Green Options

The breast versus bottle fight has taken a turn, now that an evolutionary scientist has gotten involved. Most of the debate thus far has focused on the physical benefits of breastfeeding, both to mama and baby.

But what if evolution designed us so that breastfeeding is emotionally, psychologically preferable to formula-feeding?

Intriguing new research suggests that some women develop postpartum depression due to reaching for the bottle instead of pulling out the breast.

As you know, it’s World Breastfeeding Week and for me that means a plugged duct! Yep, that’s right, I woke up Monday feeling feverish and my left breast was throbbing and sore. I was wondering why the night before I had the chills when I woke up once to switch sides. I’d also felt the breast soreness during the night upon switching sides but I was too tired to really think on it.

It was tender to the touch and I could definitely feel a mass inside. It was also a bit swollen.  I still had the chills. I recounted my breastfeeding schedule the day before and realized Clark did not nurse as often as normal. We had a busy weekend. To make matters even worse, it HAD occurred to me that I was wearing an under wire bra. I don’t normally wear an under wire bra but it was the only clean bra I had that day. Plus, I carried Clark in the Ergo baby carrier several times over the weekend which can contribute to pressure on the milk ducts.

In any case, I did not feel well and immediately started applying natural methods to help rid the situation. This is my second go at nursing, my first go my son had thrush but we overcame it and nursed a few months short of baby number two arriving (18 mos.). I’d heard about this happening and in fact I think it might of occurred with my first. I was completely engorged and remember having to massage my breasts in the shower. Oh, the memories! I figure a little plugged duct can’t be bad, right?! Okay, maybe not. A plugged duct can be painful and annoying. I believe, in my case, I’m somewhere in between. I haven’t experienced terrible pain but I do have a “wedge” in my breast and I have to constantly massage it out. I know you’re thinking this can’t be fun…

As you know, today starts World Breastfeeding Week. While we all know “breast is best“, we have varying comfort levels regarding public breastfeeding.

How ’bout plastered on walls around the world, every day of the year?

That’s what the 2010 Rugby Breastfeeding Calendar is shooting for. It’s a calender produced by the UK’s Rugby Breastfeeding Cafe, where women play a full-contact sport while nursing. Oh wait–no. (It’s located in Rugby!)

From the Telegraph:

One photograph shows a half-naked couple embracing with their newborn baby at the breast.

Another features a pregnant woman breastfeeding her four-year-old daughter after a bath.

And one shows a pretty brunette in a revealing bra putting on make-up while breastfeeding her son.

These tasteful, beautiful shots are used to show it’s absolutely hip and “sexy” to breastfeed, while raising money for the Cafe. And it all started with a tiny little £100 donation.

Jacqueline Mercado of Richardson, Texas, dropped off fours rolls of film at a nearby Eckerd. The pictures that came from them, taken last fall, would tear apart her family.

According to the Dallas Observer:

In one–the photo that would threaten to send Mercado and her boyfriend to prison–the infant Rodrigo is suckling her left breast.

The technician at the Eckerd thought various photos were “suspicious ” and lied to Mercado when she went to pick up the photos, returning only 3 of the 4 rolls. Later, when the police arrived, they confiscated the photos and passed them on to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, which got indictments against Mercado and boyfriend Johnny Fernandez, who had just arrived from Peru when the pictures were taken.

We thought they contained sexuality. If you saw the photos, you’d know what I mean.

(Ew! Don’t you expect a nudge and a grunt following that comment?!)

The couple was charged with “sexual performance of a child”, a second-degree felony which could carry up to 20 years in prison.

This is the photo in question, though fuzzy in the Observer, for obvious reasons,

Augh! Writing that title almost made me gag.

But a new article on the University of California, San Francisco site claims that neuroscientist Michael Merzenich has performed research that may make some leaning toward formula fulling tip over the edge.

