(so nothing against the cute aunt of mine (I also got in trouble by her ex husband for calling her cute...he thinks by calling her cute I implied that she knows nothing about obesity?)that posted this link below...but since it's my blog...I can now post my opinion, right?)
I read on Facebook just now that the U.S. has the highest obesity rates and the LOWEST breastfeeding rates......and next to it it said "is there a link?"
DISCLAIMER:
I AM NOT ATTACKING MY AUNT!
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING SHE THOUGHT UP.
SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN MENTIONED THE WORD AUNT...BUT SINCE
SHE READS MY BLOG, DIDN'T WANT HER TO THINK I "STOLE" HER LINK.
BY SEEING THIS LINK ON HER FB PAGE IT JUST GOT ME THINKING ABOUT THE
ASSOCIATION THAT LOTS AND LOTS OF DR'S etc MAKE
BETWEEN THE TWO.
WAS NOT IMPLYING THAT THIS WAS HER OPINION.
SHEESH!
give me a break!!
DISCLAIMER:
I AM NOT ATTACKING MY AUNT!
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING SHE THOUGHT UP.
THE ONLY REASON I EVEN BRING UP MY AUNT IS TO SAY WHERE I SAW
THE LINK POSTED!!
I AM NOT SAYING SHE THINKS THIS WAY AT ALL.SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN MENTIONED THE WORD AUNT...BUT SINCE
SHE READS MY BLOG, DIDN'T WANT HER TO THINK I "STOLE" HER LINK.
BY SEEING THIS LINK ON HER FB PAGE IT JUST GOT ME THINKING ABOUT THE
ASSOCIATION THAT LOTS AND LOTS OF DR'S etc MAKE
BETWEEN THE TWO.
WAS NOT IMPLYING THAT THIS WAS HER OPINION.
SHEESH!
give me a break!!
First of all, don't get me wrong...breastfeeding is great for the baby and mother (however I have to disagree that it is easy and convenient)...it's just not.....at least for me....
Also want to point out that I breastfed my kids.
ok..that out of the way.....to say that there may be a link between obesity and babies not being breastfed is absurd....really.(THIS IS MY OPINION. TO ME IT IS ABSURD. MY REASONS ARE BELOW)
My reasoning is my opinion....and here it is.....
Say you breastfed your baby for a year...good job mom...good job baby....now, you can say you did it....great antibodies for your baby etc...decreased your chances maybe of certain types of br. cancer.....good job....
however.....
now what? you have nourished your baby for a year...and what do you do now? (of course not saying everyone does this)....you feed your kid junk food, don't take time to prepare good meals, and let your kid play VIDEO GAMES ALL FREAKING DAY LONG AND BE A LAZY BUTT!
How is that ok?
How is it ok to let your kids' sit in front of the tv all day and not go outside and play..or not participate in any kind of outdoor activity?
Now...my kids play video games, and watch tv....however they HAVE to play outside...and HAVE to do some type of physical activity every single day......
now, not saying that I am so great...
because I am not all that......
however, those people that are so "gung ho" for breastfeeding are missing the point.
really.
Just by breastfeeding your baby...
you are NOT decreasing his/her chance for being obese.
It is what you do their entire childhood!!!
It is how you monitor tv and video game usage....
it's how you prepare meals....
it's the example you show them.
Do not make the mothers that don't breastfeed their babies feel bad that they are not nursing.
And don't tell them that their kids will grow up fat
! It is portion sizes...
fast food...
laziness etc...
that makes kids fat.
It is not solely the milk you get in the first few months of life.
Again...I am not against breastfeeding...at all.
There is sooo much good to it if it's for you. If it's not for you, no problem!
You are probably a great mom....I absolutely cannot stand the nurses/other advocates out there that are so in your face about breastfeeding that they make you feel like you are killing your child by not nursing them.
That is so wrong.
No wonder there is so much post partum depression going on....
these mom's are hating nursing, but feeling like they have to!
Leave them alone.
People will make the choice...
and do not make them feel like they are not doing the best thing for their child.
Also...why do people post on message boards how long they have breastfed their baby? who cares? do you get a medal? and are you bragging that you EBF? (which on message boards means exclusively breast feed.... )
Especially if you are advocating for it while you sit and watch your tv/video game child or grandchild rack up multiple hours each day in front of a screen.
ok...off my soap box....
and what really matters in life is how you treat others, the example you are, and the
healthy habits you chose and you help your children chose....
don't beat yourself up over it...really.
