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Well I caved!  I really didn’t want to wean my daughter from breastfeeding just to put her on a bottle, but I’ve been really wanting to wean her for the past little while.

It doesn’t make sense to me to wean a child from something, get them using something else, just to have to wean them from that later on.  For example a breastfed child is usually weaned to a bottle or a sippy cup, and then weaned from that on to a regular cup.

Don’t get me wrong, Cali has taken a bottle when I am not available but up until now it has not been consistent.  I introduced a regular glass at the same time she started eating solids and have also introduced a water bottle type container for when we are on the go.  And she drinks fine from both.

However the other night when I was putting her to bed and offered her the breast, she bit me.  Not just a little bite.  She bit as hard as she could and pulled.  I know I didn’t handle that situation as good as I should have.  I screamed in pain, put her down and left the room.  She bit so hard I was sure she drew blood – it felt like it anyway, but all she did was leave some really good teeth marks.

So she is now weaned to a bottle.  I tried getting her to use the water type container for before naps & bedtime but she refused, so it’s a bottle.  I’m not sure if she will really get attached to the bottle or not.  She doen’t seem to really like or want the bottle too bad anyway.  I might decide not to offer anything before sleeps – that’s actually probably the best thing to do.

Breastfeeding is quite a large topic to talk about and everyone has an opinion about certain aspects of breastfeeding. I know I had my own opinions and misconceptions before I started breastfeeding.

I was pretty naive about breastfeeding, during my first pregnancy I just assumed that it would come naturally and I didn’t really worry about it, after all, my sister breastfed and it looked easy enough. It’s not something I really thought about.

There are many reasons why I breastfed and why I stuck with it. Some the reasons I stuck with it, I learned along the way. The most important reason of course is “Breast is Best”, then there’s the convenience of it, saves money spent on formula, and it helps mom loose weight.

Of course the first couple of days are always a challenge – sometimes it takes several weeks or longer to really get the hang of it. I just developed my own style of breast feeding with each child. I found the suggestions from the health nurses were uncomfortable and didn’t work well.

After I got the hang of breastfeeding I thought I would start to feel the bonding, closeness and passion for breastfeeding that I’d heard & read about. I never felt that, in fact I never enjoyed breastfeeding like I had read about. I thought there was something wrong, that I should be enjoying it as much as the next person.

I finally talked with my sister about it and she felt the same way as I did. Neither of us “liked” breastfeeding – we did purely for the benefit of our children. I remember how I felt like I was a failure because I didn’t feel it was everything that I had heard about or read about. I really felt like breastfeeding was pumped up and I was disappointed that it isn’t everything that it is promoted as, but regardless I kept breastfeeding.

It makes me wonder if that’s the reason that so many Mom’s I know quit breast feeding so early. Most Mom’s I know quit breast feeding between 3 to 6 months. It’s very rare to see anyone breastfeeding an infant over the age of 6 months.

So I guess I just want to provide some encouragement to any Mom’s who are discouraged. Keep going, if I can do it (the first time for 13 months and going on 9 months now with the second child), any one can do it.

There was a story on the News this morning about a few women who had been kicked out of a restaurant for breastfeeding their children. Unfortunately I only caught a small portion of the actual story (my children were being rather noisy).

From what I gather, the restaurant owner complained that they were not being “discreet” enough and were making other customers uncomfortable.

It seems to me that everyone has an opinion on breastfeeding and I’m not really sure why it is always an issue. Breastfeeding is the most natural way to feed our children. Not only is it the best thing that we can feed our children but there are other proven benefits as well.

I think that quite possibly the issue with breastfeeding in public is the fact that a woman’s breast is partially exposed. More importantly it’s the fact that society has sexualized the woman’s breast, so much so that to think of the breast as having any other purpose makes us uncomfortable.

I am currently breastfeeding my 9 mth old daughter and breastfed my son until he was 14 mths. I believe that breastfeeding is the best and healthiest way to feed my children. Personally I do not have an issue with breastfeeding my child in public and to be honest I don’t try to “cover up”. When I first started breastfeeding I tried to cover up but I always found it quite difficult and it made me uncomfortable (being comfortable when breastfeeding is very important to have proper flow).

I do try to be discreet by making sure that my shirt is covering the majority of my breast and the child’s mouth is latched on the rest. The child’s head, neck and body as well as my arm cover any bare skin on my abdomen that may be exposed. In my experience with breastfeeding in public has mostly been very positive. I’ve had elderly ladies come and tell me how lucky I am to be able to breastfeed my child and that it’s the best thing that I can do for my child. I’ve had two negative experiences (involving the same people both times) but I find ignoring the comment works fine for me.

Currently the campaign is “Breast is Best” is being promoted and to be honest I’m not sure who is behind the campaign but I do know that the goal is to increase the number of mothers who do breastfeed and to educate the public. I do wish the public would be more tolerant of everyone – not just breastfeeding mothers!