I took Sugarplum and Doodle out for lunch yesterday. Nothing fancy, just the type of place where you order at the counter and they bring your food to the table (I had a BOGO coupon, no leftovers and no will to cook…) Sugarplum chose a booth with high sides and a bit of privacy (not that we needed it). We’d been out running errands so naturally Doodle was hungry was well. I took him from his seat and fed him, as I always do. I didn’t have anything to cover with and didn’t really care. We were in a pretty secluded place, I was behind the buggy and Doodle has a huge head which provides quite a bit of coverage.
I didn’t think anything of it until one of the young girls working there walked by. Then again a minute or two later with another young girl. As they passed me, the first looked back at the 2nd and gave her an eyebrow raise. I wanted to scream “Yes, I’m feeding my child. It’s lunch time and he’s hungry too.” I thought about letting the management know that they need to educate their staff on the rights of nursing mothers. I thought a lot of things and then I thought: why is this so weird to them? And I wanted to educate them, these college aged not-yet-twenty-somethings that probably have no idea about how great and important breastfeeding is.
What I really wish I had the guts to say is this:
“Do you know that right now, right THIS SECOND, I’m not just giving my child the best source of nutrition possible but I am also lowering his chances of being obese later in life? I’m lowering his chances of having diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer later in life. In this minute of nourishing him, I am giving him an immune boost and possibly even increasing his IQ, language and motor skills. Did you know that right now I am also lowering my own chances of developing rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis as well as breast and ovarian cancer later in life? Did you know it’s not just about me pulling my boob out and feeding my child? That it’s about protecting his future and mine?”
Of course I didn’t say these things and I’m sure these young women didn’t know much of this information because, frankly, I didn’t know these things when I was a college aged not-yet-twenty-something myself. But why? Why aren’t we teaching our young women about the normalcy and importance of breastfeeding? Why in high school health classes is breastfeeding not even mentioned when talking about caring for babies (at least it wasn’t in mine)? Why is something that is sooo important barely even discussed at all outside of mothering circles?
(Want to read more about my breastfeeding views and adventures? Find it all here!)
