see too much of her breast. Mom's typically aren't sitting around with their breast out in the open waiting for the baby to nurse. It might take a minute or two for the baby to get started, but still you don't see very much. Maybe if moms started walking around topless waiting for the moment their baby was ready to nurse I could see a small issue with the "public nudity."

This week kicks off World Breastfeeding week(Aug 1-7). My challenge for you...if seeing a nursing mother in public makes you feel uncomfortable...remind yourself she is simply feeding her baby. And she is choosing to do so in what is the best way for her and her baby. If you are a nursing mom, get to know your states laws on breastfeeding in public. You can find details on the laws at National Conference of State Legislation.