Merzenich tested newborn rats by dosing them with the proportionally even amount that newborn humans get from human breastmilk of the chemicals PCBs and PBDEs. The outcome, he said, was

brains that were more degraded in their organization developmentally in these rats than we have ever seen before

So it’s as simple as that, eh? Breastmilk causes autism. Not so fast, there, Nestle.

Many of the regulars at Eco Child’s Play chimed in to discuss a feminist’s disregard of breastfeeding.

Breastmilk’s benefits don’t outweigh that of formula, she claims, or at least there are only tiny benefits.

While almost 74 percent of babies in the U.S. are breastfed at birth, only about 21 percent are breastfed through the recommended year. That means many, many parents turn to formula at some point.

But a new comprehensive British study shows that formula-feeders are poorly informed and supported,

Mistakes in preparation of bottle feeds were common.

Now, while we could pull the, “Well, I never measure how much I breastfeed wrong” holier-than-thou stuff, we have to recognize that some parents will formula-feed. We don’t want them to do it wrong!

When you were in high school, were you in one of those classes where you had to carry around a fake “baby”? An egg or other food item? You and your partner would dress it and take turns caring for it through band or basketball practices. It was to teach us the responsibility it takes to have children.

Because that sack of flour in a basket did a really convincing impression of a screaming infant. Maybe a bit more realistic would have been helpful.

A Melbourne high school canceled a live breastfeeding demo for a life cycles class. Sarah Simmonds, a volunteer from the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s community education program, was to breastfeed her 4-month-old son in front of the class at Hume Central Secondary College in Broadmeadows.

But when she arrived, she was surprised to discover that the teens in the class didn’t have parental permission, so they couldn’t watch the breastfeeding demo.

Because–you know–we wouldn’t want to expose our teens to the indecency of natural infant food, straight from tap.

North Dakota officials prosecuted a new mother, 26-year-old Stacey Anvarinia, for breastfeeding while intoxicated.

Police charged the Grand Forks mother after receiving a domestic disturbance call and witnessing her nursing her 6-week-old daughter. Officers say she appeared drunk, but there’s no report of her blood alcohol content. They booked her on child neglect charges.

And for some reason, she has pleaded guilty to the felony charge. But don’t worry. She won’t have to register as an offender against children.

But she now faces 5 years in jail.

So what’s worse: separating an infant from her mother for half a decade, or making the mistake of BFWD?

In more news that sounds like a joke, a UK woman was stopped from breastfeeding her 11-week-old son at a public pool.

Laura Whotton was at the John Carroll Leisure Centre in Nottingham and started to breastfeed her infant near the pool while her 4-year-old son swam. She was stopped by a staff member, who cited the food and drink ban.

Sure, the infant was technically “eating”. But I doubt that was the actual reasoning behind the rebuke.

People in bikinis were showing more skin and breast than I was.

I was really upset when I read this article from Consumer Reports – Five products not to buy for your baby! Along with Baby bath seats, Crib bumper pads and Sleep positioners were listed two products near and dear to advocates of attachment parenting: Co-sleepers and slings!

You’re home, he’s at work. Your 3-year-old has been wonderfully sweet to his baby brother today. But to you? A “NOOOO!” here and there. A rude tone at other times. Didn’t take a nap, but annihilated his room instead. No major infractions; a kid being a kid.
The baby? Not so much a baby anymore. ScrEEching when he doesn’t get what he wants (scissors are not for babies). But happily destroying anything in reach. He’s running, getting into every cabinet at eye level (but thankfully, you have no need to childproof, because there aren’t creepy chemicals around). Every storage container you own is on the floor, as well as the vinegar, a few vases and some pot lids.

You cook dinner so it’s ready at the precise moment your husband walks through the door. You think of the moment he enters: your apron securely fashioned, your hair done in that perfect bob…you’ll give him a “Hello, Dear,” and a big smootch, leg kicked up and all, when he walks through the door. Oh, Joan Cleaver, I have news for you…
You turn around to find the mess that baby boy has made to keep himself busy. With the 3-year-old’s considerable help.

Oy vey.