An Argument For Breast Feeding

when i tell people that i plan to nurse my 5 month old son until he weans naturally... be that at 1 year or 3 years old, i get some funny looks. the idea of breast feeding, alone, is somewhat foreign in our society or else it's kept as a sort of dirty secret.

yes, i'm considered a bit of a crazy hippie with my home birthing, breast feeding, baby-wearing, anti-circumcising, cloth diapering and co-sleeping ways. all of which i could provide lengthy explanations as to why i chose to do them.

the thing that confuses me most, though, because i feel it is the most obvious, is our attitude as a society toward breast feeding. i've heard so many horror stories of women being confronted with disapproval while not only breast feeding in public (even while covered) but by family members in the privacy of their own homes!

why is this completely natural act considered so obscene and so absurd by so many? why is feeding our children fake milk, made to mimic the nutritious benefits of human milk i might add, from a stylized, plastic, disembodied breast considered "normal"? why is this, even when we have fact-based evidence from hundreds of studies that mother's milk is not only best but that it decreases the risk of things like allergies, asthma, ADD and obesity... aliments that are on the rise and recently being considered epidemics in today's society?

if an animal is born to it's mother, a dog or cat for example, do we take it away from it's mother's breast and give it fake milk in a bottle if there isn't a need to do so? no, not unless there is a health issue or the animal has been physically separated from it's mother... because mother's milk is best. it was made specifically to nourish that animal.

so, why do we look upon breast feeding our own children with such disdain and often, disgust? our milk is made specifically for our children.

if you want to feed your baby formula, i'm not judging you or disagreeing with that choice. some women have physiological issues with breast feeding or need to work and breast feeding becomes a struggle. i understand that.

but, for those of us who do choose to breast feed our children, please show us a little respect. don't look upon us with disdain, disgust or disapproval and save your negative comments, insults and suggestions that we hide in dirty public bathrooms to feed our babies because you feel the method in which we choose to feed them is obscene.

we are only trying to do what we feel is best for our children and we deserve a little respect for that.