Of course, if we are talking about a woman who has lived her entire life in a tiny village in a forest, hundreds of miles away from any industrial centers, drank only the water from a clear, unpolluted stream, ate only the food she grew herself in an unpolluted patch without using any chemical substances on the plants, spent all her day in the fresh unpolluted air, never suffers from stress, anxiety, let alone depression, and never took any medication, I might agree that her breast-milk is better than formula.
However.
If we are talking about a woman who spends her life breathing in polluted air, has consumed a mountain of junk food and processed foods, has devoured a barrel of over-the-counter and a bucket of prescription meds, suffers from anxiety and mood swings, has smoked a little, has drunk some alcohol, is not averse to drinking a soda now and then, spends hours every week in a car and most of each day sitting in front of a screen, and eats genetically modified crap, there is no way her breasts can produce anything healthier than what a formula company can.
So the idiotic “breast is best” propaganda is nothing but an attempt by the ultra-conservative organizations to force women back into housewifery. It feeds into the consumerism of the immature, and a myth is born.
As for me, I am planning to breast-feed. The only reason is that my mother says it is more convenient than bottle-feeding, and I trust her. Then again, my sister says it is less convenient that bottle-feeding, and I trust her, too. So I will try and see what works for me.
Of course, if breast-feeding becomes onerous or doesn’t work out, I will stop. A self-sacrificing Mommy is a tragedy for a child and will haunt her for as long as the child lives. And if it doesn’t work out immediately, I’m not the kind of a monster who lets a child scream in hunger – dooming her to all kinds of eating disorders, alcoholism and a smoking addiction later in life* – just to please some imaginary controlling authority.
If it does work out, I have asked specialists and they unanimously insist that there is absolutely nothing in maternal milk past 6 months that can be even remotely beneficial to a baby. So there is no logical reason to breast-feed past 6 months.
Now the only problem I will have to face is fighting off a crowd of crazed La Leche League harpies who, as I keep hearing, bully and persecute women in maternity wards. I plan to quote the Constitution at them and promise to sue for violating my freedom of religion. I hope this complicated sentence will confuse their tiny little brains so badly that they will leave me in peace.
If anybody has any experience with defending yourself and your baby from the LLL freakazoids, please share. I hope that I don’t have to specify that La Leche League folks are not welcome on this blog.
* “The infant who is neglected (insufficiently fed) or who is over-protected (over-fed) in the course of being nursed, might become an orally-fixated person. Said oral-stage fixation might have two effects: (i) the neglected child might become a psychologically dependent adult continually seeking the oral stimulation denied in infancy, thereby becoming a manipulative person in fulfilling his or her needs, rather than maturing to independence; (ii) the over-protected child might resist maturation and return to dependence upon others in fulfilling his or her needs. Theoretically, oral-stage fixations are manifested as garrulousness, smoking, continual oral stimulus (eating, chewing objects), and alcoholism. Psychologically, the symptoms include a sarcastic, oral sadistic personality, nail biting, oral sexual practices (fellatio, cunnilingus, analingus, irrumatio), et cetera.”
Do you know any sarcastic, oral sadistic personalities (meaning, people who wound with words)? They were left to scream in hunger in infancy.
Clarissa's Blog 
I am surprised you, who immigrated to a new country, lecture in front of hundreds, etc give any thought to La Leche League or whatever it is called. Sincerely wish you not to have bigger problems with a baby than the crazy LLL. 🙂
// there is no way her breasts can produce anything healthier than what a formula company can.
Depends. Several years ago a huge scandal shook Israel. Look:
http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/02/13/3119471/remedia-food-technologist-found-guilty-in-israeli-baby-formula-scandal
// And if it doesn’t work out immediately, I’m not the kind of a monster who lets a child scream in hunger
Of course, not. But, if possible, a formula and breast mlk can be used at once, adding a bottle with formula after breastfeeding / a bottle with milk (some children may not want to nurse after easier for them bottle).
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“I am surprised you, who immigrated to a new country, lecture in front of hundreds, etc give any thought to La Leche League or whatever it is called.”
– I have heard from too many women who have been badgered by these crazy creatures. It is quite difficult to resist bullying when you can’t even get up.
“But, if possible, a formula and breast mlk can be used at once, adding a bottle with formula after breastfeeding / a bottle with milk (some children may not want to nurse after easier for them bottle).”
– Sucking from a breast is a lot more difficult for a baby, so they refuse the breast soon after they discover the bottle. This is, at least, the justification the crazed LLL folks use to justify starving infants to death.
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I would have said “I am planning to pump breast milk into a bottle too” with a beautiful smile and would have been left in peace. Btw, it’s really a good idea imo.
You haven’t mentioned what about the effect on immune system in the first year of life. If it exists, it’s easier to breastfeed than to constantly take days from work to sit with an ill child later. Even if 10 years later, there will be no difference.
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“I would have said “I am planning to pump breast milk into a bottle too” with a beautiful smile and would have been left in peace.”
– Yes, that was what my sister said. That really unleashed the badgering. She had to listen to a nasty lecture on the horrors of breast pumps.
“You haven’t mentioned what about the effect on immune system in the first year of life. If it exists, it’s easier to breastfeed than to constantly take days from work to sit with an ill child later. Even if 10 years later, there will be no difference.”
– We all know what I think about the nature of all illness. A stressed, miserable, suffering, hassled mother is so dangerous to an infant that an ocean of formula would not equal this damage. A happy, content, stress-free mother and a happy, peaceful atmosphere at home is the best defense against any illness. I have read accounts from women whose nipples are so cracked and sore that they weep out of pain while breast-feeding. And they still believe that the milk delivered this way will be beneficial to the poor baby! It’s like they are suffering from a mass delusion.
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Btw, just now read the info about children, albeit older ones:
Hamas orders schools in Gaza to be segregated by gender
Palestinian girls over the age of nine must not be educated by men or alongside boys in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas ministry of education announced on Monday.
Gender segregation is already in effective in the majority of schools in the Palestinian territory but from the next school year, it will be enforced by law in every one of Gaza’s education establishments, including Christian and private schools and those run by the United Nations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9965274/Hamas-orders-schools-in-Gaza-to-be-segregated-by-gender.html
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Thank you! I will write about this.
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Never gets old. el polluting every post with her muslim hatred .
Clarissa: “Rocket science is cool”
el: “Yes, I agree but what about ? Scary, isn’t it?”
Clarissa: “Flowers are pretty”.
el: “Yes, but can you comment on this article about female circumcision practiced in muslim communities? I sent you an email, not sure if you got it. Scary, isn’t it?”
The concern trolling never stops.
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🙂 🙂 Funny.
There is now a separate thread for this discussion.
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Those are my neighbors and somebody we’re at war with. Of course, I care. Clarissa, f.e. cares about breastfeeding and academic life. I care about what’s going on in the Middle East and especially Iran and Gaza.
Btw, I read Israeli news sites and naturally see news about the neighbors (Middle East, in general) every day. In quantities. Sometimes I mention them, when I think Clarissa may be interested too.
It’s not “muslim hatred”, it’s fear when the next intifada will begin. If Gaza becomes more extreme, it’ll be worse to everybody. To Gazans, to Israelis, to everybody except the people in power in Gaza, Iran (?) and probably some other places.
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“Clarissa, f.e. cares about breastfeeding and academic life. I care about what’s going on in the Middle East and especially Iran and Gaza.”
– I feel very dismissed with my puny little interests now.
” If Gaza becomes more extreme, it’ll be worse to everybody.’
– It might still not be too late to avoid that.
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Since I was adopted I was fed formula as a baby. I turned out just fine. (All the other voices in my head agree!)
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I don’t think these weirdos’ fixation with constant breastfeeding has anything to do with the happiness of their child, actually. They always talk about very abstract, future alleged benefits to breastfeeding (High IQs! Less health trouble! No asthma! Clear skin! Better digestion!) not whether the baby will be happy or not. It seems to be more like treating a child like an art project, where if you put the right shade of paint on now, or shape it just right, it will be a “masterpiece” when it grows up. The child’s emotional state is irrelevant compared to how good it can make the artists/parents look.
