Breastfeeding an older baby at WDW

[Carrie772]

When people are passionate about their beliefs, BF or non-BF, you cannot change their minds on an emotional level. Facts are the only things that can penetrate their emotions.

Yelling via Disboards does not help.

I loved BFing all 3 but I know that arguing didn't work. Not even with my own parents.

I had to say things like, "My pediatrician says it's best and that we can do it as long as we like. Be it 3 months or 3 years."

Now, who's doing the double digit ****ie, I mean boogie, with me?

 

[mommy22gurlz]

Now, who's doing the double digit ****ie, I mean boogie, with me?

Can I do the triple digit????? (almost double though!!)

 

[sleepyone]

Ok, strong advicate for BREASTFEEDING IN PUBLIC!!! It's what need to be done, this NEEDS to be a NORM, it's far from it with shamless breastfeeding number what they are in America... And i think it's mainly b/c kids aren't brought up with breastfeeding as the norm, i dont' slam a mom for not breastfeeding i think it's a person choice but they should be suportive of moms that choice it b/c it is the BEST thing for a baby/child. Why should you have to find some where private to breastfeed, the laws say that a women has a right to breastfeed a child ANYWHERE the mom is aloud to be including public parks, public pool, restarants, ect, ect, ect!!! I will be breastfeeding my DD who will be 12 months when we are there anywhere i happen to be when she gets hungery be that while we are enjoying dinner, while we are on a ride, while we are in line, while we are sitting watching the parades... I don't cover her with a blanket over her head that's just dumb in the heat and humidty of FL, and she would have a fit! And i would do that same thing if she were, 15 months, 20 months or 24 months ( WHAT THE APP RECOMENDS NURSING TILL !!!! ). I might use the baby centers if it's really hot and dd needs a break from the heat but won't find one every time she needs to nurse, she doesn't really eat much talbe foods and nurses about 8-10 times a day so we'll be nursing where ever, hope no one has anything to say to me about it b/c sorry but it's what my breasts are for and come on you see more then that a the beach or pool then you see of me while i'm breastfeeding...

Yeah, what she said!

 

[BlsdMama]

Where do people see all these exposed breasts? I look for nursing moms and I never see skin.

Isn't that the truth?! I lived in CA for four years and never saw anyone nursing and that place is covered in skin.

Lisa,

I'd simply explain your son has autism.

Let it be said again, I've nursed six children for various amounts of time for as little as two weeks up to two years. Nursing in public can be done modestly. It takes practice, but it can be done. Why must it be a don't nurse in public or a flash everyone proposition? I don't think many have a problem with a mama nursing a little person as long as her entire breast isn't plopped out for all to goggle at.

On the topic of nursing bras - I LIVE in mine. Of course I've been pregnant and nursing for all but about 20 months of the time dh and I have been married, lol! So.... a GOOD nursing bra is a must if you're heavy. A quick attach/detach is very handy. I love my Wacoals. I get them off of Ebay cuz I just can't stand paying $52-$65 for a bra. I can't imagine being heavy on top and being able to wear a cute little stretchy bra! (I wish!) Paints an ugly picture, huh?

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I asked politely and JUST asked that she not BF where she was obvious. As for the others that are flaming me...BACK OFF. I have a friend who BFs her DD in my house. My DD understands now what that is. But at the edge of a public pool was not the place to BF a child. I never asked for any child to be treated differently.

I know you asked politely, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a certain amount of modesty from mothers bfip.

What bothers me though, is this expectation that a nursing mom is going to somehow offend someone and that people seem to feel the need to tell her not to. It happens every time someone asks a question about bf; someone will respond with some variation of "please, just not where my kids will see it".

Now, most nursing moms are discreet in public and their breasts are not visible. Most kids who don't know about bf won't even notice most women bf'ing, they'd think it was just a mom holding a sleeping baby. I live in an area where practically everyone breastfeeds, few hide under blankets and I can honestly say I've never noticed any skin. Do I think no woman has ever exposed her entire breast while bf'ing? No, I'm sure it happens, but I'm sure it's the exception, rather than the rule.

So, why are all bf'ing moms painted with that broad brush? To me, that is as offensive as projecting any other stereotype onto a group of people. If an Italian woman noted on this board that she was going to be eating at XYZ restaurant, would anyone respond to her "well, just please don't chew with your mouth open, I saw an Italian woman chewing with her mouth open in a restaurant once and it was disgusting"?? No, no one would ever think of saying such a thing. Why is it OK to similarly stereotype a bf'ing mom?

