Joe turned 2 this past Saturday. I feel like this picture says “Here’s looking at YOU, mom! I’m two and I love my milkies!”
Breastfeeding Support Blog Party!
April 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Last Thursday, bloggers from around the world came together in a show of support for breastfeeding mothers. New mothers have enough challenges without having to feel guilty for how they feed their baby, especially when they are choosing the most natural of means – breastfeeding.
Over the last few days there has been a lot of heated debates, controversial posts, and social media outcry against the position that the Weston A. Price Foundation takes on breastfeeding. While they do present sound information on the ideal diet for a human adult, they do so in a manner that brings about guilt, fear, and confusion for mothers.
The bloggers who participated in the Breastfeeding Support Blog Party are not trying to create a divide between mothers. We simply want to offer support, in the form of blog posts, as to why breastfeeding should always be the first choice both for baby and mama.
We hope you take some time to read the posts that were written as part of the Blog Party. There are also over 140 posts linked up as part of this. Take some time to check them out here or link up your own breastfeeding support post!
Dionna at Code Name: Mama has come up with 40 ways that family, friends, coworkers and employers can support mothers who pump breastmilk, along with a ton of resources for you and the pumping mom in your life. There are also some fun graphics you can print and pass out, with 70% of all proceeds going to buy pumps for moms in domestic violence shelters!
Destany at They Are All of Me writes about ten common breastfeeding myths that scare women out of breastfeeding.
Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama discusses how her diet wasn’t WAPF perfect, but she still breastfed a perfectly healthy baby.
Christine at African Babies Don’t Cry is passionate about breastfeeding, here are her 101 reasons why!
Kelly at Becoming Crunchy discusses the question of whether you should still nurse – even if your diet isn’t ‘right’.
Jorje of Momma Jorje has enough pressure in her life, she is glad she doesn’t have to worry about what, when and how much food she feeds her son since he is also still nursing.
Angela at EarthMamas World discusses a few of the most common problems that a mama may encounter while breastfeeding. Angela also shares natural remedies for each of these breastfeeding problems!
That Mama Gretchen reflects on the beautiful bond breastfeeding has created as her two children have transitioned from their womb experience to their earth side one.
Julia at A Little Bit of All of It shares ways breastfeeding and breastmilk are unique and special in a way only they can be.
Amy W. at Natural Parents Network shares 5 scientific reasons that mother’s milk is an unequaled form of nutrition and nurture: so awesome, and so unique!
Laura at Authentic Parenting shares solid information on iron intake for the breastfed baby.
Charise at I Thought I Knew Mama shares the questions (and answers) about breastfeeding she wished she had a friend to answer for her before becoming a mama.
Abbie at Farmer’s Daughter choose to breastfeed her children in part because it’s easier than bottle feeding, not to mention that it is the best nutrition for babies, that it has health benefits for both mother and child, that it encourages bonding, and of course that it’s free! Basically breastmilk is the ultimate convenience food.
KerryAnn at Cooking Traditional Foods shares how the rush to recommend raw milk formula actually harms mothers.
Starlene at GAPS Diet Journey shares her experience with nursing and why she feels it is an important piece of the your baby’s health.
At Living Peacefully with Children, Mandy draws a connection between how formula companies market and how women are treated by society.
Amy at Anktangle outlines a few of the many ways breastfeeding benefits both mom and child—aside from providing excellent nutrition.
Adrienne at Whole New Mom shares Part One and Part Two of 100 Reasons Why Breast Is Best.
Dawn at Cultured Mama shares her personal breastfeeding journey and how she overcame low supply issues and successfully tandemed nursed with only one breast.
Mamatography Week 11
March 21, 2013 By 2 Comments
This week has been rather crazy, with two illnesses (Abbey’s quite swift, and Joseph’s quite startling and sad), news that daddy is headed home from his boat with a broken foot (from playing street hockey with the guys from the boat), and me getting sick, too! In between all the craziness we had some fun play dates and dinners with our friends from the neighborhood, so all in all it was a good week.
I could have done without the sickness, though.
Oh, and I could have done without the snowstorm. I’m done with snow.
Abbey and Joe making faces and giggling incessantly while I worked on papers for my college classes.
Abbey making a funny face at our lunch date after Mass on Sunday. She and Joe love to make their own salads. Maybe her face is saying “Don’t steal my carrots!” LOL
Silly Joe and his friend Larry hiding with their juice cups
Our whole neighborhood gang of ruffigans showing off their table manners
Silly Kiddos dancing Dance Central on the X-Box at a friend’s house.
they were having so much fun!
