Is breast feeding creepy??

[The Nappy Lady]

Yes - there are not that many celebs who have made a thing of the fact they breastfed.....Angelina Jolie and Kate Winslett I think???? It must be pretty hard to juggle that type of career with breastfeeding though so maybe most of them just don't....

I was thinking last night that the article could have been written by Katie Price - in Jordan mode (in as much as that is how I started to envisage her!!).

I actually feel most upset for the Mum's out there who are bottle feeding for very good reasons, and who may now feel somehow associated to this woman. GinaG3's post made me sad too, I don't think I really appreciated the viewpoint a lot of the younger parents have. :'(

Molly

[Keef]

Culturally, some groups see it as a status symbol to be 'able to afford disposables' I wonder if it is the same with bottle feeding?

Don't know for sure, but I suspect so. I do know that my mum told me that when I was a baby, it used to be seen as a bit of a poor person's thing, to have to breast feed, and all the more middle class people used to bottle feed.

Luckily for me, we were dirt poor back then, so I got boob!

[Moi23]

Contrary to what a lot of people are saying, I found her article quite amusing and a bit of a breath of fresh air. Perhaps I'm not taking what she's saying quite so seriously, neither did she mean to take herself so seriously. To me it comes across as someone who's fed up with feeling she must come up with a good justification for bottle-feeding and is saying 'hey, I've given over my body for 9 months to this baby, I want it back'.

For me, it had never occurred to me to do anything other than breastfeed. When I started to get all the pregnancy bumf and info, I was amazed at how full on the emphasis on breastfeeding was. Personally, I found it off-putting. I can understand why it is so important to promote it, you do have to really push something to change peoples opinions and choices. But I couldn't help finding it a bit one-sided, they'd state all the advantages and support available, but brush-over the downside. Now, having breastfed both my babies (still bf second), the picture is quite different. Those first weeks of breastfeeding for MANY women (not just a few) can be really tough. Luckily for me I stuck with it, but there's no need to be sanctimonious about it, I can totally understand someone not sticking with it.

For the most part I love breastfeeding, but there is a side of me that can relate to what she's saying. It's odd how both before and after the breastfeeding stage I found it sort of weird the idea of a baby sucking my breasts, even creepy. And yes, I would dearly love to have a couple of glasses of wine at the end of each day, to relax and feel normal for a while. Luckily for me, I usually have tiny boobs, so I'm rather relishing my current cleavage. However if gigantic leaking boobs was making me feel particularly unattractive, then I would feel pretty depressed about it. I think having a baby is a huge sacrifice and requires an enormous amount of dedication. I was a typically selfish modern single woman before motherhood and the transition was not easy. Dedicating your body for 9 months to 'growing' a baby, then being launched into 24 hour childcare and sleep deprivation, is for some of us (or many of us?) a real shock to the system. Wanting at least your body back (for whatever trivial reasons) is not that outrageous.

[helena handbasket]

It is very possibly a British thing........ what is considered polite conversation and all that. I can't recall ever reading of celebrities talking about it in the British media, but I still get a lot of North American media and (sadly.... my dirty secret) tabloids and it is actually all the rage for a celebrity mom to attribute her return to a size "0" and washboard stomach to breast feeding. American celebrities blabber on about it all the time. In some ways I believe it is a bit more indicative of wealth there because it suggests that you have the luxury of time (feeding on demand) and flexibility. Also it means you have a partner who makes enough income to allow you to be home with baby. The working poor don't have these options and so have little choice but to formula feed. It's pretty hard to pump when you work on a production line or behind a fast food counter for $5 an hour.

[helena handbasket]

Moi23, that was a really excellent and honest post.

[Belle]

Good post Moi23. Agree about the massive shock!

Ultimately, I just don't understand why people get into a bother about how someone else feeds their baby - surely what matters to us is how we feed our own babies, why should we care about others to the extent we sometimes do? I don't get it. I suppose it's part of the whole issue of how much we should interfere in how others bring up their kids. We're never all going to agree on everything, and thank goodness for that.

Also Molly - lots of celebs have publicly said they breastfeed (usually claiming that's how they got down to size zero again so fast ;-) - a good example is Myleene Klass who actually hadn't planned to at all but said it just happened. Actually her story is a bit annoying in that she bangs on about how it just spontaneously happened really easily! I know Tess Daly said she did too, Billie Piper, Davina McCall too, lots of others - I actually think not many celebs would admit to NOT breast feeding.

[helena handbasket]

Note to self: read more British tabloids :))

[Vickster]

Not forgetting Salma Hayek....

Salma Hayek breast feeds sick African baby

[Moi23]

Clearly Salma has no breast-feeding issues. Good pr for breast is beast campaign!

Anyone find that creepy? Funnily enough I don't... I think it's sweet. Then again, I am a lactating mum at the moment.

[Keef]

Perhaps I'm not taking what she's saying quite so seriously, neither did she mean to take herself so seriously.

Aint that the bloody truth!!!

[The Nappy Lady]

Thanks Belle - shows how rarely I get to read/listen to celeb gossip these days!