 

[tracilicious]

On the topic of nursing bras - I LIVE in mine. Of course I've been pregnant and nursing for all but about 20 months of the time dh and I have been married, lol! So.... a GOOD nursing bra is a must if you're heavy. A quick attach/detach is very handy. I love my Wacoals. I get them off of Ebay cuz I just can't stand paying $52-$65 for a bra. I can't imagine being heavy on top and being able to wear a cute little stretchy bra! (I wish!) Paints an ugly picture, huh?

What's a wacoal? Since the new baby I've exceeded the size range for my old bra and I need a good style.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

Wow - so if one chooses to formula feed they do not have the inner desire to give their children what is best

I think you know that she was just responding to another post which said:

The report stated that women actually fulfill some type of inner "desire" by breastfeeding and that it satisfied their needs.

I'm sure you'd agree that this is a completely ridiculous and offensive statement. Do you expect bf'ers not to respond? Should we just allow such asinine statements to be made without rebuttal?

Funny thing is, between this and other posts in this thread, I thought the comments were already condescending to those who breastfeed. Guess it depends on which side of the fence you're on, what comments sound rude and/or condescending.

Oh, and btw, I bf'ed one child, ff'ed the other, and I think we should all encourage each other, too.

 

[BlsdMama]

What frightens me the most about this discussion is the amount of time I've utterly WASTED responding to people who won't admit that breastfeeding is best and that we should be modest and considerate of others while we should be WELCOME (not just our RIGHT) to nurse in public. I wouldn't want anyone to be forced to fix their childrens' meals and feed them in a nasty bathroom stall. And, *that* is what it comes down to. Beyond that, I think I've spent too much valuable time online today that could have been better spent interacting with my kiddos and doing school! These boards are great. I'm glad I found them this week. They've been very valuable in helping me with my Disney biz.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I'll tell you the bond between a very loving mother and child is different between a nursed child and a non-nursed child. You can post on here that that is absolutely not true... but you can't post with any credibility. I've done both.

You know what? I've done both, too, and I can say that you aren't posting with any credibility. You can post about your own personal experience, and I believe you when you say that you didn't bond as well with your bottle-fed child(ren). But you absolutely cannot assume that everyone else's experience was the same.

Take mine: There is no difference in the bonds I have with my two kids. In fact, my feeding time felt more special with my bottle-fed daughter, because she could look straight up at me, make eye contact and I could see in her eyes that she was responding to my words, strokes, etc. My breastfed daughter, with her head buried in my breast and her eyes closed, well, it hardly felt like she even noticed I was there.

 

[lillygator]

I think you know that she was just responding to another post which said:


I'm sure you'd agree that this is a completely ridiculous and offensive statement. Do you expect bf'ers not to respond? Should we just allow such asinine statements to be made without rebuttal?

Funny thing is, between this and other posts in this thread, I thought the comments were already condescending to those who breastfeed. Guess it depends on which side of the fence you're on, what comments sound rude and/or condescending.

Oh, and btw, I bf'ed one child, ff'ed the other, and I think we should all encourage each other, too.

I got lost - what are you saying is the "completely ridiculous and offensive statement".....

 

[AnaheimGirl]

I got lost - what are you saying is the "completely ridiculous and offensive statement".....

This one:

The report stated that women actually fulfill some type of inner "desire" by breastfeeding and that it satisfied their needs.

 

[lillygator]

thanks - !

 

[welovedis]

Where do people see all these exposed breasts? I look for nursing moms and I never see skin.

I can count on 2 hands the number that we have seen fairly exposed in just the last month or so. We attend alot of different events over the summer at the library or the local children's museum and there are many women BFIP at most places. We don't go searching them out or looking for them but we do see them, don't comment or stare ourselves but my DS notices everything while being in his own world at the same time, hard to explain, but that's him, lol!

For example, the most recent time was in our library during an event for older children. A mom brought along the rest of her children and the 2nd youngest, went up to her mom during the event, lifted her shirt and started to nurse, entire breast out in the open. Most of the children were within about 10 feet of her and the event was for children from 8-11 years of age. My DS wasn't the only one staring that time and many parents had to remind the kid to put their eyes back on the instructor. This type of situation is pretty common around here, I don't know if it is in other areas but that has been our experience.


Thanks for those who commented on how to respond, I never know if I should say something or not, esp if the mom seems bothered by him staring and makes a comment of her own. I appreciate the advice.

 

[grlzmom]

First, to the original poster. Go, nurse your baby and have a wonderful time at Disney!!

I am mom to seven, six of whom have been nursed and all self weaned before 12 months, including a set of premature twins. I am a nurse and my husband is an md, and it is a fact that the nutritional content if breast milk is superior to formula. And, there are definately reasons (allergies, diabetes, etc.) for women to nurse their babies well through their toddler years.