I should have known we were destined for a sick-day when Joe was yawning like this at 8:10 AM.
Catching some comfort at mamas breast
(for the next 24 hours, he refused to nurse because it caused him too much pain to suck. Poor guy!)
He’s nursing again now
Toddler falls asleep at 9:00 AM. Theeeeeere’s your sign that he’s not feeling well.
Poor feverish boy
Abbey playing a Sophia the First game on my iPad while Joseph napped
(subsequent days of the illness, he did NOT nap. . . )
All wrapped up in three blankets after a warm comforting bath
Playing and starting to feel better.
That was our week! How was YOURS?!
This post is part of the Mamatography 2013 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.
We are taking (at least) a photo a day to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!
Normalize Breastfeeding with Your Signature!
January 17, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Here is a frequent comment that I get when the conversation turns to breastfeeding and my experience with advocacy for nursing freedom (and the right of every mother and baby to nurse in public at will):
“Why is it such a big deal for mothers to do what mothers have done for their children for hundreds of thousands of years?”
I do an inner happy-dance when I hear that kind of response, because it indicates that the person speaking respects breastfeeding as a normal occurrence. YESSSSSSS! *happy dance*
I always respond with “I’m so glad that you see nursing as normal! Unfortunately, many others in our society misunderstand the normalcy of nursing and think that it is in some way inappropriate. Would you like to hear of some ways that you can help to re-educate people to understand that nursing is normal?”
So, what about YOU? Are you interested in some ways to educate to the normalcy of nursing and it’s importance for our culture’s public health? Here are a couple things you can do RIGHT NOW:
- Please take a few moments and sign the petition to develop and line of postage stamps that normalize breastfeeding!
- And while you’re at it, take just one more minute of your time and join with the United States Breastfeed Committee in welcoming a new session of Congress and reminding Congress that “breastfeeding saves dollars and makes sense!”
Thanks for your support! Normalizing nursing is so important to our culture’s public health and to our little ones and families. I hate hearing of even one mother looked down upon, given false information, or harassed because of their gift of nursing their baby. Let’s make a world where we don’t have to hear those stories anymore!!!!!
Mamatography: Fall Catch Up
December 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I have gotten SO behind in my Mamatography posts. So, here’s a catch up of what we’ve been up to for the past few weeks – the end of Fall, 2012.
At the tail end of the Fall season up here in Maine, we had a photo shoot with a friend and fellow Coast Guard wife, Kim Howell. You can follow her on Twitter @KimHowellPhotog
She captured some really fantastic photographs of the family, and we enjoyed the shoot a lot!
Abbey even got to clicking. . . capturing this iPhone photo of our feet as we posed for some pics sans kids.
Ah, the token nursing pic. Thank you, Kim, for snapping this one! So sweet!
After this beautiful (warm) fall day, it started getting windy and cold! On into the Winter season for us transplanted Mainers!
That was our last week of fall. How have your weeks been lately?
Nursing In Public – Normal & Necessary.
October 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I was skeptical when I clicked over to the Stir article about a Luvs Diaper Commercial starring breastfeeding as a punchline. But when I watched it, I was overjoyed that the ad showed a realistic and positive take on breastfeeding at a restaurant (gasp) without a nursing cover.
Nursing a child is totally normal, necessary, and not at all distasteful. I nursed Abbey and still nurse Joe on demand, without a cover, wherever he needs to nurse. I have even been known to nurse Abbey in public, without a cover, as a preschooler – when she needed to be nursed.
Only twice have I ever had a negative experience with nursing my Silly Bears wherever they needed to be fed. But the experiences of other nursing moms like Michelle Hickman of Texas, who was harassed in a Target store for breastfeeding her infant during a shopping trip, my friend Dionna Ford, when she was asked to “turn around and face the wall” to nurse her infant daughter, or Dawn Holland, who was told “finish breastfeeding in the bathroom or leave!” at a Georgia Applebee’s restaurant.
Cover If You Want To
If mothers feel more comfortable nursing while wearing a cover 1 then that is their choice. If mothers feel more comfortable nursing in a separate area from others, they are empowered to make that choice for themselves. But choosing to locate oneself away from others or nurse under cover should be a personal choice due to personal reasons, not a requirement, expectation, or a personal choice made in duress because of others’ opinions about a child’s right to nurse and a mother’s right to fulfill her child’s need. “Cover if you want to” is my general take on the to cover or not to cover issue. It is a personal decision of the breastfeeding dyad 2 . . . and is ethically entitled to a lack of coercion from others.
