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Breastfeeding moms are so special that you end up taking note of them, giving them free advice or blurting out things that they may or may not like to hear, or things that may anger them. Here, we list a few things that you shouldn’t say to a nursing mom, lest you want to feel the full force of Mama Bear’s fury.
1. Why Does Your Baby Cry Just After His Feed?
It means that you are not able to make adequate milk supplies to your baby. The truth is your baby had latched on your for 45 minutes, and you were sucked out not only of milk but also most of your energy. Your baby has had enough. But what you see is a growth spurt that keeps the baby crying, and hungry, again soon after a meal.
2. Do You Eat Enough?
What on earth does that mean? That I look malnourished? Of course, I still eat for two. I have been eating for two ever since my pregnancy. And, my postpartum body still needs that I eat for two. Else, my milk factory wouldn’t be gushing, would it!
3. Don’t You Think Breastfeeding Destroys Your Boobs?
This is one of the most bizarre comments if there can be one. For a lactating mother, the breast size could be quite big. No transplant job. If non-mothers out there vie for the best boobs, they should hail lactating moms. Breastfeeding does that to your boobs anyway. It might change the shape a little, but it is never grotesque. It is rather beautiful in its way, as though it is symbolic of a woman who conquered her path towards attaining motherhood. By the way, breastfeeding might help you lose weight and get a slimmer body. The notion of a sagging breast is more likely to be caused by pregnancy than by breastfeeding.
4. Would You Not Be Embarrassed By Public Breastfeeding?
If you meant that I must be covered up during a breastfeeding session, please know that I am much okay even without it if I had to feed my child in public. Nope, I am not bothered about the passengers on a bus, the crowd at McDonalds, office-goers, friends or strangers. My sole focus is my baby. I barely notice what others are up to or are thinking while I am nursing my child. It is quite engaging for both my child and me to be distracted by the opinions of others or be drawn into debates on a state legislation on public breastfeeding.
5. Did You Know That My Kids Are Doing Just Fine Even Though They Were Never Breastfed?
Oh, really! I wonder what they missed out on. The real constituents of a mother’s milk will never come through formula milk. If your kids are doing well, good for them, but at the end of the day, it’s all about personal choices.
6. Isn’t Your Baby A Little Old For Breast milk?
How long is too long by your definition? While a minimum period of exclusive breastfeeding (3-4 months) is mandatory, doctors recommend women to breastfeed their child for as long as they can. So if you think my toddler looks a bit too big for a feed, it’s not something you should be concerned about.
7. Your Baby Might Never Take A Bottle Feed
Not always true. If you have already been training your baby on bottle feed alternating with your feed, your baby will fairly find it easy to adapt to either way. It’s a different thing that babies instinctively know the scent of its mother’s milk. But, introducing bottle feed within the first six months of nursing alternating with your feed or at least once or twice a day to begin with should not be challenging at all.
What was the rudest thing you heard when you were breastfeeding? Tell us below.