However, I don't agree that breastfeeding is always the best choice for every mom and baby. I also don't agree that the bond between breastfed babies and moms is any better or different than bottle fed babies and moms. My oldest daughter who was bottlefed exclusively loves and is loved as much as her siblings.

I think that moms who choose to breastfeed OR bottlefeed should be supported in their decision, one way or another. It is a personal decision, not that of the public at large. Moms who choose to nurse should be encouraged and supported in doing that where they are comfortable, not made to hide because someone else might be uncomfortable with a baby being nursed in public. And, moms who choose to bottle feed should not be harrassed because they chose not to breastfeed for whatever reason. They are both moms nuturing their babies, just doing it in different ways, doing what is best for them.

Being a mom is hard enough without others criticizing our choices. My friends and I who are all on COMPLETELY different paths of parenthood try to be SUPPORTIVE when we can and QUIET when we can't. It works really well

And, we have totally found that simple explanations work best when having to explain something to our children that they might not have seen before. Children take in alot from their parents. If we don't make a huge deal out of it, they wont either.

 

[welovedis]

Jeanne-
Excellent post, very well said!

 

[Julia M]

I'll tell you the bond between a very loving mother and child is different between a nursed child and a non-nursed child. You can post on here that that is absolutely not true... but you can't post with any credibility. I've done both. We are a very attached family. We co-sleep, sling, etc., but the bond between a nursing mother and child is very, very, very different than a child that can take a bottle from just anyone.
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I'll admit... I'm shocked.

I haven't finished reading this whole thread, so maybe there have been more comments, but this is so offensive. I didn't nurse my first, nursed my second about 12 months and my third until almost 3. So I CAN post with credibility.

In fact, because oldest ds was an "easy baby", it was easy to be attached and close to him. Second child was a very difficult baby. It was much harder to be "bonded" when you don't get any sleep, when the baby is fussy, when the baby wants to nurse so frequently that you never have a break.

I am just trying to emphasize that for MYSELF (and I'm sure it's true for many other people), breastfeeding is not the differential in bonding. If it was for you, well, than that's that. But to imply your experience is indicative of everyone, well, that's just wrong.

As for the orginal OP's question.....I still think 15 months is pretty young. Use some common sense and discretion, and you'll be fine.

Have a great trip.

Julia

 

[lillygator]

Jeanne - thanks for your wonderful post.

No matter our choices we are all MOMS here....that is the most incredible job in the world....!!

 

[purplepixie]

This thread has been very interesting to read. I bf both of my daughters. My oldest self-weaned when she was 9m. My second developed a biting habit and it became VERY stressful and destructive to continue at 5m. I bonded with both but don't think it would have been different with a bottle. I was very shy about bf in public. That was me. I have seen others who don't/didn't have that problem. I think there is a line between the right to breast feed in public and indecent exposure IN OUR SOCIETY. It is illegal to expose your self when not breast feeding. I don't think you need to hide in a corner to bf but I also don't think that you should be (or your child) yanking up your shirt to expose yourself before or after the feeding.

The pros and cons about bf can be argued forever. I know people that wanted to but couldn't. I also know people who never considered it. That's neither here nor there. This was about breast feeding in public. I think it can be done comfortably AND modestly without too much work. I think the "who cares what other people think" attitude is just destructive.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I think the "who cares what other people think" attitude is just destructive.

But basically--the law supports that. In general speak--it really doesn't matter what other people think if a mom nurses her child and when and where and for how long she does it. One should not be afraid to do something that they are comfortable doing and it is legal to do so and morally correct as well (compared to other societal issues and not formula feeding).

Saying "who cares what people think" is no more destructive than someone taking the time to tell her that she needs to be careful if she chooses to nurse in public.

I don't know why people assume that nursing moms in general do not try to be discrete (based on the need to say "be discrete" "consider others" and the more negative approaches of "don't flash anyone" and "keep it covered" not mentioned on this particular thread).

Kind of like someone asking about the ease of eating in a restuarant--and you feel compelled to remind them to chew with their mouth closed. You can nurse---just don't show us. . The law protects mom and baby--not the "witnesses".

 

[purplepixie]

I know the law supports nursing in public. I also know that most women are fairly discrete when they do. There are some however that will hike their shirt up with nothing under it and leave it there while they nurse. I've seen it. They are the exception but they are there. The "who cares what they think" attitude I was referring to was in general, not just toward breast feeding. I understand we all need to do stuff for us and there are laws protecting it but living in a society with other people there has to be consideration for others. There are lots of things I could do by law but it may not make me the most popular with those around me. If we want to relate with others we have to take into consideration how they see us. I love to see mothers breast feed but I don't like seeing women flash there breasts when a little care could have prevented it.