A mother should NEVER be told to move, turn around, or cover up (much less to go to the restroom to nurse!) in order to satiate her child’s needs by nursing at her breast. Doing so is discrimination against a breastfeeding mother, and though not illegal (yet!), the behavior is rude, unethical, and ignorant. Those who make these statements either don’t know about and understand the importance and natural nature of nursing. . . or they don’t care. Either way – ignorance.
Proposed Legislation to Protect Nursing in Public
And soon, it won’t be blissful ignorance. Cities are starting to see that a woman’s right to nurse in public is a right that should be adequately protected.
The City Council of Seattle, WA announced this spring that they will be considering a Breastfeeding Discrimination Ordinance to prevent discrimination of breastfeeding mothers. This kind of legislation goes to show that breastfeeding discrimination does exist, and is a serious issue in our culture. . . and I hope that it passes, and that people are held accountable for discriminating against women on the basis of motherhood and lactation 3
What do you think about the City of Seattle’s proposed legislation to protect nursing mothers and their children from discrimination?
Have you had any experiences with nursing that you’d like to share? Share in the comments below!
- and their children will cooperate with being covered, which neither of mine would ↩
- mom and baby ↩
- I feel strongly about this both because I am an advocate for breastfeeding, full-term nursing, and breastfeeding families, but also because this is part of a larger Public Health issue. Discrimination against breastfeeding moms and their children feeds a societal stigma that breastfeeding is inherently distasteful, a stigma that is absolutely incorrect and harmful to children’s health. ↩
Demands of a Nursing Kind
May 21, 2012 By 6 Comments
Welcome to the Carnival of Weaning: Weaning – Your Stories
This post was written for inclusion in the Carnival of Weaning hosted by Code Name: Mama and Aha! Parenting. Our participants have shared stories, tips, and struggles about the end of the breastfeeding relationship.
Our Breastfeeding Back-Story
I started breastfeeding Abbey with the knowledge that breast milk was simply the way you fed babies. Formula feeding really didn’t even occur to me as a choice, which was wonderful for my commitment to breastfeeding Abbey and pumping during her NICU stay. I continued breastfeeding Abbey while learning about human lactation and child development through my recruitment and work as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor for the WIC Program in Texas. When Abbey reached the age of 12 months, it seemed so silly to me to arbitrarily stop nursing her or even cut down on nursing her just because of her age, so I decided to keep nursing her on demand even though she was well into eating solid table foods. I knew of the benefits to “extended” breastfeeding, and so I decided to breastfeed Abbey past infancy.
And I’m so glad I did! Abbey’s first “I love you” was at the breast. Her first “thank you”, too. Breastfeeding her was a part of mothering her. It seemed silly and cruel to take it away, and I was still happy to have her at the breast. . . so we nursed. On and on through the months, we nursed. Just like Abbey needed to.
Going With The Flow
At 18 months, we experienced a big move – our military PCS (Permanent Change of Station) from Texas to Maine. The previous six months had been without daddy, who was away at training before our PCS. Abbey benefitted immensely from nursing as a form of comfort and intimacy. She developed the word “mamas” for mommy’s milk, and wasn’t interested in drinking cow’s milk at all. She actually had some skin reaction to it, so we limited her dairy intake till a little while into her third year. Every night, there was rocking, singing, stories, and “mamas”. Naptimes were sweet, milky cuddle times, that I was sometimes able to sneak away from. Her little hand on my chest was precious and loving, and I loved nursing her. Even if it meant that no one could put her to bed but me.
When we became pregnant with Joseph, I did some research and determined that there was no reason to stop nursing Abbey – even though she nursed 4-5 times a day at the time that I became pregnant. I fully intended to continue nursing through the pregnancy and I really looked forward to being a tandem nursing mama!
I succeeded in nursing throughout my pregnancy with Joe, and here I am today – a proud tandem nursing mom to a three-year-old and a one-year-old. But what I would like to share is not just my pride and delight in meeting needs of both of my children through my mothering “mamas” – but my experience and hindsight about a mother’s comfort in nursing a toddler and older child, especially one as intense and spirited as our dear Abbey!
