Unsupportive friends/family (mini vent)

mommy2b08

Tonight I had a friend tell me I "have" to stop breastfeeding because DD refuses a bottle. She thinks it is better for DD to get "really, really starving" so she'll take formula than to be perfectly content breastfeeding and not be willing to take a bottle. Umm, hello! I'm a SAHM, I ENJOY feeding DD, and she is thriving. We started solids over the weekend. My mom says to me "well now she will finally be happy." Sigh. I guess all those times when I'm nursing her and she smiles at me with milk running down her chin she must not have been "happy."

I knew I would get lots of opinions from people when I decided to cloth diaper. My friends think it's hilarious - a phase I'll surely grow out of. This, I can handle. I just hate when other people try to discourage you from doing what you know is best for your child. I tell them they can do what works for them with their own children and we'll do what works for us with our DD. Sorry for the vent, I feel better now. Thanks for listening!

CABunny

Gah!  How annoying.

SapphyrEyes

As long as you enjoy BFing your DD continue to do it.  Some of us can appreciate your situation because we encounter the same thing.  FWIW, I BFed DS for just over a year exclusively without following the "advice" of our family who would have liked me to stop much earlier. And DS is still BFing when he signs for it in addition to naps and nightime.  Enjoy it, because it doesn't last that long in the grand scheme of things.  :-)

andrealynn0707

Yeah, I would not be taking the advice of anyone who told me to refuse to feed my daughter. That is whack like crack.

papagena

I was going to say that's just crazy talk, but I like andrea's 'that is whack like crack' much better.  WTH would someone think denying a perfectly healthy & happy 6 mo old breast milk is a good thing?  I bet that's what they did back in the olden days - the cave women bound up their chests, denied their LO's food and sent their cave-hubbies to rock-Walmart for some dino-similac.  Sorry - I'm tired.  Why is the natural, evolutionized over millions of years way somehow inferior to what man comes up with in a possibly sterile factory?  People...

thejennigirl

I get the same comments (or rather, I got them).

It's tough, but just turn the other cheek.  Someone is always going to have something to say about your parenting choices.  I recently was criticized by my family for down-sizing Korra's pile of toys that was hiding her room and for expecting my 7 yr old to feed the dog.

mommy2b08

Thanks guys. I should add that I'm definately not anti-formula - it works great for a lot of people! I just don't see any reason for us to quit BFing so she can "learn the skill of taking a bottle." I'm just really tired tonight and needed to whine a little.

babyluv617

My friend's son would not take a bottle from 6 mo on. He's over a year now and just happy and healthy. She did not SAH. He waited for her to come home for lunch and after work to eat. It worked for them.

And, I def would not take the advice of anyone who told me to starve my child. 

hamilton.ja

Ugh, some people do not understand that it is just not their business how you raise your children. So long as they are happy and healthy and in no way neglected they need to butt out and stay out.

For what it is worth - my DS is a happy and healthy 19 month old who never once took a bottle. He was EBF until almost 6 months. He takes a sippy cup of water, never even BM from a cup.  He will also drink orange juice which we give to him to help with his anemia when he takes his iron drops. But cow's milk is a no go (we rarely even offer it, he doesn't need it) and he's never had a single drop of formula minus one time he picked up a friend's cup and had a sip and promptly spat it all out and acted like he had been poisoned.

Good luck dealing with them. I totally know the feeling. A lot of people I know are shocked I'm still BFing and my family keeps commenting about how he'll have to wean soon or he'll go to college this way. Ummm, not so much but thanks for your opinion!

Printergirl

The comments will continue in whatever stage your child is in as EVERYONE knows better than the mom and dad. It's just a fact.

MIL constantly told me to give DS formula as he was hungry. I just responded 'He is, that's why I'm feeding him'. She called last week to see how he was doing and I quipped 'Growth spurt last week, he's up another pound!'

Then it was 'You won't make it pas the 1st poopy diaper' My response 'We'll see won't we but DH and I will be changing his diapers so it's for us to worry about'.

We are starting him on solids and when I mentioned he was going to eat actual fruit and veggies most of the time over jarred she was floored again.  Can't wait till my sister sees me mash a banana rather than open a jar as she 'doesn't have time for that'.

Ah, families. So much fun sometimes!