reasons I've heard for not breastfeeding

"Marie" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 11:58:06 -0500, "Donna"
wrote:
No, but perhaps you'll try to grow out of this attitude one day.
The world is a lot more complex than you seem to think it is.

I don't grow out of my beliefs.

Really? You still believe in Santa Claus? Cooties, too?

Growth is a *good* thing. It's what adults do. It's worth thinking about.

Donna

"Marie" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 12:01:11 -0500, "Donna"
wrote:
Because there is a particular type of person who embraces breastfeeding
as a
type of One True Way religion. And just like any religion, if you're a
True
Believer, you get to be right, and better than everyone who doesn't do
things your way. It must be very comforting.

We will not understand each other on this.
You will never understand me, it seems. I do understand you. I just
completely disagree with your self-righteous attitudes.

Is there nothing at all in
life you feel strongly about?

Yes. Many things. FOR ME. Ironically, I feel strongly about
breastfeeding. FOR ME. I don't, however, feel strongly about the choices
other people make, for their own reasons. This is the point you keep
missing. It's that little growth thing, again, I suspect.

There are things others feel strongly
about that I simply don't see what the big deal is (religion, for
example) and will never understand. What is the crime in that?

The crime is your self-righteous,
what-is-right-for-me-is-right-for-everyone-and-I-will-make-damn-sure-they-kn
ow-it attitude.

You're presenting yourself as a zealot, as much as any religious
fundamentalist might.

Dona

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 13:55:57 -0500, "Donna"
wrote:
Really? You still believe in Santa Claus? Cooties, too?
Growth is a *good* thing. It's what adults do. It's worth thinking about.

Yes it's what ADULTS do. ADULTS do not believe in Santa Claus or
cooties LOL. Adults have legitimate beliefs. It's funny that you say
it's worth thinking about, because over the past couple of years I
have come to think about much of my life and have changed much of the
way I see things. It doesn't matter if someone else doesn't like what
I think, does it! Back with my first child I *thought* formula was ok
but I grew and changed. I thought many things that I now know were
wrong.
Marie

Donna wrote:
Really? You still believe in Santa Claus?

Goodness, yes. I know Santa Claus exists because *I'm* him g!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [2 today] mom)

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 13:59:57 -0500, "Donna"
wrote:
You will never understand me, it seems. I do understand you. I just
completely disagree with your self-righteous attitudes.

You do know if you meet someone like me on the street, or at the park
you'd never get a hint of any self-righteous attitude.

Yes. Many things. FOR ME. Ironically, I feel strongly about
breastfeeding. FOR ME. I don't, however, feel strongly about the choices
other people make, for their own reasons. This is the point you keep
missing. It's that little growth thing, again, I suspect.

I have my set of ideals and morals and yes I believe they are the
right thing for the majority of people. None of my relatives or
friends who formula feed know what I think about it, they do not need
to know. It is my own opinions and beliefs.

The crime is your self-righteous,
what-is-right-for-me-is-right-for-everyone-and-I-will-make-damn-sure-they-kn
ow-it attitude.
You're presenting yourself as a zealot, as much as any religious
fundamentalist might.

I still don't see what is so wrong with discussing what we think in a
newsgroup. It was brought up. As long as I am not out cursing every
bottlefeeding mother I see in the store or at the park I don't see why
it's so terrible to say what I feel. Everyone else is...but if you
don't with what I say I'm a self-righteous zealot.
Marie

On 2 Mar 2004 12:39:14 -0800, (LeAnn) wrote:
You could also say that working mothers should stay at home with their
children because it's what's best for them.

Most of the working mothers I know would stay home if they could
afford it. Many regret that they have to work.

You are comparing formula to junk food???????

Um, you're the one who brought up the comparison and now you're
shocked?!
And yes a comparison can be made between the two. Formula/junk food is
less healthy than breastmilk/healthy food.
Marie

I mean that my choice is based on what I see. I've seen and spent
time with both breast fed children and bottle fed children and I can't
tell a difference in intellegence, health, size, wellbeing or any
other characteristics. I would never ever put any women down for
choosing to breastfeed, after all, it is the way God intended. But
I'm offended that some women take on a 'holier than thou' attitude
when it comes to confronting women who bottle feed. Like we're not as
good a mother as they are, or we're being selfish. It's totally
unfounded.

LeAnn
Ericka Kammerer wrote in message ...
LeAnn wrote:

Sure breast milk is best but it doesn't appear to
matter in the long run.


What do you mean by that?

Best wishes,
Ericka

I would not support putting a baby to sleep on it's stomach because it
endangers it's life, formula feeding your child does not endanger it's
life. Like I said, I would never say one is better than the other,
I'm just saying that you have to respect the fact that women have a
choice in the matter. I'm not discounting the studies that have been
done, and in fact I'd probably agree with them because I know that God
provided the best 'formula' possible when creating breastmilk. But it
is not my preference to breastfeed. My son was bottlefed and is a
grade ahead in reading and is already better at math than I am (he is
only 8), he is healthy and strong and very rarely gets sick. Sure it
doesn't prove anything, at least to the world, but it's enough for me.
It is my opinion, I'm not trying to force it upon anyone, I'm only
asking for respect in my choice.

LeAnn
"Circe" wrote in message news:96R0c.12336$id3.1191@fed1read01...
LeAnn wrote:
Just like breastfeeding is a choice, choosing NOT to breastfeed is a
choice too. And I think it's disrespectful to other women to put
down their choice.