Demands of a Nursing Kind
Because I just wrote “I loved nursing her, even if it meant that no one could put her to bed but me” this will come as a bit of a shocker, but at a certain point, I started to loathe nursing Abbey to sleep. If I remember correctly, I started struggling with nursing her to bed at nap and bedtimes around the beginning of my second trimester of Joseph’s pregnancy, but in hindsight, I struggled with it earlier on in toddlerhood, too.
It wasn’t that I thought that I was training Abbey to be dependent on the breast to sleep, or that she was attached to me all night. Abbey’s slept in her own bed since she was a young toddler, and there were nights when she only nursed a few minutes and turn over and drifted off. My discomfort with sleep-time nursing was the intensity of Abbey’s demand for breastfeeding at those times of day, and my changing physical and emotional needs during Joseph’s pregnancy. I needed nursing to be enjoyable, and to be demanded to nurse her wasn’t comfortable for me.
We got to a point in our nursing relationship where Abbey really only needed a few minutes of nursing to calm her and allow her to drift off for nap time or bedtime. So, at that point, I introduced a new limit: We would nurse until the end of a certain set of songs that her musical stuffed animal played – and then mommy would put her “mamas” away. I could tell that I was starting to need more personal space with my growing belly, and I thought that this would be a good agreement to help me get some independent rest, in my own bed, instead of staying with Abbey until she was solidly asleep and then unlatching her from the breast.
Well, needless to say, this didn’t go exactly as I’d hoped. Abbey caught on to the fact that I was trying to shorten our nursing periods, and as she got older, she could tell the difference between fore milk “little milks” and hind milk “big milks” and she demanded that I allow her to have “big milks!” every time that we nursed. This meant that I was nursing her for 30 minutes or more sometimes, as my body was changing during the pregnancy and my let-downs and milk supply was up and down and in between and rarely consistent. It didn’t happen every day, but on some days, after 30 or 45 straight minutes of nursing at nap time, my nipples were sore and my body was achey, and my tolerance was really really low. So to have Abbey wake and screech “but I want big milks!!!!!” when I’d gently detach her sleeping form after a marathon toddler nursing session . . . it was completely and totally deflating and frustrating and led to far too many arguments and failed attempts at gently coming to a compromise that worked for both of us.
Eventually, a few months after the arrival of her brother Joseph, this struggle led me to wean her of her bedtime and nap time nursing sessions. Wakeful nursing is far more peaceful and mutually beneficial for the two of us, and now that I am not anchored to nursing her as a part of her sleep routine, I enjoy our continued nursing relationship with pride and purpose, and no negative feelings.
When Twiddling Goes Too Far
Twiddling mother’s nipples and massaging mommy’s breast are normal, natural, and functional nursing toddler behaviors. But with us, when twiddling went (literally) too far, it caused a problem for me. My baby’s sweet little hands quickly became explorative child’s hands, and that became a huge discomfort. I wish that I had set firmer limits earlier on in our nursing relationship to encourage Abbey to twiddle and knead something other than my body — because by the time she was two and a half, she had developed a keen interest in massaging my armpits with her fingers to help my let-down while I nursed her.
This started as a massage on my breast when her arms only reached that far, but as her arms grew, so did her reach, and thus, her strange affection for my armpits. I mean, really, I know I’m the only mother that I know whose daughter says “I love you, and I really love your armpits, mommy.” Picture explaining away that scenario in public! I have felt embarrassed plenty of times by Abbey putting her hands in, grabbing for, or trying to kiss my underarms while out and about – - and I know that for her it makes total sense. . . for her, armpits are the gateway to getting “mamas” to flow and for her to enjoy the comfort of my milk! But when I think back, the benefit of my comfort level and bodily integrity would have greatly outweighed the miniature challenge of providing Abbey with an alternative to twiddling and kneading. A nursing necklace perhaps. . . or introducing a lovey for her to cling to and squeeze as she nursed.
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When Abbey was an early toddler, I was falling headfirst in love with Attachment Parenting and Natural Parenting, and at that time, I didn’t realize that AP an NP are not all or nothing parenting camps. I was really interested in doing the best I could for my daughter, and I thought that that meant allowing breastfeeding to take it’s natural course, and not interfering with the natural weaning process at all – - by obstructing Abbey’s desire to twiddle and cling to my body or by setting firm limits on nursing etiquette and timing at sleeping time.
I realize now that doing these things to achieve an appropriate comfort level for me would not have undermined either my conviction as a natural and authentic parent, nor would it have harmed Abbey in any way. At 3 and a half, Abbey is perfectly fine nursing a time or two per day, while keeping her hands to herself (or on her lovey, “pup pup”) and has become accustomed to our new nap and bedtime routines that do not include nursing. In hindsight, I probably could have set these limits earlier in her third year, and with Joseph, I am already starting to introduce some limits to prepare our nursing relationship for when we get further into toddlerhood.
