Here is a great blog by the "Crunchy Domestic Goddess."
http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2009/01/02/breastfeeding-until-age-3-4-or-5-more-common-than-you-think/#comment-17108 I think she has some great posts!
This morning Claire and I went to the Carmel
LLL group. There were a bunch of "veteran" moms which was nice as we could discuss more than "new" baby stuff. We also played a round of Jeopardy all breastfeeding question related! I feel like I learned a lot.
We talked about "What is normal?" Basically...weaning at one and putting baby on cow's
breastmilk. is. not. normal. WE are the only cultural who weans so prematurely and puts the kids on cow milk. WHY? I don't really know. It's just what people do.
Then the discussion was NORMAL is
sooo far removed...we don't KNOW what normal is anymore! I think the whole "First Steps" crap I'm doing is crap. We started the "enrollment" at the end of October. It took 3 appointments to set things up. We will meet with a Nutritionist once a month to have her weighed, etc. I say ETC. because I don't know what the ETC. is yet. And then we will meet with a "therapist" every week for awhile, then maybe every other week.
I say "therapist" in quotes as I met ours. She is a dumb-ass. I will give her one more chance, but I don't think my opinion of her is going to change. They say you can learn a lot about people in the first 30 seconds. I think this is 100% true. There is just no good "conversation"--I would never elect to go out to lunch with her. The first appointment was for her to get to know Claire and I. Next week we will start on "eating" therapy. I don't think it's really needed. WHY? Well, because I think Claire eats what and when she wants. She has had an increased appetite in the past 2 weeks. I don't think she really has texture issues. She hasn't gagged/choked in over a month, and frankly, I feel like all these people that have been here are idiots. Am I the only one who feels surrounded by idiots?
Why do I say idiots? Because all of the 4 women who have been here to "evaluate/meet with her" have not breastfed their children. NORMALLY, I could honestly give two shits less about this because really, if you want to not, fine, don't whatever, I'm over here MINDING my own business. I won't say anything about you not
bf'ing yours (for whatever reason) if you don't say anything about me
bf'ing mine until 4 or whatever (who reads this that doesn't, I don't know because you've never left a comment)...BUT what HAS ticked me off, is that they are basically asking me stuff like, "Do you think she prefers nursing over solids" (yes, duh, it's superior and I think her body knows it's better than ANY solid). It's not that I don't want somebody to "help" us, it's just that I think I've realized she doesn't "need" help.
Haha...I need help...lots of it...somebody please help me clean my house, etc... ;) I just feel like they don't "get" why I'm still nursing her and that if I weaned her, it would force her to eat solids. Sorry, ladies, this is the best food on earth.
But basically, I realized this at the meeting this morning when the gal said that our culture has so totally destructed WHAT NORMAL IS...that the "NORMAL" isn't what is world-wide normal (
eg: child-led weaning at ages 5-7). I know if I would have read that 2 years I ago, I would be like, weird, nursing at 5. SICK...nursing at 7! But now I'm thinking...maybe this is what is so wrong with our society? WHO KNOWS? I don't know how long Claire will want to nurse. I don't know how I'll feel about things a year from now or a month from now. I don't know what kind of situations or circumstances will be around either. But what I think is awesome is something like that post by the Crunchy Domestic Goddess that she talks openly about nursing a preschooler. This morning I talked to a gal whose girl self-weaned at 5 and 1/2. I think that sometimes
LLL gets a rep for nursing kids until they are really old. Really. Since when is 5 and 1/2 old? And I'm sick of the competitive parenting. I'm sick of reading all these posts on
CafeMom about
bf'ing moms judging other
bf'ing moms about nursing older children. REALLY? IF you can't get support from other
bf'ing moms who the hell are you going to get some support from? Why do you need support? Well, it's not like "support" but rather a lack of "bashing" more or less. This is why I can't do long blog postings. Once I start going, I can't shut up.
LOL! I know that opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one. And if you don't like my opinion...close your freaking browser. I'm irritated by stupid people daily. Cashiers that can't count change; therapists that show up late because they "forgot" what time it was; people that can't drive....and the list goes on. Oh, and family members that comment, "You write too much." SHUT UP and just look at the pretty pictures. Just scroll down to the pretty pictures if that's all your simple little mind can handle.
Haha. Ouch. Did you actually read that?!? You know I still love you. I have to. You're family. Just don't piss me off, or I'll set this blog to private and ban your ass. ;)
So what was normal before the advent of formula? Nobody spoon fed babies processed crap from a jar before they could lift their own heads up. I'd love to go back in time, see how women did things in 1940 before the big formula push and learn. I think that kids nursed longer, got solids later, and that was normal. We've fucked normal. Bottles and pacifiers are just "breast dildos" as more than one other
LLL mom has referenced.
HAHA. Now
every time I am at the store and see a bag or wrapping paper or other baby item with a bottle on it, I think of that image. Normal is not sticking a baby in daycare. Normal is not separating the infant from it's environment. Infant primates environments = the mother. We've fucked that normal too. Society fails us all in so many ways. Any solutions?
END OF RANT!
