Breastfeeding
Prejudice
Breastfeeding Prejudice
By Jeri I have kind of a sad story. There is so much prejudice about breast feeding. My son was born in August of '02. I had wanted him for about 17 years..... so I was determined to do everything right. I breastfed my son from the start. Determined. When he was about 4 days old, he became jaundiced. I called the doctor and he asked me to stop breastfeeding for several days. His bili was 20+. I pumped through it with help from La Leche volunteers. I went back to work when my son was bout 2 1/2 months old and pumped each day. I nursed solely and only added formula to breast milk for a year. At a year, I went to nights only and continued to nurse. When my son was 18 months old, I finally figured out he was waking up TO NURSE!. I started only nursing before bed and just "loving" him through the wake ups at night. After a week or so he started sleeping all night. About 2 weeks prior to my son's second birthday, my husband left me. He obtained 1/2 custody of our son. He let me have him for a few minutes each night and I continued to nurse. One time, my husband saw me nursing and said, "That's disgusting." "He can tell you which breast he wants." It really hurt as did our break up. 2 months later my 12 year old daughter decided with the chain of events, she wanted to live with her father who is different from my son's father. We went to court. I was chastised for continuing to nurse a 2 year old toddler. The judge even questioned me himself about it. I couldn't believe it. I still continue to nurse my little boy and will until he's ready to stop. But, I do wish that our country was better educated to the benefits. I can't imagine my son having to go through our divorce without breastfeeding. I'm sure he gets comfort in knowing it's there. |
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