Now that I have made my limits clear with my daughter about what is and is not comfortable and appropriate for our nursing relationship, we continue to nurse joyfully and will do so until she finishes her weaning process.
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Thank you for visiting the Carnival of Weaning hosted by Dionna at Code Name: Mama and Dr. Laura at Aha! Parenting.
Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants (and many thanks to Joni Rae of Tales of a Kitchen Witch for designing our lovely button):
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- On Breastfeeding, Weaning, and One Mother’s Identity — Jessica at Natural Parents Network has been nursing one or more of her children since 1993 – breastfeeding is wrapped up in her concept of mothering and herself. She shares her thoughts on weaning.
- two tales of weaning — Aspen at Aspen Mama writes about their countdown to wean.
- Wean Me Gently — Tam at Please Send Parenting Books shares a beautiful weaning ceremony.
- You say potato, I say bleeeuuuuch… — Anelie at Mindcradle had read the books and knew just how to introduce her baby son to solids—unfortunately, he had other ideas.
- A Post Called Weaning — (Not) Maud at Awfully Chipper writes about how weaning her son took longer than she expected.
- On Weaning, Pregnancy and Emotion — Shannon at The Artful Mama talks about her mixed emotions as she allows her son, Little Man, to guide her through his weaning process.
- half of her life — Staci at Springpatch Jam looks back on her nursing relationship with her first born.
- Is it just this After Forty Mom or is it harder to wean when its your last? — Amanda of After Forty Mom shares her emotional journey towards the impending self-weaning of her toddler daughter.
- Nursing Limits — Jorje of Momma Jorje shares how she has weaned her toddler down to minimal nursing and her guilt about the decision to do so.
- Weaning Video Series #1: Preparation for the Weaning Process — Why is weaning such a taboo topic? Dionna at Code Name: Mama got mamas from across the blogosphere to start talking about weaning – on video. Come check out the first video in a series of five that she’ll be posting this week.
- On the weaning of the boy in the middle — Kelly at Witness To Hope shares the lessons of a little one self-weaning at 18 months in the middle of an unexpected pregnancy, after nursing his older sister for three years.
- Weaning due to anxiety — Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes talks about how she had to wean to preserve her mental health.
- When Will I Wean? A Guest Post — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama hosts a guest post from a mama who contemplates when her breastfeeding relationship will end.
- On His Own Terms — Momeeezen shares her heartbreak from when her son weaned much earlier than she anticipated.
- Our Weaning Story – Sudden, Surprised, and Embracing a New Season — Weaning doesn’t always go how we imagine. That Mama Gretchen shares the story of her daughter’s sudden weaning and how she has embraced this new season of motherhood.
- A Tale of Two Weanings — Valerie at Momma in Progress shares the similarities and differences of how her nursing relationships with her now six-year-old and four-year-old daughters came to a close.
- She Doesn’t Remember — Alicia at Lactation Narration finds that her 6 year old no longer remembers nursing, only one year after weaning.
- It’s The End of the World As We Know It — A story about the end of a tandem nursing relationship on Never Mind The Rain: A toddler moves on to a new phase in her life before mom is fully ready.
- A Natural End To Our Breastfeeding Relationship — With two self-weaning children, Jennifer at Our Muddy Boots does not know when the end will come, but that it will be natural and without regrets.
- Child-Led weaning: It’s Not Extreme; It’s Biological — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children explains why child-led weaning is based on biology rather than social constraints.
- 6 Years of Natural Weaning in 5 Steps — Jess at miniMum shares how and why she let her first child stop when he was good and ready.
- Is This Weaning?: A Tandem Nursing Update — Sheila at A Living Family bares all her tandem nursing hopes and fears during what feels like the beginning of the end for her toddler nursing relationship.
- Memories of Weaning: Unique and Gentle — Cynthia at The Hippie Housewife shares her weaning experiences with her two sons, each one unique in how it happened and yet equally gentle in its approach.
- Weaning Aversion’ — Gentle Mama Moon shares her experience of nursing and unplanned weaning due to pregnancy-induced ‘feeding aversion’.
