I had a bad case of overactive letdown in my first six months or so of breastfeeding. Just the slightest physical stimulation or even the sound of another baby crying set things off. I made the mistake of going out in the week after the birth to the shops. I remember standing in the changing room and the cool air on me when I undressed was enough to cause severe leaking. I was all emotional from the birth/hormones and was desperately using my top to try to mop up the mess on me and the floor. Serious mummy fail there.
Aaaah, you're bringing back horrible memories for me...hehe.
i have a good friend from college who has 4 gorgeous kids and never breast feed for this reason. she even did say her breasts were for her husband, not her kids. not what i chose and it's a statement that many women judge her on, but to be honest- what do i care? it's her choice, she's a great mom and if she feels this way it's really her issue. when i went to her wedding i had my then 6 month old son with me, i breast feed him there (he had to partake in cocktail hour too! ) and she had no problem with me breastfeeding. to each her own...
Not that anybody is admitting to, anyway. At least in certain circles/places this is considered a completely frivolous reason. A friend and I were in a park awhile back and heard one young pregnant woman tell her friend: "there is no way this baby is getting anywhere near my boobs - I don't want water balloons by the time I am 30". We both smiled at that and my friend said "her boobs, her life." Really, it is as viable a reason as any others. Somebody should simply not feel pressured to do it unless they want to. Besides, having done extended nursing with two, I can say that there is something to the "water balloon" analogy.
Well, I guess one could argue that nature got it wrong and they should be for male pleasure rather than for babies. But it doesn't seem to be a common argument. I'm curious what her husband thought about it all.
her husband was fine with whatever she wanted. she had always said, even before being married and having kids that she didn't want to breast feed and she didn't want to, it was her choosing, but not because he pressured her to do so.
Breastfeeding is one of those topics like politics, religion, vaccinations and abortion that are very, very personal, yet everyone has an opinion and feels the need to chime in.
To breastfeed or not is strictly the mother's decision. Sans exception. Having said that, there is also a cyclical nature to the topic and, maybe, France is going through a "bottle" period as opposed to a "breast" period.
Personally, I have three children born in the 80's and nary a one was breastfed and they are all completely normal. Well, semi-normal. Their issues, however, have nothing to do with not being breastfed!
And if her husband wasn't fine about it? After all we put it there and is it not our right to be involved in the decision making process?
Have you a right over someone else body?
No, but in the interest of a healthy baby. I take it you believe it should be the mother's choice.
I would certainly take my husbands opinion into consideration. There are many factors that go into deciding whether a mother breastfeeds or not (some of which are out of mom and dad's control). Ultimately, though, if I felt strongly one way or the other - my equipment, my time, my effort - my choice. I think this is fair. Similarly, it would benefit us greatly if my husband would just go and get a vasectomy. He says no. His choice.
Funny you should say that. Although my husband left the decision with me, of course, he has very strong opinions on breastfeeding. On one hand, he was the one who encouraged me to stop during some very bad bouts of pain with infections and other problems I had. He felt, as he put it, that I was suffering too much. On the other hand, he would have been upset if I initially chose not to do it because of concerns over how my breasts would look afterwards.
A vasectomy is a bit more complicated, surgery is required. Not entirely sure if I would want that either.
Breastfeeding is just complicated in a different way. But fair enough...
I think the first 5 days deliver most of the benefits anyway, it drops off after that.
not necessarily true. as the baby grows the milk changes to suit their needs- getting fattier or whatnot. i've heard the first 3 months is most important but i'd say a happy mommy and daddy is number one
Funny you bring this up
My husband got his vasectomy last Wednesday. It will be one week tomorrow. He felt that I did more than my part by giving birth to two kids, with a 5 cm scar from the episiotomy and a 12 cm scar from the c-section. Since we don't want to have kids anymore and at our age and situation, the need to use a condom is only to protect us from having more kids with the downside of cutting a big part of the fun, it felt natural for him to get a 1 cm scar on his testicules.
The surgery took exactly 5 minutes and he was home 1:30 hour after entering the hospital.
Now, he did have pain but he told me he had more pain from the root canal he had few months back on one of his teeth.
He needed to put ice and lay down. Overall, he said he doesn't regret it one second, he even recommended it to a friend.
So, I think it is not comparable with child bearing, delivery and breast feeding. Having your boobs swollen of milk, nipples bleeding from the sucking and not being able to give them a rest because it will happen again in an hour..... And getting this excruciating pain over and over and over again for weeks until it works or the mother gives up.
I was actually joking with my (stupid) previous droopy boobies comment. That blows my mind that some women actually do choose to not breastfeed because of a fear of that! But, to each their own... I suppose it might even come down to how much the woman fears her husband will mind, if her breasts change. I know my body certainly changed after having a baby, and it wasn't until then that I really realized just how shallow my husband is.
wah. this makes me a bit sad. tell him if he wants another child you will outsource and he can quit his crying. and when his cojones drop to the ground like a 67 year old french farmer without a care in the world you will ask him to wear a ball bra
The whole breastfeeding thing drives me crazy!
As others have said, it's a deeply personal choice.
However, if you're going to do it, is it truly necessary to overanalyze??? Weighing babies before and after to figure if they've had enough (whatever that means!) and whatever other strategies are out there just seems crazy. Have we not been doing this thing for a few years, and maybe, just maybe, our bodies may actually know how this works all by themselves seeing as we generally tend to take pretty good care of ourselves.
Outpatient. Simple and usually uncomplicated and reversible. Instead, women are left to bear the burden of birth control which involves high doses of hormones which, over time, can be the source of many health problems, particularly after the age of 35.
Funny how women get dinged over not wanting saggy jugs for 'the health of the baby' (which hasn't really been proven vastly different to bottle feeding in the statistics) but guys can be vain about their virility and leave the woman to endanger her health.