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” It seems to be more like treating a child like an art project, where if you put the right shade of paint on now, or shape it just right, it will be a “masterpiece” when it grows up. ”
– I agree completely. This is a highly impersonal approach. Push a button, get the desired result.
“High IQs! Less health trouble! No asthma! Clear skin! Better digestion!”
– Well, let’s look at me who has never been breast-fed. Perfect skin even in adolescence (although pregnancy is messing with that), no asthma, great health, digestion that can process rusty nails. As for the IQ, I don’t mind comparing mine to any of the LLL members. 🙂
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// As for the IQ, I don’t mind comparing mine to any of the LLL members.
How dare you! Those poor women were scarred forever by not being breastfed, while your IQ was the one lucky to get away despite the mistreatment.
/ sarcasm
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I support brestfeeding not on the nutrition aspect but rather on its eroticism*. I was not brestfed. I consider my mother’s choice to some degree as a sign of lack of affection for me.
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“I support brestfeeding not on the nutrition aspect but rather on its eroticism*.”
– Yes, it manages to awaken even the most sexually repressed women. That is definitely true.
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Remembered that some women don’t breastfeed out of belief it would change the shape of their breasts (for worse). If it is even slightly true and formula is as good as milk, they are right.
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The LLL sound a bit hard core in the US. They were nice and kind and helpful when I was having my kids. I wanted to breastfeed, and because my tits weren’t used to an industrial grade vacuum pump accosting them several times a day/night, they did get sore, but they got used to it. One thing that helped was turning the baby round so he was lying not across my stomach, but at 180° towards the pillow. It meant he wasn’t always latched on in the same way in the same place.
Both my kids went to the creche at 3 months-ish so I pumped milk too and took it in but no one harassed me about it. I also pumped milk and put it in the freezer for the LLL to take away for premature babies.
I stopped at about 6 months for number 2 and a couple of months for number 1 (due to a stupid fuckwit paediatrician who told me he was allergic to my milk. He wasn’t. She put him onto soya-based formula and he had a horrendous allergic reaction to it immediately).
I preferred breastfeeding because I’m a lazy sod and didn’t want to get up to make formula. My ex-h had to operate on kids during the day and was already lacking in sleep, so I didn’t expect him to join in with night feeds (he certainly didn’t offer either).
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“She put him onto soya-based formula and he had a horrendous allergic reaction to it immediately).”
– What an idiot! The doctor, I mean, not the baby.
“I preferred breastfeeding because I’m a lazy sod and didn’t want to get up to make formula. ”
– This is the line of reasoning I can totally identify with!!
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// * “The infant who is neglected (insufficiently fed) or who is over-protected (over-fed) in the course of being nursed, might become an orally-fixated person.
Has it all been proven? It sounds a bit like blaming mothers for everything a child does. Does he bite nails? You underfed him. Or overfed. Doesn’t matter what, but you did something horribly wrong and scarred him For Life.
Do all oral sex loving people have a problem then? And smokers, and nail biters, and manipulative people. There are so many of the latter that I doubt they were all abused. And alcoholism is a huge problem in FSU. Even if many people do leave children to cry in FSU, I hesitate to name it as the main cause of alcoholism epidemic.
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“Has it all been proven? It sounds a bit like blaming mothers for everything a child does.”
– I do believe that children are a product of their upbringing and not of blind luck.
” Even if many people do leave children to cry in FSU, I hesitate to name it as the main cause of alcoholism epidemic.”
– There are 2 main causes: oral traumas and low self-esteem. And alcoholism is not an epidemic because it is not contagious.
“Doesn’t matter what”
– It does matter to people who suffer from these issues. Only the realization of why you suffer from them can help deal with them. An example: all my life, I wake up at 2, 3 4 am, with a horrible sense of hunger and run to the kitchen to eat a full meal. I never had any idea why and couldn’t control it. As a result, I would suffer from insomnia, the insomnia would cause even more problems, and so on. And then finally I found out that I had been left to scream with hunger as a newborn because the ultra-famous book by a sadist called Spock made an entire of generation of women think babies should not be fed at night. When I heard this and realized where my late-night eating came from, it was like a light-bulb was lit in my head. The relief was enormous. Since that day, I haven’t woken up hungry at night a single time. So yes, it does matter to those who want to address these problems.