So, you wouldn't at least *suggest* that choosing to put your baby to bed on
her belly might not be a good idea? Or that feeding your baby solids at 2
months of age might not be the best thing?

I don't know--I really *hate* getting into these
breastfeeding/formula-feeding things because I think advocating
breastfeeding almost always make a person come off as self-righteous and
condescending, but I do get a bit annoyed when it's suggested that all
choices are somehow equal. They're not.

Sure breast milk is best but it doesn't appear to
matter in the long run.

If you really believe this is true, why do you think breastmilk is best?
IOW, if it makes no difference in the long run, why do you believe formula
isn't as good? (The answer, methinks, is that you don't *really* think
breastmilk *is* better.)

My bottle fed child is a whole lot
healthier than my best friend's children who were all breastfed.

The plural of anecdote is not data. I'll bet Gail Devers can run faster than
*all* of our husbands, but that doesn't prove that women run faster than men
on average, does it? If there is *one* statement that annoys the heck out of
people who look at research data, it's that one person's experience doesn't
square with the data. Well, duh, that's the nature of statistical data--it
doesn't predict *anything* about individual experience!

I think it's just a matter of opinion.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Just wrong. There are plenty of studies of
*populations* of breastfed versus populations of formula-fed babies and they
nearly all show that breastfed children do better, long-term, than
formula-fed ones. This isn't a matter of opinion--it's a matter of cold,
hard data. But, as I just said, population data doesn't tell you jack-diddly
about any *individual* outcome. It's just that in this case, breastfeeding
offers you a better *chance* of a good outcome than breastfeeding and, if
that's important to you, breastfeeding is the better choice.

"Marie" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 2 Mar 2004 13:59:57 -0500, "Donna"
wrote:
You will never understand me, it seems. I do understand you. I just
completely disagree with your self-righteous attitudes.

You do know if you meet someone like me on the street, or at the park
you'd never get a hint of any self-righteous attitude.

So why are you attacking people here? Behind the screens are real people,
just like you. What's the difference? Why are you acting like a fool here,
and then throwing your hands up and saying "Oh, hey, but I would never act
like that in real life." and expecting that to be an excuse?


I have my set of ideals and morals and yes I believe they are the
right thing for the majority of people.

You don't get to make that decision for anyone but you.

None of my relatives or
friends who formula feed know what I think about it, they do not need
to know. It is my own opinions and beliefs.

If your opinions are actually as you've been spewing here, recently, I think
that's wise.

I still don't see what is so wrong with discussing what we think in a
newsgroup.

Do you not see the difference between discussion and insult? Look at other
posters, say, Circe, or Nan, or Daye, or Linz who, iirc, all feel very
strongly about breastfeeding or bottle feeding, but who are getting their
points across without slugging people over the head with their views. Nor
are they calling people selfish, nor are they declaring themselves Queen of
the Universe, Whom Everyone needs to Obey Or Be Wrong. Others here are
having a discussion. You, unfortunately, are throwing a huge hissy fit, and
calling it a discussion, and then getting mad when people tell you to sit
down and speak nicely. That is the difference.

I've said this before - the way you phrase things means EVERYTHING on
USENet. Everything.

It was brought up. As long as I am not out cursing every
bottlefeeding mother I see in the store or at the park I don't see why
it's so terrible to say what I feel. Everyone else is...but if you
don't with what I say I'm a self-righteous zealot.

*You* present *yourself* as a self-righteous zealot. You are doing that.
*You*. If you don't want to be perceived that way, you can decide to
discuss your views with others here, in a manner that suggests you have at
least a modicum of respect for the decisions that others make, and the
tiniest glimmering of an idea that you might not know everything about the
way the world works for everyone.

The nice thing about this group is that you can still, even now, start over,
and have a shot at being taken seriously, if you really want to. You just
need to remember that the posters here are *people*. Like your relatives.
Like people you see in the park. Like you.

Donna

Ok, I should have said 'it doesn't matter to me'. And I don't mean
that as if I don't care, Of course I want the best for my child but I
have my reasons for not wanting to breastfeed and I think that should
be enough. This is a poor comparision but it's like saying all
mothers should use cloth diapers because disposables are bad for the
environment. I realize we're talking about our children's health and
not the environment, but a choice is a choice. We do what we do
because of different factors in our lives.

LeAnn
Marie wrote in message . ..
On 1 Mar 2004 16:53:22 -0800, (LeAnn) wrote:
Just like breastfeeding is a choice, choosing NOT to breastfeed is a
choice too. And I think it's disrespectful to other women to put down
their choice. Sure breast milk is best but it doesn't appear to
matter in the long run.

So the decreased risk of certain cancers (in the long run) in children
who were breastfed does NOT matter? Decreased risk of other illnesses
(in the long run) does NOT matter to you?

My bottle fed child is a whole lot healthier
than my best friend's children who were all breastfed. I think it's
just a matter of opinion.

Great statistics there, btw.
It's not a matter of opinion. It is FACT that formula isn't as healthy
for the baby as breastmilk. It is FACT that babies who do not get
breastmilk are at risk for certain illnesses/diseases, whether early
in life or as adults (in the long run).
It's not a matter of just being "better"...it's so much more important
to the child's health and future health than just being "better".
Marie