14 comments:
THANK YOU FOR THAT!! Benji gets breast fed maybe 2 times a day. Mostly because I am too lazy at 5 am to get up and make him a bottle. I HATE breast feeding. It hurts and even after nursing the baby for nearly 30 mins, he is STILL hunrgy. My doctor even told me "You have 1% milk". And my kids pediatrician told me "you can breast feed, but you need to supplement." Amelie was SOOOO tiny for 6 months of her life because I "was trying to be a good mom and breast feed 100%" and she wasnt gaining weight!! When I started giving her formula and solids, she fattened up so nicely! Benji is 7 1/2 weeks and he weighs 13 pounds!Total chubby chubbers!! I say... if you are feeding you baby, GOOD!! Doesnt matter what nipple it comes out of... healthy baby.... GOOD! And I dont get grossed out seeing women breast feed.... who cares. I care when I am giving my baby a bottle and some STRANGER tells me "you know its ok to nurse that baby out here" Uh...great THANKS!! When in my mind I am yelling "BACK THE F OFF WOMAN!! My boobs, my choice!" haha anyways.... I have 5 kids, and its NOT easier to breast feed.
Yup! Totally agree with you!! I have breastfed (completely) 7 babies until they were over a year old and I didn't love it. It is definitely NOT easier and NOT more convenient. It hurts me the whole time. With my 8th baby I decided to pump as much as I could and not feel guilty about giving a bottle. I just have a problem with people who judge others whether they breastfeed or not. And it's even funny that people think it's breast feeding that keeps kids from being fat. What a bunch of CRAP!! It's sooooo true that it's the habits they develop when they are older. Get out and play! Thanks for a great post!
Michelle,
I, of course, have no experience with the actual breast feeding duties, etc. but I did want to comment on the effects of life long choices that you talked about.
As I drive my mail truck through streets lined with houses where I know many young kids live I find those streets are almost (and sometimes are completely) deserted. NO kids are playing in those neighborhoods.
I'm an old fogey who grew up in a neighborhood where only one or two houses in 200 had air conditioners. The other houses didn't even have swamp coolers, so it was cooler outside during the day than it was inside the house. Obviously this was in the days before computers and video games too. Our streets were filled with kids outside playing active physical games. It was extremely rare to find a kid with any fat on them. We were all fairly slim and we could run around the block several times without dying. No so today.
Obesity in America is an epidemic, but its cause is multifaceted. In my childhood, we had twinkies and soda, but there was no such thing as a "super gulp" or "biggie" size. We all ate and drank reasonable portion sizes because the larger ones weren't available and we couldn't have afforded them even if they had been available.
I don't think your aunt was trying to say that bottle feeding causes obesity . . . she just asked the question (and it was a question not a statement): Is there a link? It's not unreasonable for a health care professional, particularly one who works eight hours a day, like you aunt does advising expectant and new mothers about their own and their new babies health issues to simply ask the question.
I don't know ANYONE who has studied more, and who knows more facts about the health and welfare of newborns and toddlers than your aunt does. I seriously doubt that she would have asked the question if it wasn't a question that is worth considering.
You don't have to agree with the notion that breast feeding is better for kids than formula feeding to give serious consideration to a question. If she had made some big pronouncement . . . stating that bottle feeding causes obesity, then there might have been reason to attack that assumption . . . but I wonder if attacking someone for simply asking a question is warranted?
Michelle,
I, of course, have no experience with the actual breast feeding duties, etc. but I did want to comment on the effects of life long choices that you talked about.
As I drive my mail truck through streets lined with houses where I know many young kids live I find those streets are almost (and sometimes are completely) deserted. NO kids are playing in those neighborhoods.
I'm an old fogey who grew up in a neighborhood where only one or two houses in 200 had air conditioners. The other houses didn't even have swamp coolers, so it was cooler outside during the day than it was inside the house. Obviously this was in the days before computers and video games too. Our streets were filled with kids outside playing active physical games. It was extremely rare to find a kid with any fat on them. We were all fairly slim and we could run around the block several times without dying. No so today.
Obesity in America is an epidemic, but its cause is multifaceted. In my childhood, we had twinkies and soda, but there was no such thing as a "super gulp" or "biggie" size. We all ate and drank reasonable portion sizes because the larger ones weren't available and we couldn't have afforded them even if they had been available.