“There are so many of the latter that I doubt they were all abused.”
– Who is talking about abuse??? In my case, it was an earnest mistake by a confused and lonely young girl. I only wish I had known before, so I would have been able to resolve the issue much faster. Twenty odd years of eating at 3 am, and finally the problem goes away! I can’t tell you how amazing it is finally to sleep through the night.
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Hmmm. One of the few alcoholics I know was fed whenever he wanted as a child, and also has high self esteem. What else can cause it?
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You are mistaken about her self-esteem. Many people overcompensate by presenting an ultra-secure front but the real proof always lies in their behavior.
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There ya go being an ignorant crazy jerk again. It would be nice if you’d just keep your crack-pot pronouncements about parenting to yourself and your own little family. Yes yes, you’re the victim, I understand. When you say that everyone is wrong except you and damaging their kids obviously you’re the victim. DARVO. I seriously wish you weren’t on so many blogrolls because then I could ignore your idiotic headlines.
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And this is what happens to people who have been brainwashed by the LLL. What a sad picture.
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From your blog, @nicoleandmaggie
“Larabars are expensive at $1 each. But they’re less expensive than snacks at the cafeteria. Once I’m no longer nursing I should be able to cut back on them. We have stocked up.
I did go crazy in the city that weekend, mostly without guilt. I feel a little bad about what was spent, but also bad that I feel bad.”
It is ironic that someone this dense and boring would go on other people’s blogs to call them ignorant. Go back to your dumb ass blog and keep tabulating your savings, moron.
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Let’s not provoke her (them?) even more. This is obviously an unstable person (people.)
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This is so funny. Have you ever been to nicoleandmaggie’s blog? There couldn’t be a happier, chirpier, more polite or gracious blog in all of mankind. They seem to be so nice it’s almost annoying.
And this one little post causes them to unravel completely. This is what happens when certain kinds of people perceive a threat to their identity. It really is remarkable to see it in action.
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I swear on my manuscript that I only ever left maybe 2 or 3 extremely polite kind comments on that blog. And that was a very long time ago. Since then, I never visited it or read it. What provokes these frequent attacks of rage is a mystery to me.
If a person goes all unhinged just because she sees the words “breast is not best” on somebody’s blogroll, this is disturbing.
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I remember you even promoting a post of theirs in your sunday link encyclopedia.
“What provokes these frequent attacks of rage is a mystery to me.”
And make no mistake about it, this is pure, unadulterated rage. Nothing else.
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The best picture I didn’t take was one of my wife drinking a glass of milk while breast feeding our daughter.
My wife breast fed both of our children and they seem to not have suffered for it. As I recall, my wife’s reasons for breast feeding were needing motivation to eat a healthy diet and not wanting to purchase formula or clean bottles.
I cut up a lot of vegetables and fruit for her. She lost a lot of weight, too. YMMV.
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“As I recall, my wife’s reasons for breast feeding were needing motivation to eat a healthy diet and not wanting to purchase formula or clean bottles.”
– These are really great, respectable reasons. Good for all 3 of you!
It’s good to see that I have so many normal, reasonable people visiting the blog.
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Breastfeeding was easy for me, and it was free. I didn’t have to carry around any forumla/bottle paraphernalia, my job was flexible enough and close enough to daycare that I could feed on demand without pumping. The milk was, of course, always the right temperature, always available, and no preparation required. One kid self-weaned at 6 months, the other at 9 months. I know it’s not easy for everyone, and not everyone has a flex job…but it saved *me* a ton of money and required less effort at a time when I was generally tired all the time.
I’m not sure where these la Leche League people are coming from, unless they are first invited. If you don’t want them in your hospital room, tell the nurse in advance and they will be kept out.
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Thank you, Jodi! What you say makes a lot of sense to me.
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