As someone who chose to breastfeed until LO self weaned, it's upsetting to hear someone who supposedly supports bf threaten such ridiculous consequences for formula feeding. It's absurd. I always was I awe of my friends who formula fed with all the hard work they had to put into feeding their children and respect them immensely for it. It's the harder option what with cleaning, sterilizing, going down to the kitchen in the middle of the night while baby is screaming, lugging around bottles and formula while out and about, it's work! Not to mention the cost! The truth is that people who breastfeed should be supportive of all mothers no matter how they feed their babies. If there's anyone to preach to it should be the doctors and nurses who give very very very very bad advice regarding BF. In fact everyone I know who took advice from a doctor or a nurse actually gave up BF within a month. They load you up with firmula samplesbat the hospital, advise you to supplement with formula and b
Bfeed on a schedule and that pretty much guarantees that your milk supply will lessen. In fact I cringe when I hear women say that they dried up or that they didn't have enough milk because except for a very few rare cases all women are capable of BF. But I would never blame a woman for thinking that if that's the only advice she's gotten from a doc.

Likewise there is lots of prejudice on the other side of this don't forget. I can't yell you how many people accused me of starving my baby, of doing something indecent, of being asked to nurse in the bathroom, and of being laughed at for coddling my son. I wish everyone would respect parenting choices and if anyone has a problem with formula feeding take it up with the real culprits: the medical community.

I completely agree that there should be more public support for breastfeeding, like the example you gave of going to the bathroom to breastfeed. I think its disgusting to expect a mother to sit on a closed toilet, smelling other people sh!t, literally, while she BF. I wouldn't do it while BFing, and I think people need to get over seeing a breast. I've felt this way even before I was pregnant with baby #1. Also I think if a mother chooses to do extended breastfeed, that as much as she is not entitled to preach to mothers that don't breastfeed past the one year mark, I do not feel others are entitled to comment on her choice either. The sooner people stop trying to push their personal choices (BF, not BF, co-sleeping, crib sleeping whatever) on each other, the happier we will all be.

Seeing as you are in NYC, I would expect your hospitals all have lactation consultants. I know all of ours do, and when a mother says she is BF, an appointment is automatically set up. I'm not sure why anyone you know that was commited to BF was not meeting with a lactation consultant while in the hospital? Its odd that you are just getting fly by night advice from staff randomly, but even so...

I also think you are overly generalizing, as I've gotten plenty of accurate advice regarding BFing from the nurses and OB when I was in having my kids, and I still met with the lactation consultant. I have never been advised to BF on a schedule or given formula without asking or told to supplement *unnecessarily*. Actually *I* asked for formula my first night in the hospital with baby #2, because my milk had not come in and I was raw from "feeding" him and he was still not satisfied. He took a little bit, went to sleep, I got some sleep and guess what?? I exclusively BF him from there on out. You have what, one kid? So you've only done this once. The nurses that see 1000s of women going through it know that in the beginning at the hospital that its not the end of the world to use a little formula after attempting to BF because sometimes its helpful until milk comes in. I was advised this with my first and actually did not use formula in the hospital, but did seveal weeks later for other reasons. The point I'm making is maybe with your one kid you didn't need to supplement at all in the hospital, but some women do and it doesnt affect their BF, and I wouldnt expect you to know that, but an experienced nurse would.

The fact that you take your small experience and generalize it to all doctors and nurses is ridiculous, but expected. Most people lump us all into one group when they want someone to blame, you are by no means the first! I'm not sure what the medical community has to do with FF, as its a mother's choice. But I guess that's your opinion after one kid and talking to some friends of yours and their experiences...really quite a small sample in the grand scheme of the entire medical community, isnt it?? :lol: