Normalize Breastfeeding

Liam is just almost nine months old. Not even nine months yet. But it is incredible how often I get asked if he is still "taking a bottle" or "is completely on solid foods yet." Formula and solid foods, that's what new mothers get pushed on them.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirms its recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding for about 6 months, followed by continued breastfeeding as complementary foods are introduced, with continuation of breastfeeding for 1 year or longer as mutually desired by mother and infant," according to the AAP policy statement.

Liam eats solid food, don't get me wrong. He eats just about everything we eat and has snacks throughout the day, but he also still nurses about five times a day.

Breast milk is awesome for your baby and formula can't even begin to compete. Formula is a fake replica of breast milk, it's a wanna-be. It can't compare to the perfect nourishment that God made for your baby.

Unlike formula, breast milk changes to meet the demands of what your baby's body needs. It alters itself overtime to provide customized nutrition for your little one. How awesome is that?

"Given the documented short- and long-term medical and neurodevelopmental advantages of breastfeeding, infant nutrition should be considered a public health issue and not only a lifestyle choice," AAP also states in the policy statement.

But breastfeeding is a lifestyle choice. One that I've felt challenged about often. I breastfeed in public, uncovered (gasp), in restaurants, walking through Target, and even in front of men (double gasp)!

Our society has made breastfeeding such a dirty idea. I even had woman compare me breastfeeding my baby in a restaurant to some one smoking in the booth next to her. SMOKING! She then said that if someone feels the need to breastfeed in public they should go sit on the toilet and feed their baby there.

I'm sorry but feeding my baby doesn't cause cancer, it fights infections and diseases. And if you are so offended by my breastfeeding in public then by all means why don't you go eat on the toilet.

Do you ever just want to shoot those people in the face with your breast milk to see if they will melt like the wicked witch from the Wizard of Oz?

My family has worked really hard to support our breastfeeding journey, and I am so thankful for that.

But my brother still freaks out a little if I breastfeed in front of him, grant it he's got a little full frontal action over the past few months as Liam has become even more mobile.

And while my mom supports me and would fight anyone who dared to say anything to me, every now and then she still looks slightly embarrassed if anything accidentally shows, momentarily, in public.

But I mean come on guys, you can't watch a single TV show without being bombarded with images of mostly naked women.

Via Huffington Post

I don't know about you people, but I have to raise a little boy in this world. This world that sexualizes women to no avail. Where Disney characters are given bigger breast to sell more dolls. Where boobs are only seen as a sexual object, that are used strictly for men's satisfaction or to sell stuff.

I want my son to see women breastfeed. I want him to know that breastfeeding is what boobs are made for. I want him to not see a woman breastfeeding and immediately sexualize that and become uncomfortable because, "Oh my gosh. I just saw that chicks boobs!"

I hope by breastfeeding in public, uncovered, that I will be a part of the generation that normalizes breastfeeding. That when my son's wife has a baby that she won't question whether or not she will breastfeed and that she won't have horrible people make her self conscious to feed her baby in public.

#normalizebreastfeeding

#freethenipple