Coming Out for WBFW

Yup, that's me. First the depression thing, now breastfeeding. It's World Breastfeeding week and I am finding that I need to reclaim my pride in the choices we have made for the family.

Of course, this isn't a huge coming out as not many read my blog. But it's not something I talk about much unless I know the person I am talking to understands.

We're a breastfeeding family. Not just a couple- mom and child- but the entire family. Without Pete's support I wouldn't have nursed past a few weeks.

To cut the six-year long story short, We succeeded. I researched, we continued. Through the terrible twos, through the move to Hawaii, through my pregnany, through the move from Hawaii...even through my labor with Jilliann.

Chase went to 4.5yrs before he weaned. For someone who doesn't know what it's like to nurse a child past a year, the idea of nursing a preschooler might be shocking. Having researched not only the benefits but also traditions and biology pertinent to breastfeeding beyond a year, I felt this was the right choice.

I'm not saying it's all roses and lovingly gazing into each others eyes. There are times I wished I had taken the path of least resistance and formula fed. It's easier to have someone else take that responsibility, easier to substitute yourself with other things and people. But when I thought about it, it really made me feel good to look at my child and know that I had something unique to give him...and now her too.

It's easy to put all the blames of parenting challenges on breastfeeding your toddler and preschooler. And yes, it does present it's own unique issues. Pulling of shirts, calling out for nursies in public places, feeling like a snack machine as your child goes about the daily routine. What's harder is remembering parenting is in and of itself a challenge. It's not for the meek and weak. Taking an easy way out just so you can live as close to your pre-child life as possible is doing a disservice to yourself and your child.

If the thought of nursing a child more than a few months old, or even a year old seems repugnant to you, do yourself a favor. Ask a mom who has been there. Keep an open mind, realize that if extended nursing was so wrong, the American Academy of Pediatrics wouldn't have changed their policy statement and specifically mentioned nursing beyond the age of three. The World Health Orginization wouldn't reccomend nursing at least two years...and speaking of the world, the average weaning age out there is 4yo. We have to ask ourselves what do they know, perhaps instinctually, that we don't. We like to think of the US as the great melting pot. In truth we are an ethnocentric culture that, on the whole, can't even imagine that we might be wrong when our average weaning age is 6mos. Years shorter than much of the rest of the world.

What are we taking from our children that they deserve? What are we withholding from ourselves in the name of 'progress'?