Feeling odd about breast-feeding

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never had any reservations about breastfeeding, but I'll admit that my breasts were off limits to my husband while I was nursing. Between nursing, pumping, nursing again, they just didn't seem sexual to me any more, and I felt uncomfortable with it. (I also just thought they needed a break, they were in use so much!). When my son was about 10 months, I began to see them as sexual again and slowly let them "back in the game." My husband was compassionate and grown-up about it (that must be why I married him!) I weaned at a year.

This is good to hear since 4 months out mine are still off limits to DH. I just feel weird about it. I hope it gets better...

[Anonymous]

I hated breastfeeding for the first month or so- hated the way it felt and the constant demand of it (meaning that nobody else could help with feeding), but at 6 months, I now love it and will be sad when it comes time to wean. I'm glad that other people had told me that it can be hard at first, because it really has been worth sticking with it.

[Anonymous]

I am not flaming you at all, OP, because I know many women who share similar feelings - or who are even so concerned about the potential aesthetic impact of nursing on their breasts' appearance that they forgo nursing altogether.

But I have to say how incredibly sad this post makes me. We live in a culture with such a tragically distorted perspective on women's bodies. Pictures of objectified and sexualized breasts to push consumerism? Sure, no problem! But a mother nursing in public - well, gosh, why is she whipping her boob out like that - ewwww. Sigh.

However, the greatest sadness is how it distances women from our power as life-givers and nurturers. Up until the past 50 years, we used to grow up seeing our mother and other women in our lives nurse children. We - and the boys and men around us - accepted and embraced nursing as a given.

It's striking to note that the only reason all human beings have nipples is because all fetuses start out female and nipples are for nursing. The only reason that nipples have sensation is in order to stimulate the production of the hormones that promote bonding with our infants and of milk.

The sexual role is a happy secondary gain

[Anonymous]

Well said, pp! I wish there were more women like you in this society! I am still nursing my toddler and have had to deal with a lot of other people asking me when I am going to stop and giving me dirty looks. I just ignore them because they are ignorant and it is none of their business. After all, I am my child's mom and I know what is best for my child. Some people have a distorted vision of the human body and give dirty looks to women who nurse in public, when it should be considered very normal.