Breastfeeding is NOT sexual!!

[I Love Lucy]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has dealt with ignorant family, friends, or just random strangers when it comes to choosing to breastfeed. No one in my family ever breastfed so me choosing to is completely new to all my relatives. I had thought they were all very supportive of my decision to breastfeed until recently when I had to listen to them all bad mouth a woman who was still nursing her 5 year old. Apparently, in their opinion, if you nurse your child that long you're only doing it for sexual reasons and that those women are disgusting.

I've never felt more insulted in my life. No I'm not nursing a 5 year old and I really don't intend to nurse past a year at this point but the fact that my family can say breastfeeding is a sexual act if the child is older kind of makes me wonder what they think the difference is with my breastfeeding my 9 month old. I just feel like they think I'm doing something sexual with my son by nursing him.

And these women in my family making this comments really have no idea what they're even talking about as they've never bothered to educate themselves about breastfeeding. Then later when I confronted these women about this, one denied saying there was anything wrong with nursing an older child and the others ignored me entirely.

I really hate that society has turned boobs into sexual objects. Breastfeeding is hard enough without having to deal with ignorant individuals.

There really is no purpose to this thread other than me just needing to rant. Pregnancy pretty much turns me into a raving lunatic, everyone makes me mad.

 

[iBeach]

I agree! I don't understand why someone can think of breastfeeding as something sexual....
All of my sisters breasted until almost 2 years!!!! and kids are all happy and healthy.
My sister would whip out the boobies anywhere

 

[missbabes]

While I was still pregnant I ended up in a conversation with a few friends on whether I was going to breastfeed, and when I said I was one friend actually turned her nose up at me and told me that she would never do it as they're meant for sex. Don't think I'll ever understand anyone that truly believes that

 

[kung_pao mama]

my goodness, some people are ridiculous. i'm still a newbie to this whole mommy thing and have only breastfed around people other than my husband a handful of times. thankfully, none of them have had negative opinions about it. although, if they had, i'm sure my fiesty mouth would get the best of me. i'm just enraged that people actually say things like breasts are "meant for sex." I have even heard some compare nursing in public to peeing on a building or something. how stupid can you be?

it does need to be normalized again. people don't see it often and it freaks them out.

 

[mia_leacey]

My FIL implied that I must also be bfing my husband in some kind of weird kinky act as I was bfing past 1. He struggled to keep his mouth shut for that long but he was totally horrified I went any further!

 

[Lief]

I don't understand people that think like this.
When I was pregnant my friend (also pregnant at the time) asked about what formula I was going to use. I told her I was going to try breastfeeding and see how it goes. I don't have anything against formula, I just wanted to breastfeed. She made a face and said "but you're having a boy"
I asked why that would make a difference to breastfeeding and she replied that
3it just wouldn't feel right to breastfeed a boy, boobs are a sexual thing"
I know society has turned them into a sexual thing but they're there to supply milk to our children. I know this isn't always the case, my sister tried to breastfeed but couldn't due to no milk supply. It didn't make her any less of a mother, she still cared for her son and he's now a happy healthy 19 year old.
This woman also has a problem with kids having a bath with their parents, she told me that she wouldn't have a bath with her son as she didn't think it was right, her son was about 2 or 3 months old at the time. Myself and my partner take turns to have a bath with our son (he also gets in on his own with one of us supervising) we have done since he was born.

 

[J22]

OMG the ignorance!!! It shocks me to the point of being left speechless that anyone could possibly even consider bf as being anything remotely sexual. What a crazy, messed up society we now live in for people to think that

 

[DaisyMai]

I agree that society has gone mad.
When I'm out and about and breastfeeding in public I find myself just waiting for someone to complain or just stare.its wrong,I shouldn't feel like that! I should feel totally comfortable about the fact I'm giving my baby the best start as mother nature intended!

I also don't understand why a mother wouldn't even try to breastfeed and just give formula straight away (medical reasons aside of course)

Grr let all have a rant =o)

 

[Brieanna]

It is ridiculous!

You should ask these people that think breasts are ONLY sexual if they get all turned on when they use a tampon or go to a gynecologist? After all, that hole is meant for sexual things. . .

 

[Bevziibubble]

Some people can be so ignorant. Just ignore them; there is absolutely nothing sexual about the act of feeding and nourishing a baby