Helena - glad you came and posted on this thread :-)

Yes, maybe we are all over analysing her article, but I still think when writing about stuff like this we should all bear in mind how what we say can affect others - certainly I'm more aware of that just from this forum.

I can totally relate to what Salma did, assuming that the baby was hungry and she had plenty of milk. I think it would be hard not to feed in those circumstances. But guess it wouldn't feel right for everyone though.

I've found this a really interesting thread.

Molly

[citizenED]

Moi23; "...breast is beast campaign..." Now there's a thing.

[littleEDfamily]

I think people get far too emotional about the whole breastfeeding thing. I fed my daughter for almost a year, and it was fine. Just fine. Not the most magical thing in the world. Not creepy (but, if I was still feeding her now, at 3.5 years old, I would find that creepy! Shoot me down if you must - we all have a time when we just don't feel it is still appropriate). Breastfeeding babies to me is natural, sensible, healthy, but having a toddler come up and try to help themselves to my boob would irritate me and freak me out a bit.

Having said that, there are few aspects of parenting in which the benefits to baby of one option, as opposed to the others is clearly preferable (based on sound research), and it would seem breastfeeding, certainly for the first 6 months is one of those. I'm not exactly impressed by someone who blatantly puts their own, rather selfish needs to get boozed and try to preserve their boobs (they'll go south eventually anyway!) above their baby's health - and not even try it (totally different situation if they struggle and just can't quite ever get the hang of it), but to be honest there are so many aspects of parenting where I would probably disagree with other people's way of doing things, I find it hard to get my knickers in a twist about this someone saying breastfeeding creeps them out. I'm about to have my second, and if I think about it, the whole concept of breastfeeding again does seem a bit weird, but I'm sure it will be just fine again.

What's-er-name was obviously trying to be a bit controversial and sound a bit cool and 'ladette-ish' - I don't think it's any more sinister than that. People that get all holier-than-thou about the effect that such comments may have on 'others' and their choices probably give her too much credit for influence - people are going to rationalise their choices no matter what, and if you're the sort of person prepared to blatantly ignore the evidence on breastfeeding, some glib little article is hardly going to make much difference.

[esme]

i would say it's a personal choice and nobody should make anyone else feel bad either way - we all do our bit as mothers, if not breastfeeding then in other ways.. i have a few allergies so chose to breastfeed but i have to say it is a hard slog (hats off to those who manage to do it for more than 6 months!) as it's far more tiring and i watch my friends who "mix feed" with formula top ups look far more human than me most of the time. i think breastfeeding in public should be more acceptable (whilst those who formula feed may get a bit of stick about not breastfeeding we breastfeeding mums are still made to feel that doing it in public is taboo) but those who choose to go with formula shouldn't be made to feel bad as it's their own decision. i thought breastfeeding might feel funny (tho not creepy!!) but when i gave birth it felt like the most natural feeling in the world to feed my baby boy and hey who says they can't stil be funbags haha

[expat]

another one:

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/my-life/my-entertainment/kim-kardashian-thinks-breastfeeding-in-public-is-gross-20100621-ysg1.html?s_rid=xpromo:kim2:eb:entertainment:05june10:12july10

Mind I think the changing of nappy at tables is a different debate altogether

[sillywoman]

Ah, Kim Kardashian, that well respected voice of reason and common-sense.:-S

[Keef]

Who is she anyway?

To be fair, from her first tweet

?EWW Im at lunch,the woman at the table next 2 me is breast feeding her baby w no coverup then puts baby on the table and changes her diaper?.

I'd have assumed she was more concerned about the nappy changing, which to be fair, a lot of people would be. It's a shame she mentioned the breast feeding, as they've obviously grabbed that and made it the biggest part of the story.

Her later tweet

?Misunderstood tweet-The woman had her boobs out at restraunt yest feeding then laid her on table and changed her w the food there. Unsanitary?My sister breast feeds! Its a natural beautiful thing, there?s nothing wrong w it, but she covers herself, not w her boobs exposed?And you DON?T change a dirty at the dinner table?u use the restroom. Everyone was complaining! Just unsanitary.?

She doesn't really come across as anti breastfeeding, and again, the nappy thing is her main concern.

Just another thing that has been jumped on by over sensitive, or over aggresive people looking for a ruck where there is none to be had.

The only thing that should concern anyone is her use of the English language!

[Fuschia]

Keef Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The only thing that should concern anyone is her

> use of the English language!

That's what happens if you're formula fed >:D<

[Moi23]

I wonder if she literally had both boobs totally dangling out, or just didn't bother covering up the boob that baby was suckling from. I often don't, it's too much of a faff to be discreet so I often don't bother. I guess I must have scandalized a few prim page 3 girls...

[Fuschia]

It's not always easy to be discreet if the baby has other ideas!! Don't they just love to pull away and flash those close by with a milky grin!

[Moi23]

Argggh.. tell me about it

[littleEDfamily]

Not to mention if you cover the boob, you cover the baby. How would you feel about having to eat dinner with a towel over your head!???