Search Results for: blog breastfeeding in public

AAP: Breastfeeding for 2 Months Lowers Risk of SIDS

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), citing a study, states that breastfeeding for at least two months decreases the risk of SIDS. This information can help lower the rate of infant mortality. SIDS is an acronym for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SIDS is an unexpected death of a seemingly healthy infant that is less than a year old which happens while the baby is sleeping. The syndrome is also called “crib death” because the infants often die in their cribs. The AAP pointed out a study that was titled “Duration of Breastfeeding and Risk of SIDS: An Individual Participant Data … Continue reading →

Breastfeeding Mothers Protest in Kentucky

I have a friend who likes to tell a story about breastfeeding. She had taken her daughter to the hospital to see a doctor. While her husband staying in with the daughter, she took her youngest to the lobby to breastfeed her. A lady who worked at the hospital (I don’t know if it was nurse or not) came over to her and told her they had a special place for her to breastfeed. She was horrified when the hospital lady took her to the ladies room. There was a chair there, but she likes to say ‘Who would want … Continue reading →

Breastfeeding in Public

Ladies and gentlemen, allow my to introduce you to a concept that has been providing for the human race since the beginning of time: Breastfeeding. Without it… none of us would be here. “But I was formula fed” I hear you saying from the back. Sure… but what about your mother? Your mother’s mother? Your great great grandfather bill? If you’re really honest then you’ll realize that you don’t have to go back too many generations to find a relative above you on that big family tree who was sustained through infancy by a breast. The secondary part, of course, … Continue reading →

Fired for Breastfeeding?

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Imagine this: you work at a restaurant and during your break you head outside. Dad brings your newborn baby to the restaurant and you breastfeed your infant in the car. When your boss finds out, he tells you that you cannot breastfeed during your breaks. You explain that you need to work and you can’t afford to stay on leave until you are done nursing. Unfortunately, your boss is not willing to compromise and you’re fired. Sounds outrageous, right? That’s exactly what happened to Marina Chavez in Los Angeles. Fortunately for Marina, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission ruled that … Continue reading →

The Breastfeeding Card

While many states protect women from getting arrested on indecency charges for breastfeeding (not all states do), there are very few states that actually declare it a civil right to breastfeed your child. Fortunately, some progressive states are starting to institute such laws. Washington state has become the latest state to declare, effective today, that women have a civil right to breastfeed in public. Lawmakers who sponsored the bill want women to feel just as comfortable with breastfeeding as they would pulling a baby bottle out of a diaper bag. Unfortunately, breastfeeding moms are made to feel ashamed and insulted … Continue reading →

Do You Let Your Child Run Around Naked in Public?

As much of the nation bakes in the hot, sticky summer heat many youngsters have found a simple way to cool off—-strip! This revealing rite of passage was the subject of a recent article in the New York Times. The tongue-in-cheek piece addressed the appropriateness of children running around naked in public places. It also asked, “How much nakedness is too much?” and questioned why seeing a streaking tot is something that raises eyebrows. I smirked numerous times while reading the article because not 24 hours prior I allowed my own preschooler to run around naked at our neighborhood pool. … Continue reading →

A Mother’s View from the Pool: Breastfeeding by the Water

It’s that time of the year again… time for a new season of “A Mother’s View from the Pool.” Last year I kvetched about kids wearing Crocs in the pool, babies wearing teeny-weeny bikinis, and parents, who use lifeguards as their personal babysitters, while they chat on their cellphones, read their rag mags, and work on their tans. This year we are fortunate not to have to make the daily drive to our local city pool. By a rare stroke of luck the fees we pay to live around here were actually used to fund something worthwhile (besides snow removal): … Continue reading →

How to Find Places to Nurse in Public

When it comes to breastfeeding, one of the concerns that often comes up is nursing in public. Different moms have different opinions about nursing in public, how and where to do it. Where you nurse may depend on your own comfort level, whether or not your baby is easily distracted and what local breastfeeding laws are in place that protect your right to feed your baby in public. Most cities and states have laws that protect a mother’s right to nurse anywhere where children are welcome, although a few areas still do not, such as my own home state of … Continue reading →

Breastfeeding Rates Are at an All Time High

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According to the CDC, about three quarters of new moms at least attempt breastfeeding for a little while. This is good news for the CDC, good news for hospitals and doctors and good news for newborns! Education The CDC attributes the rise in breastfeeding to several factors. The first is various education campaigns to get out the news that breast milk is the best possible foods for infants. Some of these campaigns have been very controversial. . .such as the ad that showed a pregnant woman riding a mechanical bull. The message was clear that you were putting your child … Continue reading →

Free Formula Bags Undermine Breastfeeding

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Quite awhile ago, Pattie Hughes, our pregnancy guru wrote an article about the “breastfeeding support bag” that hospitals give out and how it undermines breastfeeding. A few of the commenters responded to her blog saying that it’s not a big deal. After all, you and I are aware that this is a marketing ploy and no one would say that a mother shouldn’t have a choice as to whether or not to breastfeed her child. Right? Well a new study released in the American Journal of Public Health says that passing out diaper bags with free formula in them does … Continue reading →