- Three Months Post-Mup: An Evolution of Thoughts On Weaning — cd at FidgetFace describes a brief look at her planned (but accelerated) weaning, as well as one mamma’s evolution on weaning (and extended nursing)
- Weaning my Tandem Nursed Toddler — After tandem nursing for a year, Melissa at Permission to Live felt like weaning her older child would be impossible, but now she shares how gentle weaning worked for her 2 1/2 year old.
- Every Journey Begins with One Step — As Hannabert begins the weaning process, Hannah at Hannah and Horn‘s super power is diminishing.
- Reflections on Weaning – Love Changes Form — Amy from Presence Parenting (guest posting at Dulce de Leche) shares her experience and approach of embracing weaning as a continual process in parenting, not just breastfeeding.
- Weaning Gently: Three Special Ideas for Success — MudpieMama shares three ideas that help make weaning a gentle and special journey.
- Guest Post: Carnival of Weaning — Emily shares her first weaning experience and her hopes for her second nursling in a guest post on Farmer’s Daughter.
- 12 Tips for Gentle Weaning — Dr. Laura at Aha! Parenting describes the process of gentle weaning and gives specific tips to make weaning an organic, joyful ripening.
- Quiz: Should You Wean for Fertility Treatments? — Paige at Baby Dust Diaries talks about the key issues in the difficult decision to wean for infertility treatments.
- I thought about weaning… — Kym at Our Crazy Corner of the World shares her story of how she thought about weaning several times, yet it still happened on its own timeline.
- Celebrating Weaning — Amy at Anktangle reflects on her thoughts and feelings about weaning, and she shares a quick tutorial for one of the ways she celebrated this transition with her son: through a story book with photographs!
- Naturally Weaning Twins — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings discusses the gradual path to weaning she has taken with her preschool-aged twins.
- Gentle Weaning Means Knowing When to Stop — Claire at The Adventures of Lactating Girl writes about knowing when your child is not ready to wean and taking their feelings into account in the process.
- Weaning, UnWeaning, and ReWeaning — Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy discovers non-mutal weaning doesn’t have to be the end. You can have a do-over.
- Prelude to weaning — Lauren at Hobo Mama talks about a tough tandem nursing period and what path she would like to encourage her older nursling to take.
- Demands of a Nursing Kind — Amy Willa at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work shares her conflicted feelings about nursing limits and explores different ways to achieve comfort, peace, and bodily integrity as a nursing mother.
- Breastfeeding: If there’s one thing I know for sure… — Wendy at ABCs and Garden Peas explores the question: How do you know when it’s time to wean?
- Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Two, Three? — Zoie at TouchstoneZ discusses going from 3 nurslings down to 1 and what might happen when her twins arrive.
Friday Focus: Good Move, IRS!
February 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I have some good newsfrom lactation world to share with you this friday!
This winter, I wrote about how appalled I was that the IRS had decided to exclude breast pumps from the list of medical supplies deemed tax deductible expenses – they cited that there was no medical relevance for their inclusion (why am I so familiar with that statement??? Oh RIGHT I have Tricare as my insurance provider!). Sorry. Little bit of a jaded millie joke there. Anyway, I was intending to write a letter, and get some of you do the same, but I lost momentum when the Holidays rolled around. Moms Rising, however, didn’t skip a beat – and thanks in no small part to their heavy letter writing campaign, the IRS has reversed it’s decision! Now, working moms can get a tax break on the breastmilk pumping supplies that they need to keep up their supply and provide milk for their babies while working. Coupled with the federal government’s new(ish) law that requires break time and a suitable place for moms to pump (that is not a restroom) – things are looking up for our working mamas in America! Finally!I just want to reiterate how very important it is for us as a society to support breastfeeding mamas – and especially those who choose to (or must) go back to work while they are still nursing their little ones. Breastmilk is the ideal and normal food for babies, and it is great nutrition for toddlers as well. Breastfeeding moms are setting up our next generation for a healthier existence (not to mention saving our economy and government thousands, maybe millions, on health care costs). So doesn’t it make sense to support mamas that breastfeed as much as we can? Recently, the First Lady has been under a bit of scrutiny from some for her efforts to promote breastfeeding and breastfeeding management as a part of her initiatives to increase healthy habits and decrease childhood obesity. The IRS’s new decision has been under such scrutiny as well. You can read some articles (and see the video of Bachmann’s protest) regarding these scrutinies, as silly as they may be, here at Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, and Politics Daily.
So, I say, “Good move, IRS!” you’re back on my “nice” list now. And if I had a chance to meet Michelle Obama, I think I’d give her a big hug. What do YOU think?
