Breast is Best {aka I'm an asshole}

In honor of Breastfeeding Month I decided to finally post this blog that I have been kind of sort of working on for the past 6 months or so. Enjoy!
_________________________________________________________________________________


How do you believe in something with all your heart, and simultaneously fully support not that thing?

How do you find success in something and watch friends struggle with the same thing? 

How on earth do you go about advocating for something and putting yourself out there as a support person, and not feel like an asshole to those that are on a different path?

Basically, how do you avoid being a total asshole when it comes to anything breastfeeding?

I breastfeed my baby. It is a decision I made long before I gave birth, and maybe even before I was pregnant. I truly believe that with the right support and resources most women can have a successful {success as defined by each individual woman} nursing relationship with their littles. 

I have been so lucky that it has worked out for us. Thrush once, jaundice troubles panic at the beginning, a low supply scare, pumping woes, and a few bites here and there. That's the extent of our troubles over the past 15 months. I know so many women who have gone through hell trying to make it work. I know women who never tried. And I support them all. 

This is probably the thing I have struggled the most with since becoming a mom. There is such pressure to take sides on this. I have struggled with how I can encourage/empower/support other moms who want to breastfeed their babies, and how I can balance that level of involvement with supporting moms who don't. I want to shout it from the rooftops that I'm here for you if you need support in making breastfeeding work. And I want to not sound like a condescending jerk when I say I support you if you don't. 

How can I post an article on FB talking about making nursing in public the norm because 'breast is best' and still have friends and family who don't nurse their babies believe me if I say it doesn't matter to me how they feed their baby? That I don't judge them?

And then there is the length of time a mom and baby nurse. Yet another layer of controversy. Some people have a specific goal in mind. Some people don't. Some people quit when they want to quit. Some people quit when baby wants to quit. Personally I didn't think twice about nursing O past the magical 12 month mark. He wasn't ready to be done. I wasn't ready to be done. So we're not done. Someday we will be, and other people might go longer. And that's ok. Other people have stopped much sooner. And that's ok too.

When O was about 3 months old I was at a patio happy hour with friends from work, one of whom had a new baby herself. As I fed O without a cover and she fed her little from a bottle we laughed about how half the place was probably judging me for feeding him without a cover in public and the other half was probably judging her for feeding a bottle. Really...everyone was probably judging us for having our babies at the bar.

{you have a baby at a bar! Sweet Home Alabama...anyone?} 

My point is this: Feed your offspring. Love your offspring. For crying out loud, love other moms. It takes a village, and we need each other.
Knock it off with the judging. Knock it off with the "I support breastfeeding, BUT" mentality. Knock it off with the condescending "oh, you feed your baby formula?"

Know that you cannot actually walk in another mom's shoes and you cannot actually understand her motives or opinions or experiences that shape her path in how she feeds her baby.

Our babies love us for loving them, not for how we feed them.

365 days into our now 470 day journey. See that guy on the far left? Wouldn't have stuck with it if it weren't for him.