Green Options

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.

All around the internet, women are circulating an article. Whether you’re formula-feeding and proud or an out-and-about breastfeeder, this article is for you.

When people say that breast-feeding is “free,” I want to hit them with a two-by-four. It’s only free if a woman’s time is worth nothing

After I wrote a blog called “Formula is Voldemort“, Crimson Wife shared the link to this, er, interesting op-ed.

Hanna Rosin wrote “The Case Against Breastfeeding” for the Atlantic. Monday, it was reposted on MSNBC.
Her argument is that breastfeeding isn’t nearly as beneficial as its made out to be.
At best, kids get a few less tummy aches and colds. At worst, breastfeeding is a tool that keeps us from true equality with men.

Rhode Island changed their policy on breastfeeding in public. Now it’s not only allowed in public, but women can sue an establishment if their right to, you know, feed their child has been violated.

Previously, the law stated that breastfeeding moms wouldn’t be subjected to public indecency laws.  (Gee, thanks.)

We’ve blogged about breastfeeding in public before.  There was the one about the woman kicked out of Denny’s in North Carolina. Kristen also blogged about a Kentucky McDonald’s asking a woman to leave for nursing.

In both cases, the police threatened to charge the mamas with trespassing.

These cases show us a few obvious things:

Another Southern woman who was breastfeeding her infant at a restaurant was asked to cover up or leave last week. Previously, a Kentucky woman was asked to leave an Applebee’s restaurant for the same “offense.”

What is it with these so-called “family” restaurants? Apparently being a family establishment means you can eat together with your family so long as you’re not having to feed your baby. Makes perfect sense!

After a few complaints from other customers, the Denny’s manager finally called the police to ask them what the law stated regarding breastfeeding mothers. As it turns out, North Carolina law protects a breastfeeding mother’s right to breastfeed even if her nipple is showing. However, the police stated that they could force her to leave on the grounds of “trespassing.” That’s always a great way to get rid of customers, right?

A large scale study shows that women who breastfeed their infants are less likely to neglect them.

The fifteen-year study included 7,223 Australian children. The mothers, of an average age of 25, were separated into three groups: 40 percent breastfed for four months, 40 percent for less than four months, and 20 percent did not breastfeed.

‘This is the first study that has looked at maltreatment,’ senior study author Lane Strathearn said last week. ‘The longer a mother breastfeeds, the lower her risk is of neglecting her infant.’

A California ad campaign may have onlookers doing the double take.  Why in the world has that woman been there all day nursing her child?

That blonde with the baby? You’ll see quite a bit of her if you live in Marin County  She and two of her friends will hang in public places doing the unthinkable for hours on end: breastfeed in public.

And what’s even more surprising? She won’t even flinch when she gets the stare down from slack-jawed gawkers.

A new study finds that children who are breastfed are less likely to develop asthma, respiratory issues, or eczema.

“Breastfed children showed lower prevalence rates of asthma, rhinitis and eczema, and the effect of breast feeding was more evident in boys than girls. Asthma and wheeze were resolved significantly earlier in breastfed children than those who were not breastfed” - Dr Mohammad Shamssain of the University of Sunderland.

The study, covering 7000 children ages 6 to 15 years old, found that babies who were breastfed for four to nine months had a significantly lower risk of developing asthma, with those nursing for seven to nine months had fewer instances of persistent coughing and wheezing. The breastfed children were also less likely to have eczema.

Breast milk is the best food for babies.

Or is it?

Nursing your baby has numerous benefits, including decreased risks for allergies, diabetes, cancer, infections, and arthritis.

Colostrum, which comes in before the milk does, is the first food a newborn gets, and it passes on antibodies (immunoglobulin A) and leukocytes (which destroy disease-causing bacteria and viruses), and it also seals the infant’s highly permeable digestive tract with a barrier which prevents foreign substances from penetrating it. It is a safe and natural vaccine, the way that nature intended it.

However, pesticides, heavy metals, and other persistent organic pollutants accumulate in human milk, leading some researchers to question whether the risks of exposure to pollutants in breast milk outweigh the benefits.

Editor’s note:  This guest piece was written by Summer about nursing a toddler.  Summer is the stay-at-home mother of two monkey boys, a breastfeeding supporter, and never shy when it comes to talking about her breasts. You can read her voicing her opinions on parenting and life at Wired For Noise.

One day you’re curled up on the couch, baby nestled sweetly in your arms, nursing his as he drifts softly off to sleep. The next day your baby is hanging over your shoulder, trying to nurse upside down and eat a cookie at the same time. Welcome to breastfeeding your toddler.

Once your baby becomes a walking, giggling, climbing toddler breastfeeding will never be the same. Commonly referred to as the “Breastfeeding Olympics” by moms who have been there, there is rarely a calm moment anymore. All those hours spent in the soft light of nursing a cuddly baby are now replaced by flashes and darts, cartwheels and somersaults, and the silly joy that toddlers emit everywhere. With that bundle of energy bursting through out the house some parents see their baby turning into a child and feel that it is time to put breastfeeding behind them. However, nursing a toddler still has many benefits.

Just when you thought that we didn’t need a World Breastfeeding Awareness week, yet another mother, this time a young mom in Berea, Kentucky, is asked to leave a restaurant for breastfeeding her child. Kentucky actually has a law that forbids public interference of a breastfeeding mother, but because she was not breastfeeding when the police arrived (who threatened to charge her with criminal trespassing if [...]

I never doubted that I would nurse. I read all articles I could get my hands on and after learning about the huge health benefits for both mother and child, I was sold. But really, when I’m totally honest with myself … I also nursed because I’m lazy.

Yep, that’s right. For all the horror stories you hear about lost sleep and teething babies, it seemed a lot easier to me to just pop a boob out when he was hungry. No bottles to clean, nothing to warm, no formula to shake or measure, just one swift movement and - voila! Happy baby.