To my kids, breastfeeding isn’t weird, gross, funny, sexual, or shameful.  It’s normal.  It’s how babies eat.

(Even the cat likes it when humans breastfeed)

And they’re right.  Nursing is not a new fad, or what hippies do - it’s how mammals feed their young.  A bottle is the alternative, not the norm.  Formula from a bottle is what people use when nursing absolutely won’t work out.  Carmen has been heard to say “Aw, that poor baby has to use a bottle…”  I’ve never said that in front of her - she just has a basic and well-founded understanding that boobs are where food for small humans come from, and how they prefer to drink it.

It started the “easy” way… I nursed both of my daughters until they self weaned.  Easy is in quotes because it wasn’t always easy.  My mother had not breastfed, and neither did Tyme’s mom, and we didn’t have anyone else in the family who could be a teacher.  We learned about it from midwives, lactation consultants, the internet, and books.  But, thankfully, my daughters now have something of an expert in the family, someone to help them out in the first, often difficult, days of motherhood.  Someone who will not judge, won’t be squeamish, will be an excellent cheerleader, who can commiserate, laugh and cry right along with her daughter.  Someone who will have LLL on speed dial, just in case.

When Carolyn was born, a two year old Carmen watched me nurse her with acute interest.  She even asked to try feeding again (without success; she had forgotten how to latch).  I would pump extra and give it to her in a cup, which made her (and me) very happy.  She knew that if Carolyn did get a bottle, it was because I had pumped and put it there, usually so that Tyme could bottle feed her if I had to be out of town.  Carmen would take her own stuffed animals or dolls and place them at her chest so that they could eat, too, and we smiled and encouraged her by saying stuff like “I’m so glad that Baby Leopard is feeding, too!”

Carolyn won’t get this same exposure from me, but I’m not afraid to point to a nursing mom in public and say “Oh, look, that baby is getting some lunch!”  If it’s a friend we’re visiting, my kids get an up close and personal view of baby eating, depending on the personal comfort level of the Mom, of course.

If I ever hear anyone, a kid or an adult, say anything negative about breastfeeding, I will (politely) correct them, especially if they are within earshot of my children.

This is the best foundation I can give my daughters.  Should they choose to have children of their own, they will have a better chance of success of nursing on their own terms.  Using only positive, happy words to describe a breastfeeding mom and baby makes the act normal and beautiful for everyone involved.

Please don’t post a comment on why your baby (or you) consumed formula instead of breastmilk….  If you were one of the moms that tried, and just couldn’t, or had to supplement, then you have my deepest condolences.  I know that I was lucky to be able to exclusively nurse my daughters until they were done.  If you just opted to use formula instead of nursing because you thought that it was gross, weird, or inconvenient, then save your comments for another post that I will likely make in the future.  This post isn’t about that - it’s about normalizing nursing for our kids’ generation.