BlogHer - Fish And Boobies And Blankets, Oh My - Comments

Glad to live in Europe

AmiExpat — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 15:58:50 -0500

These stories always come out right before I'm due to fly to the US for a visit! I don't know what I'd do if anyone every said something to me. I mean really, they'd rather have a screaming kid to deal with???

Perhaps we should ban

nakedanarchists — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:36:11 -0500

Perhaps we should ban nursing in public places and treat the world to grumpy children on airplanes and in public places? I can't believe this happened to a nursing mother in this day and age.

On the other hand, I sure would have loved if my flight attendent recently from Las Vegas to Chicago had offered my seat mate a blanket. I was getting pretty sick of her exposed, oversized midriff with belly piercing and too small, too tight shirt. Much rather be seated next to a tranquil mother/baby moment.

http://nakedanarchists.wordpress.com

You can be funny, too! I love this post

Vered — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:11:07 -0500

I already chimed in on your own blog, but I'll say it again: I don't know what I would have done if a flight attendant did that to me when I was still nursing.

On your blog, you ask: how come these things still happen? It's a good question. The very idea that the act of nursing a baby is shameful, that it should be covered and hidden, that there is anything SEXUAL about it (because the only reason to cover it and hide it is because breasts are ALWAYS perceived as sexual and our society is uncomfortable, though preoccupied with, sex) is absolutely ridiculous.
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Fish And Boobies And Blankets, Oh My

Her Bad Mother — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:03:24 -0500

Hey, so guess which of the above three things - fish, boobies and blankets - are actually recommended as good for babies' health and development?

If you guessed blankets - YOU'RE WRONG. Blankets do keep babies warm, that's true - but so do wraps and little sweaters and the embrace of their mothers' arms. Blankets don't actually contribute anything important to baby's health. And, if blankets are draped over babies' heads - say, when they're nursing - this also does not contribute anything to their health. Indeed, some might say that it is a potential detractor of health, seeing as some babies refuse to nurse - quite understandably - while their heads are shoved under smothering drapes of fabric. So. Don't let anyone tell you - especially not an insistent flight attendant on a cross-country flight - that everything would just be better if you put a blanket over your baby's head. Old wives' tale, that one.

Boobies, on the other hand: indisputably good for babies' health and development. We already knew this, of course, but a recent Harvard Medical School study - as reported at The Daily Green - has reconfirmed it: "longer breastfeeding is linked to better physical and cognitive development in infants."

Which, again, we already knew, basically, but it's nice to have it reconfirmed. Especially when there are still many difficulties that women face with breastfeeding. Such as, for example, being told that they should cover up while doing so. As I was, just last week, on a flight from Kelowna, British Columbia to Toronto, while travelling home after dealing with a serious family crisis, and also while struggling with depression. It was an experience that rattled me, and exactly the sort of experience that might have caused me to quit breastfeeding - which I have difficulties with - were this not my second child and were I not comfortable with my meds. The Harvard Medical School study reconfirms what an unfortunate thing it is when mothers are discouraged in any way from nursing. If a woman chooses to not nurse, or can't nurse, that's a different story - but if a woman who wants to nurse and can nurse is discouraged from doing so because some people believe that there is something shameful about the nursing breast, that - to abuse a pun - sucks.

Of course, for anyone who reads the rest of the press release, there always this: fish. Fish is good for babies, too - if consumed by pregnant women and lactating mothers - and nobody ever tries to shove fish under a blanket. Still, if nurisng mothers are continually shamed for nursing, no babies are going to get that Omega-3 goodness, so... we're back to the problem of blankets.

They can be BAD for babies' and mothers' health and well-being. Let's give them a rest, shall we?