Breastfeeding was very unpopular for a time…
“In the mid 50’s only about 20% of U.S. babies were breast-fed. Nursing rates had dropped sharply after WWII with the wider availability of formula.”
It’s crazy to think about how unpopular breastfeeding was for a big chunk of the 1900’s. My Mom didn’t nurse any of her five babies, few did in the 50’s and 60’s.
If you felt as blessed when you were breastfeeding your babies as I did, you’ll especially enjoy watching this video about the women who founded the La Leche League:
- Did you know that I'm a contributing author in this new book by Lisa Hendey from CatholicMom.com? Click here to get it: The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul
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- Read my other post about breastfeeding (joys & struggles), including my personal story, and also what to do if you really are unable to nurse your baby and you don’t want to feed them the JUNK commercial formulas out there right now. (Seriously, they are so bad. Can you even pronounce most of those words? Do you know they are a super-processed “food”, and most are full of soy?) Instead make this homemade formula!
- All about feeding your baby
- Breastfeeding & pumping – how did that go for you?
- Infertility issues – yep, I struggled with that one, too…
- Natural Mothering
- A new study on the benefits of breastfeeding from the Huffington Post
- Read this interesting thumbs down book review of the La Leche League's book, “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.”
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Note: The picture above is on our youngest child’s baptism day, it’s such a special picture to me!
Angie says
WOW! All the health benifits. And to think I breast-fed my first because it was FREE! I learned of the benifits at that time and breast-fed all 3 of my kids. No allergies (like my mom & brother), no asthma & allergies (like the ex-husband ~ father of kid #1). The doctor barely knows us (we go once a year ~ that’s it!). I have truly been blessed with a healthy family. Now, God is granting me the tools – via all you so-called-crazy-people-on-the-internet – to keep my family healthy. Thank you so much.
People say, “You’re weird.” My response, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
Gregg says
Okay, I know it isn’t the norm for men to comment on breastfeeding, but I agree with you so entirely on this issue, Kelly. Thank God! Our eldest son, Scott, was born at 30 weeks and weighed just over 3 lbs. He spent the first month of his life in the NICU and PICU. During Hallee’s pregnancy, I had been reading about how harmful unfermented soy can be, especially to infants. The first thing I insisted was that he be given no soy of any kind. The nurses used to call babies like Scott “wimpy white boys” but, let me tell you, Scott was a little paratrooper just like his daddy. In my heart, I know he did so well because of — a lot of prayer — and his mother’s milk. Thank you, Kelly, for bringing this issue to light. It never hurts to be reminded of how perfect God’s design is for our health and well being. God Bless. Gregg
Sustainable Eats says
I loved Sally’s review. It’ s not wonder so many babies have reflux these days – the mother’s diet is completely wrong and then when the baby develops reflux (likely from soy/corn/GM/crap in the mom’s diet) the doctor tells the mom the baby is allergic to her breastfmilk and puts the baby on a dairy free formula which is soy/corn/GM/crap. And then when the baby doesn’t respond they put the baby on higher and higher doses or combinations of multiple reflux meds and say, ooh look, the medication solved the problem! And now we know baby will never have cow’s milk so we’ll keep feeding them soy/corn/GM/crap until the outgrow the cow’s milk allergy but by then the toddler or preschooler will have eczema/allergies/asthma from being fed the wrong diet and meds his entire life.
Shannon says
eh, I don’t care for that review at WPF. I think they are missing the big picture. While I definitely agree the LLL book is off on maternal nutrition, WPF is discussing breastfeeding as a nutritional/food source only and leaving behind the very important (if not MORE important) developmental,emotional,and human relationship aspects of breastfeeding. Mothers are people, not living bottles. Breastfeeding isn’t just about feeding the body it’s about feeding the whole person.
Joelle says
I love seeing other mothers supporting breastfeeding. I breastfed both of my daughters for one year exclusively (no bottle). I wasn’t against a bottle completely, but after they caught onto breastfeeding they wouldn’t have anything to do with a bottle or pacifier. It was a wonderful experience and I would never take back those close cuddle moments. However, most people did & do look at me like I am from outer space when I tell them that I breastfed my kids for a year. Too bad they don’t know what they are missing.
Beck says
I nursed my son in 1997 for about a year. I can’t imagine all the fuss with bottles and formula, it was so simple to always be prepared with breast feeding. We were very lucky that my son had no trouble getting started- just hooked him up to the breast the minute he was born and that was that. Interestingly, I never could get the hang of pumping milk. My mom seemed kind of surprised and proud that I breast fed in public- like she would have never had the nerve, but was impressed that I did. While I did not use the LLL, I know that it was their work that created the atmosphere we lived in where breast feeding was acceptable and expected.
Brenda says
I breastfed all three of my children (1979, 1982 and 1985) and simply loved it. I was so thankful for the LLL as my mom didn’t nurse us for any significant amount of time, maybe 2 weeks for some of us. How sad. Reading all these comments made me chuckle to myself as I thought, breastfeeding is good for everyone involved and the ultimate “green!” LOL! And I love to see my daughter-in-law nursing her little ones…..BTW, Kelly, I love your blog. THanks so much!