Sorry about the double post. When I posted the first one I received an error message that said my comment was too long to be posted. So, I cut it in half and reposted the first half of the previous one BEFORE I saw that it had actually posted my first complete comment.
Sorry!
Hey Michelle, That was an awesome blog and I personally THANK YOU for it! Being one of the "non-breast feeding mother's out there, you wouldn't even believe some of the looks I have received over the years if it was brought up! People assume there was a "medical" issue that caused me to not breast feed, instead I tell them "no, it was a CHOICE!" "It was not for me".
I agree that putting a guilt trip on women for not breast feeding is the worst thing possible. It is certainly not up to anybody but the mother to decide.
I also agree 100% that there are dozens of other factors that play into child obesity! Good heck...all we have to do is go out to a restaurant, fast food joint, check out all of those dumb big gulps, what is stocked in pantry's all across America and then watch how very few of those kids burn any of those calories off! It's just "common sense" that huge amounts of food/garbage? in needs huge amounts of calories burned off during the day.
Video games, TV, phones/texting, and just plain sitting around all day long and eating while doing it is what is causing most of these kids to be so overweight! To say it's because some of us didn't breast feed our kids? Are you freaking kidding me???
The world needs to wake up to this epidemic...WE EAT TOO MUCH AND EXERCISE TOO LITTLE!!!!!
O.K. I'm fine now...Thanks Michelle for that super blog, loved it and you are spot on and I'm proud to be your Aunt!
I too believe it is every woman's option to choose either breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, but I do worry because I have twice ended up with a baby with allergies who couldn't handle any formulas. I have tried 8 different
formulas and haven't found a single one that works. I do believe there shouldn't be so much pressure on women, but I think some women also don't realize the risk they are taking if their baby never ends up being able to digest formula. For 5 months we weren't sure if Max would even live. I just wish there was more education on both sides, but everyone is different and I have done both. I actually just blogged about this the same day you did at waytoomuchaubrey.typepad.com/blog :)
You know- I've always wondered how to spell "shmestfeeding." ;)
I'm so glad that there are so many that can see both sides. As one who dabbles in both methods of feeding, I do what works both for the mother/baby team. For my daughter and I, breastfeeding worked for 6 months. Turns out that I'm a "1%-er" like Jenny, and my children turn into Incredible Shrinking Babies. Needless to say, that 2nd Mother/Baby Team didn't make it as long.
But- it has to be right for both Mom and Baby. And sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. It's amazing how many strong opinions are held on this topic (and the usage of epidurals... but I'm not going to open that can of worms on your blog). ;)
I just have to agree and say breastfeeding is so NOT convenient for me! I breastfed my babies as long as they could/would. Jaxon wanted to stop at 9 months...fine. I breast and formula fed Brynn for a year...she was so tiny! With Jordan my milk dried up at around six months and I have to admit, I wasn't too sad...bottles are so much easier for me! I'm glad everyone has a choice in this matter...what kind of a world would it be if we didn't?
I love epidurals Ashley. They rock. having done 1 natural and 4 epidurals.... oh heck.. epidurals are AWESOME!!haha
Ha ha! I call you my cute niece too!
I just wish some of the nurses would lay off the new moms in post partum. EVERY TIME I have a baby, 5 now.... the nurses give me such a hard time when I say "can you give them a bottle in the nursery so I can rest, I havent slept in 24 hours". This last time a nurse told me "oh the baby would do so much better here with you, here let me help you nurse" (pulling my hospital gown down exposing me) I told her NICELY... "look, I am a part time breast feeder, and I WILL nurse him, but hello, I JUST HAD A BABY 2 HOURS AGO, I DONT HAVE ANYTHING YET!!" So I walked him down to the nursery myself and the nurses IN the nursery were THRILLED. They told me they love when the moms give them the baby's for a few hours! Point is... its a personal choice. NO ONE should put someone down for choosing what works for them. My kids are healthy, and happy and not over weight and they were bottle fed with FORMULA. Nurture vs nature.....genes can make kids/adults over weight, fast food can too. parents just need to teach their kids good habits young, and when I see a toddler nursing on their mom.... I really dont care, but I think its "weird".
This topic was just on the radio on the morning zoo. I was cracking up hearing some of the stories about KIDS nursing on their mom. Some kid was playing baseball.. 7 years old.. he left the game and went up to his mom and said "I am thirsty" and his mom lifted her shirt and let him BREAST FEED!! I laughed, but at the same time was very disturbed.
AMEN!!!
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