Breastfeeding for too long.

I haven't visited this blog for a while. Facebook has become my default mode of expression - short bursts of info or quick links are all I can seem to coordinate these days. And I am so grateful for the feed back I receive on that site - such great motivation to keep working on this film!!

But I had an experience last night that I wanted to share (maybe I'll post it there, too!). I feel like I have shared this here and elsewhere, but it bears repeating. This is one of the big areas of breastfeeding misinformation - so wildly perpetrated in the media.

I was at a documentary screening last night talking with a fellow filmmaker about my film. She asked, "What are you going to say about people who breastfeed their babies for too long?" I asked what she defined as TOO long. She said 2 years. This started an interesting dialogue - I shared my experience of being pregnant and believing I would stop "when he can ask for it" and then going on to nursing my son for 2.5 years. We talked about how you realize pretty early on that babies "ask for it" when they are teeny tiny. And you also realize that at one, when our American Ped. Assoc. recommends you can stop (essentially what they are saying with that guideline, I think) that they are babies! Still so small, and the milk, although they are eating solid foods and you are nursing less, is still so important and does so much!

I don't know if I changed any minds, but I'm happy to have these conversations. And I feel like each one is a lesson for me - as there is so much that I wish I would have said. I wish I would have shared the story of nursing an 18-month old with a stomach virus (thank goodness I was still nursing!!) and how the breastmilk was the only thing that would stay down, it provided hydration, nutrients, antibodies and antibiotics to my son for the 6 days he was very ill. And the nursing provided a lot of comfort to him, too. I also wish I would have been more clear about what it looks like to nurse a toddler. That it's once or twice a day, for only a few minutes, at that age. It occurred to me later that I bet she thinks it was a huge part of his diet, and that perhaps I was depriving him of something that she thought of as more normal, than just supplementing her version of a "normal" diet. Does this make sense?

I did mention that the World Health Organization recommends 2 years - and that the worldwide average is up to 7 years. She roared with laughter over than and made comments I couldn't quite understand about China and Africa...one thing I didn't say was that if you've made it to one year, chances are more likely that you are nursing past that, but that a huge percentage of women who do, because of attitudes like hers, keep it at home and you probably don't know.

Looking forward to more conversations like this!

Please visit our Facebook page (and join!) for the most update info on our film, as well as frequent posts about all things breastfeeding!

Breastfeeding PSAs in NY!

So I was at the gym today, which, since we don't have tv at home, is the only place I catch up on bad daytime TV. A flashy, Jenny Craig-type commercial comes on about weight loss, and catches my attention when it declares that the cause of the weight loss is, drumroll please...

BREASTFEEDING!

I almost fell off the treadmill! Then today I see a post on the Kellymom facebook page about the new campaign. It's the New York Department of Health's WIC program.

I'm VERY impressed! See for yourself:

Whip 'em Out!

More Breastfeeding films!

Thank you to the Best For Babes Foundation for the wonderful mention of Supply and Demand in a recent post about current and upcoming films about breastfeeding and donor milk. Hop on over to their website to view all of the trailers!

I was really excited to see Katje Esson's short film "Latching On" (distributed by our fiscal sponsor Women Make Movies) and am looking forward to the other two. Maybe we can start a traveling breastfeeding film festival!

and now for the Amen, Brother!

And AMAZING guest blog post on Accustomed Chaos: breastfeeding from a man's perspective.

If any thing it's like winning the lottery. Guys, I'm telling you that you should do everything in your power to encourage your wife to stick with breastfeeding. When the baby's hungry at 3am and you're not the one with a milk supply, you have nothing to be upset over. If your wife has decided to exclusively breastfeed then she has willing taken on most of the hard work of looking after a new born. She should be thanked for accepting that responsibility, not accused of destroying a marriage. Children need to eat. Breast were designed to feed them. If this is a problem for you then don't have a child.

Read it ladies. Pass it on to your husband (and your girlfriends, and your girlfriend's husbands...).

Via Best for Babes Foundation's facebook page!

Amen, Sister!

Moxie (sister site to Ask Moxie - a real-life, non-judgemental advice blog) had an inspiring and compassionate post today about her goal of "normalizing feeding babies."

...By the breast or by the bottle. Creating a society in which the culture supports women feeding their babies in any location babies are allowed to be, without shame or fear of reproach. Where women are not asked to justify their feeding methods or told to cover themselves up. Where we're honest about breastmilk being the best food for babies, and where we don't use duplicitous methods to sell formula. Where women get accurate information about breastfeeding and formula feeding and are allowed to make the choice (if they have one) that's best for their families and then supported, no matter what that decision is. Where we as a culture talk routinely about breastfeeding issues without shaming women, those who breastfeed and those who don't. Where we actually have legislation that allows women to spend enough time to establish breastfeeding and then guarantees that they can pump in the workplace to maintain breastfeeding for as long as they want to.

I especially like the image of an army of seasoned moms advocating for the new ones:

...the people for whom nursing or not nursing is important and vital and heartbreaking are the very people who have the least time, energy, and bandwidth to advocate for themselves. So those of us with kids old enough to make their own sandwiches are the ones who really need to be taking up this fight.

Who's with me?