Anita says
I’m so grateful my mum breast fed the 5 of us, & led the way in preparing & serving real foods at home. As we were living overseas in the Pacific islands when we had our first child, I learnt to breast feed him by reading the Australian Nursing Mothers’ handbooks, & got through all the little things (eg. mastitis) along the way, without many problems.
Of course, the local island mums were a good example of breast feeding too;)
Our 3 kids were breast fed for nearly 2 years each, & I’m so glad to have given them a head-start-on-health in their lives. ????
Alex at A Moderate Life says
Oh this is so great! My mother is a midwife and my dad a doctor and i was lucky to be breastfed for a while as a baby until my mother had a life threatening allergic reaction to shellfish and i went on the bottle…my grandmother nursed 7 kids in the early 1900’s and never had a single breast problem until the day she died at 93.
I have to laugh though because i never needed lactation help. The day my daughter was born i was in the room with her and my husband and other family gathered round as she fumbled to latch on–my dad walked in–took one look–grabbed the baby’s head and my breast and jammed the baby’s open mouth right into the perfect latch on–he said–there–thats the way to do it…needless to say–my neighbor in the next bed was shocked..lol–i wasnt–he was always a great family doctor!!!
Nursed two healthy happy daughters and just helped my SIL learn to nurse her healthy happy daughter…its life giving–its amazing and its so important! Thanks for sharing kelly!
tina says
This is a little devasting for me. Both of my boys were formula fed. They got some breastmilk but not much. I eventually dried up. My first was in the NICU for 8 days and I pumped as much as I could. I had him via c-section because the cord was too close to my cervix and had I gone in to labor, he may have been stillborn. My second was born c-section because I was terrified of a VBAC.
I was born via a c-section in ’69 because the cord was wrapped around my neck.
When you’re born natually, you get the gut flora of the mother and if her gut flora is good then yours will be to. If you’re born c-section then you don’t get your mother’s gut flora.
Since I was born c-section and my boys were born c-section, we all have really bad gut flora.
We are now on GAPS diet to fix both my boys’ failure to thrive and my vitiligo and burnt-out adrenals. We are getting good bacteria in our bodies and hopefull all will be well in a year or so.
Alex at A Moderate Life says
Tina, what you say is so important…again from my dad–and a family tradition–the minute a baby is born in our family–he would take a very small spoonful of greek yogurt and the baby would lick it up–we didnt know back then the reason why, it was only a tradition–and it made the baby look up with utter amazement at this not sweet cool thing on its tongue…all the babies had great digestion after that! If you cant nurse, you shouldnt beat yourself up over it–you do the best you can with the cards you are dealt…just continue to work on your gut flora–kombucha, kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut–all help out!
Elizabeth @ The Nourished Life says
I agree with the title of your post! My mom was talking with me recently about how she and three of her siblings were all formula fed. Their younger sister who was born several years later was breastfed, and my grandma received a lot of ridicule for it. Breastfeeding was just not socially acceptable at that time. It’s so amazing that society took the most natural thing in the world and tried to make it out-of-style and even wrong. I am so glad breastfeeding came back with a vengeance. My brother and I were breastfed, and so are both my children. Hopefully all my grandchildren will be, too!
KitchenKop says
Hey guys, I’m SO enjoying reading all your sweet comments!
I just remembered I totally forgot to include a link to the Weston Price book review on the LLL’s book, “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding”, so I added it to the list of links above. I found it very interesting how the LLL has it right in many ways, but how they’re off in others.
Ellen@BodyEarth says
I love that photo, Kelly!
LLL was so helpful for me, too, although I didn’t go to the meetings until I needed support in nursing a toddler. My son nursed until he was 3 1/4! He adored nursing 🙂
Lots of people seemed horrified that I would nurse so long, but I figured that he was happy, getting a great source of milk, and getting the extra comfort he needed. La Leche League was a wonderful source of support and approval.
I was quickly able to lose my pregnancy weight (and more) through nursing, too. I ate all day long without gaining any weight!
But, it was a hard start: I remember wanting to scream in pain each time my son latched on. He was a vigorous eater! Luckily, that only lasted for a few weeks, but I wish I had known how helpful La Leche League could be back in the early days.
I’m still smiling at the line in the video about how women in their 30’s can’t make enough milk. Well, I nursed into my 40’s… Women of any age might have problems with milk supply. LLL is a fantastic source of help for that problem, too.
Amy says
Hurray for tandem nursing! I’ve been nursing for 4 1/2 years now, and my youngest is 21 months. My oldest weaned at 3&1/2 years. I feel so fortunate to be in a situation where I can just feed on demand and wean when my kids are ready. With the allergy DNA my kids came with, I know breastfeeding’s a good protection for them. Took off the baby weight in no time flat, too!
nikki says
I love to hear such great breast feeding stories! I am 9+ months pregnant and still actively nursing my almost 3year old… we will be tandem nursing and as my son said so perfectly “You have two boobies mama, one for me and one for the baby!”
