Do you sit and give her looks as you think to yourself how awful it is that she obviously can’t be bothered to breastfeed? Do you feel sad for that poor baby being deprived of his mother’s milk? Do you look at her and think to yourself that she looks like the sort who would bottle feed? I bet she didn’t even try when her baby was born did she?
Do you stop to ask yourself why she might be bottle feeding? Does it occur to you that she might even be a peer supporter for the local Sure Start? That she might sit on various breastfeeding promotion panels for the local hospital and health authority? That breastfeeding might actually be really important to her. That she’s breastfed other babies successfully before. But, for some reason breastfeeding just didn’t work out for her and her eighth baby? Just sayin’.
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Ah Lucy, I'm sure you know my views on this!! I hope you don't feel judged for the way you are feeding your little man. It's frankly nobody else's business and I don't care how a mother feeds her baby, so long as the baby gets fed and both baby and mum are happy. I know I've been judged harshly in my family for breastfeeding and looking back, I bet I was judged harshly for bottlefeeding my older children too by people who didn't know how I'd struggled with breastfeeding.
I always reckon that if you've been able to breastfeed, you should feel pleased and blessed (I know I do!), but never smug or judgemental as I am living proof that each baby and each breastfeeding experience is different. When you are in a lot of pain, have a hungry, crying baby and this wonderful natural thing called breastfeeding is just not going right, it's a lonely and frightening feeling and nobody should imagine that they know how that feels until they have lived your exact experience. They certainly have no right to judge!!
Whenever I see your baby, Lucy, he is smiling and bright and just gorgeous. He looks to me like a baby that is thriving and it's clear that he knows how much he is loved too, surely THAT is what a baby needs most!
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