World Breastfeeding Week

This week is World Breastfeeding Week!!! Well, I'm a little slow, it's almost over but World Breastfeeding Week is August 1-7th.


Picture courtesy of Lee Memorial Health System

McKenna and I kicked off World Breastfeeding Week by taking part in the Big Latch On, a synchronized event where women around the world came together to breastfeed simultaneously.


Picture courtesy of Lee Memorial Health System

At the event! The woman I'm looking at sitting on the ground was tandem nursing. I don't know if they counted her as one or two!


Big Latch On Nursing Selfie

I'm appalled there are so many people out there that find this ^^^^ offensive. My child looks like she's sleeping!

My way of thinking has evolved so much since before McKenna was born, I never thought I would participate in such an event! My way of thinking has evolved even since she was a newborn, when we never really left the house anyway. I naively believed that breastfeeding should be a private thing that takes place between a mother and baby. Then reality happened.  Am I supposed to be expected to sit at home all day long until I am done breastfeeding my child (at whatever age we choose to stop)? Am I supposed to be exiled to my car in the parking lot in order to feed my child when we're away from home? The safety issues alone makes me perturbed this would even be suggested (though we do it from time to time by choice when McKenna needs a break and we enjoy a DVD and A/C). Or even worse am I expected to let my baby temporarily go hungry or be expected to straddle a toilet in a public bathroom? I have never done this nor will ever do it, but I know moms who have and it saddens me.

I won't lie. Before McKenna, I judged. I was ignorant and didn't know any better. I had never really been around breastfeeding.  I thought women who breastfed their babies in public were exhibitionists. There, I said it. Well, don't judge someone until you walk a mile in their shoes. Looking back I'm embarrassed of myself to even admit I've thought this way. A mother's milk is the best gift you could offer your child, why does society find it necessary to make it more difficult to do what is best for our babies? It took research (to know how important breastfeeding is) and experience (to realize that my baby comes before ANYONE else's comfort). Followed by a whole lot of "you got a problem with this??". It's one of those things: the more you're around it, the more you realize how NOT big of a deal it is. So come hang out with McKenna and I for a day!

After all of the struggles we endured to establish a wonderful breastfeeding relationship, I am proud of McKenna and I! It is the biggest part of our lives, the activity that occurs more frequently than any other (other than sleep). It's what keeps her healthy, nourished, and growing, and I am incredibly grateful I am able to give her this gift.


Happy Nursing!!+