I am a co-leader of our local Holistic Moms Network chapter (HMN is an amazing national organization please check it out!) and inspired by a recent article in the Herald Sun (Australia) reporting that young women are reluctant to breastfeed their babies due to fear of public embarrassment, the Holistic Moms Network has launched a new project to highlight the beauty and confidence of breastfeeding women. HMN members from across North America submitted photos of themselves proudly breastfeeding their children
emily says
what a sweet picture. my siblings and i were all breastfed until at least age 2, im so thankful for this! my son nursed a long time and my 16 month old is nursing as i type. i have attened LLL meetings on and off and really appreciate what they do as an organization.
Peggy says
My oldest was born in 1980 and I was told by the doctor, “You don’t really want to do that.” I was still in the hospital when he put me on dry up pills and birth control pills. The hospital didn’t allow nursing in the delivery room. My baby received formula and water from day one. Three months later, he was barely over his birth weight and nearly dead. Philip had developed severe allergies, and all the soy, meat, and prescription formulas made him sicker. The best medical science had to offer my son was death.
In desperation I called La Leche League. A leader came to my home that night and taught us both how to nurse. I used a Lact-aid and donated milk for the first wee, but my own milk came in quickly. By the time he was four months old, he was completely breastfed and had sported a round face and rolls on his legs. At six months of age, he was approaching “normal” weight for his age and starting to catch up developmentally. By one year of age, you couldn’t tell him from any other normal one-year-old at the LLL meetings. That’s when I began leader training.
I retired after 20 years of being a LLL leader when my sixth child was born. I was blessed to see my own miracle repeated over and over in the lives touched by the message: “You CAN nurse and you are right to want to!”
Anita says
Wow, Peggy! Your story was amazing. The power of healing foods- especially breastmilk for bubs. It is their birthright. Great encouragement to others to keep trying.
RadiantLux says
I LOVE that picture. It brings me back to how much I enjoyed my babies. I nursed all my children for as long as they would nurse – about 1 1/2 years each. I benefitted from a fabulous LLL group in my area. I have always worked full-time. I pumped at work. Many things worked in my favor and at the same time it was a huge commitment for me to accomplish that. Sometimes I read parenting articles where they emphasize that mothers who choose to use formula should be treated as though that is a valid choice. In addition, there are so many myths around breastfeeding not working in our culture. People are more comfortable with bottle feeding. I think it’s very, very sad.
Maria naturallyhealthymommy says
What a sweet picture. I have wonderful memories of nursing my children. My youngest is six months and I plan to nurse him for quite a while yet. I’m glad to see more moms are choosing to breastfeed. La Leche League is doing a wonderful job helping to educate people about the importance of breastfeeding.
Jessie says
Amen! I’m breastfeeding my almost-one-year-old, and neither of us has any intention of stopping any time soon. Breastfeeding is such a blessing. It’s easy on our tight budget. It helps me connect with and soothe my emotionally sensitive daughter. It gives us the freedom to introduce the best solid foods when she’s ready to deal with them.
I’m very passionate about breastfeeding (and about women’s rights to breastfeed in public). This makes it kind of hard to talk to my mom about it. She didn’t breastfeed me or my siblings. It’s tough to talk about all the benefits while still being sensitive and not laying a guilt trip on her!
Kate says
Thanks, Kelly! I’m breastfeeding BOTH my kids right now (26 mo. and 8.5 mo.) and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I plan to let them self-wean. With the struggles we’ve had with allergies and pickiness and etc. I’ve always known they were getting good nutrition anyway.
I think it’s very sad in today’s selfish culture that we aren’t allowed to tell the truth about breastfeeding without offending someone. We’re not supposed to say that formula is bad. We’re supposed to respect people’s “right to choose,” as if all options were equal. And consequently, the message women are getting is “it truly doesn’t matter if you breastfeed or not, it’s only slightly better than formula, and modern formula is pretty awesome, so make whatever choice works for you!” And that is sad!! Not that I’m saying women don’t have a right to choose, and I’m acknowledging, like you, that a small (SMALL) percentage of women CAN’T breastfeed, but women should have all the TRUE facts about breast vs. formula before making such an important decision and I don’t think they do.
That’s actually my theme next week in my Nutrition for Moms and Babies series — breastfeeding/newborn nutrition!
Elizabeth says
I was blessed to be able to breastfeed all ten of my children! It wasn’t always easy. In fact, I had more trouble with my ninth baby than with all others combined! If I had not known what a blessing breastfeeding is emotionally and physically, I would not have stuck it out!! But, I knew the benefits to mom and baby, the convenience, how healthy it is, and just how enjoyable and relaxing it is to nurse your baby! That is one thing I really miss as my family grows up and there are no more babies! Those were such special times~ I LOVE your picture! I’m sure you treasure it! Thanks for increasing awareness of the benefits and blessings of breastfeeding our babies!
Michelle (Health Food Lover) says
I’m very lucky my mum was a part of the La Leche League in South Africa and my siblings and I were all breastfed. My mum was actually a leader of a La Leche group in SA and they would hold groups on how to properly breastfeed etc. During that time in SA (early 80’s) my mum also discovered information about wholefoods, naturopathy and homeopathy! So i’m very grateful!