Breast Is Best, But ...

Hell hath no fury like a mommy blogger scorned.

They bond together more quickly and strongly than any other political group in history - and they are political. Women who have social media bonds tend to be more outspoken and active in debates that go against their collective wisdom.

Witness the furor that is whipped any time breast feeding is debated.

There's the Nestle Family fiasco. There's Gisele Bundchen speaking out. Then there was the uproar over a logo on a onesie at Old Navy (left) that had the social media moms marching into a boycott.

The latest is a call to arms by @momzelle over an ad from Evenflo. The video has since been pulled from the web, but Amber Mac does a good job describing the scene in an article for the Globe and Mail.  Her key point of advice to marketers trying to make a push into social media? "Don't tick off the mommy bloggers."

Evenflo apparently did.

What was their crime? Trying to make something comedic around breastfeeding.  The moms motivated their army because they felt the Evenflo video portrayed breastfeeding as "inconvenient, embarrassing and difficult."

Well guess what, Moms, not everyone can breast feed. My wife tried it with Zacharie. He couldn't latch. We saw a lactation consultant, did all the exercises, positions and it just. didn't. work. So she pumped. For SIX MONTHS she pumped. This turned the normal feeding process into a task twice the length because it meant sitting in a chair for 30 minutes 4 times a day to pump. 

My mother (a nurse) called Jen a hero for putting up with the extra 2 hours of labour each day to try and squeeze out every drop she could for her son. Finally, she was convinced she had done her best and was just exhausting herself with the pumping. We switched to formula.

With baby number 2, we had the same problem. Charlie was tongue tied which prevented him from latching properly. We snipped his frenulum to help the process. For another 5 months, my wife spent an extra two hours a day hooked up like a dairy cow (her words, not mine).

She would look longingly at women who were able to just "whip it out" in a food court or park. When our sons needed to be fed she had to pack along extra bottles and seek out a way to heat them - it was a process.

So for us to see women get on a pedestal and absolutely blast those who don't have boobs that work as being part of the problem, we get defensive.

Is a "Formula Powered" onesie propaganda? Hell no. It's cute. It's fun.  

Is an ad showing a Mom trying to find a quiet place to breastfeed in a house full of nosy in-laws offensive? Hell no, it's a slice of real life.

The self-righteousness that accompanies the breastfeeding debate is embarrassing. And why is there a "debate?" Breast is best. Full stop, end of discussion. BUT - not everyone can do it, and those women need to be supported, not chastized.

We're dads, we don't really have a say in the matter other than to offer support and help where we can. As one father commented to me "my wife chose formula. Great side effect was that I instantly became a complete equal in the ability to care for & feed infant."

What about you? Was your family successful at breastfeeding? Did you have a choice?

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