Below is a comment one of this blog's fine readers posted in response to my entry about breastfeeding. Unless you're really zealous about keeping up with my blog (which I would love to think some of you are) you would likely miss it and that would be a shame. I've only made two changes, substituting where she wrote her daughter's name with the words "my daughter."
So does breastfeeding make our children smarter, healthier? Who the hell knows, but I certainly like to think so. I will tackle healthier first. I breast fed my daughter for the first year of her life. She is now over two and has been sick one time. Could be a coincidence, yes, but I will certainly take all the credit for that and will pat myself on the back and feel a great sense of pleasure that perhaps my sacrifice was worth it and really did help my little one to be so healthy.
All of those early days of chapped nipples and the months of waking through the night for feedings and the eternity of locking myself in a closet at work with a breastpump and the funny days traveling through airport security with a breastpump with most security guys either asking what it is or just blushing trying not to look at my insanely large, milk filled chest.
I remember one day in particular, I flew one morning to South Texas for a meeting. Arrived, went to my meeting then back to the airport that afternoon to return home. My breast were simply going to explode. I got through security and went to the end of the terminal hoping to find a more secluded restroom. No one there, great. I closed myself in a stall with a little battery charged pump that was really just useful in emergencies. It buzzed away as it worked (I can almost feel that odd let down sensation just talking about it). Then the door squeaks as someone enters and as my machine buzzed away loudly I could hardly handle the mixture of humor and embarrassment as it must have sounded like a woman in the stall with a vibrator. I still wonder what was going on in the mind of the woman that came through those doors. Anyways, it is hard not to believe that it made a difference.
If you asked my husband he would say that natural childbirth was the key. He swears every wonderful quality about her is all attributed to the natural childbirth. Which I have to say just makes swell will happiness because when I first told him how I planned to give birth naturally in water he was basically terrified! And how I find a new love for him when I catch him having a conversation, with "the guys" of all people about the benefits of natural child birth. Really he will tell just about anyone how much he believes in natural childbirth. It always seems out of character for him to actively engage in such a conversation and I really do love it!The health theory I can't help but believe. Our science has just not been able to duplicate the immunity boosting power of our breasts.
Does breastfeeding make our babies smarter? I tend to think my daughter is incredibly intelligent and really amazes me constantly with her development. But I am not sure I attribute this to breastfeeding. I think this part has more to do with how we raise her than the breastfeeding. My instinct tells me that the correlation between the two is just that mothers who choose to breastfeed also tend to be the ones that take a more active, educated role in raising their children and just happen to be the personalities that will make more personal sacrifices for the good of this child.Oh, I can hear it now. The rumblings bruised egos.
With such a touchy subject, if anyone actually reads this and for whatever reason couldn't or wouldn't breastfeed, someone is going to get all pissy. We've all seen it before in a hundred other blogs, one person said something and everyone takes it as a personal attack. Yeah yeah, that banter is just an energy drain.
Yes, of course there are plenty of women out there that couldn't breast feed or even chose not to and are perfectly good mothers of happy smart kids. However, I can't stop myself from saying, if you chose not to breastfeed in spite of knowing all of the research supporting it's benefits...I will let you fill in the rest.
Hey, I think this is my first blog entry ever!
August 21, 2008 11:28 AM
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