Breastfeeding is a learned behavior.

           Oh goodness gracious! Breastfeeding drama, again. My awesome friend Lauren, has gotten a "slap on the wrist" by facebook. I am very pro breastfeeding, as most of you know. I am really upset for lauren and her family and the judgment being passed around. I am reading so many negative comments on news sites and all over facebook. Sophie was playing with cherise. She was "Feeding her baby". The only difference between play breast feeding or bottle feeding in children is the perverted mind of an adult. Like lauren say's in her interview "they should pay attention to the actual pornography on their site" and I think the same for the police, there are children that really are being exploited, and these two little girls are not them. Nowhere close to it. Make sure to click on the link below{ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/27/lauren-ferrari-banned-facebook-breastfeeding_n_1709928.html }
           
             Should we all stop posting pictures of our kids because sick men or women can crop off your childs head and photoshop it onto a porno pic or look at them in a sexual way? Sexual offenders hang out everywhere, even places they should not be, even in parks that your little girl could be wearing a dress or bathing suit. For example, my son stripping naked at the water park. Im sure many will disagree with me, but that leads me to another topic: Breastfeeding being a learned behavior.
         
            How many mothers give up on breastfeeding because it was too hard, time consuming, painful, yucky, major medical battles, etc? TOO many. It saddens me at how many parents give up before they even think about breastfeeding. Their mother didnt breastfeed them, their friend didnt breastfeed, their grandma, sisters-husbands-grandmas-neighbors-sister, didnt breastfeed. See, it IS really a learned behavior, and I am not trying to say that people are bad for not chosing to Breasfeed or for giving up or weaning early. I've come to be a strong supporter of "What works for your family, works for your family" and if chosing not to breastfeed is the best choice for you, then BRAVO, being happy is what matters the most.
           
             Hopefully the above helped a little to understand that seeing a mother breastfeeding in public IS healthy. Its encouraging for other parents, and yes, I say PARENTS because it really makes the breastfeeding experience so much easier in the first few months, with a LOT of support. I have honestly looked at other breastfeeding pictures to see the hold, the postition, and whatnot to help myself when I was a newb at nursing. We were both newbies, it was a rough first few months. I was so thankful for public pictures people post, I would look at them for encouragement through the cluster feedings, the thrush, just everything. I guess I am more of a visual learner.
         
              I think its very important that we as parents try to raise our children in a gentle world. People always say that you cant protect your child from everything, but if you try, and you are gentle, you will teach them to be gentle and kind and loving to people and the world. Kind of like making a world change. Children growing up seeing their siblings be breasfed, will associate the breast as food, not sexual. So that is always an encouraging thing. Maybe the more that people publicly breastfed, and advocated breastfeeding, could really make it less of a 'heinous' thing to do outside of the privacy of your home. It could be more accepted.   At least laurens daughters understand that breasts are for babies and for breastfeeding : )

      Another thing on my mind.....The picture removed that lauren posted was nothing in my eyes. Why is it okay to have beauty pagents where its okay for a 3 year old to wear more makeup than a hooker, or a bikini that gives them fake cleavage and resembles something a pornstar would wear, and its not okay for a 3 year old to play house and breastfeed a baby? What is more sexual? I know I am taking a jab at pagent families, and thats not really what I am trying to do. Its just that a child all dolled up can very much attract sexual preditors and the parents are often pushing these little girls to hold still for more blush, or more fake tan, and then throwing them out in the media for everyone to see. That seems to be legal...*sigh*