Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Help or move on

I am part of a few message boards, and sometimes I just have to step away. I get so irritated with people who can't NOT reply to a question. Even if they don't have anything helpful to say. If you can't offer a solution or support to the person with the problem, just ignore the post. Don't criticize the decisions they have already made.

One example...this morning I was reading posts on a breastfeeding board. A woman posted asking how to handle her 25 month old son if he wants to nurse when her new baby is born. She specifically said "I don't want him to start nursing again" yet people got nasty with replies. Here's a portion of the reply that really pissed me off:
i would just let him nurse. i would feel really ashamed of my self if i was being greedy with my milk,knowing that im doing the best for one baby but not for the other

Those of you who know me well know that I joke about being a boob nazi, and I do strongly believe breast is best, yada yada yada. But this woman breastfed her son for 16 months. He's going to be over 2 when the baby is born & she doesn't want to breastfeed him and the baby. Seems to me she did a pretty darn good job of breastfeeding. How many people breastfeed that long? How exactly is breastfeeding for 16 months being greedy with her milk? How exactly is choosing to breastfeed an infant but NOT breastfeed a toddler (who already had the benefits of breastmilk for 16 months) NOT doing the best for that toddler?

I know there are a lot of studies about breastfeeding, and most things say breastfeeding until age 2 is best, but realistically she's not doing her toddler any harm by refusing to let him start nursing again. I know it's a breastfeeding group, so I expect people there to be more pro-breastfeeding, but they need to chill.

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