Die hard breastfeeders, here's a query for you...?

Question

Would you like to see a law in place if you had the power to enact it, that women are MANDATORILY enforced to breastfeed their babies regardless of their wishes. Plus, there would be a nationwide ban on formula and it would be available through prescription only. Who cares about the mother and her desires, right? I ask this because I gave birth in Germany, and formula was hard to come by, so I was basically forced to breastfeed for 6 months and I hated every living second of it. Now, thank goodnedd, I'm back in the good old US of A, and I can buy Enfamil from even the corner 7 eleven. So, would that make you La Lecahe Leaguers happy? Even if mothers were unhappy and disgruntled?

thank goodnes.

Melanie G> You can SUCK my cyber ****. You self righteous biznite.

Answer 1

NO! You can't force women to breastfeed! It's a violation of their privacy and the breasts are something many women are not comfortable sharing visually or otherwise.

I am extremely fair and had a very hungry, huge baby who sucked the skin right off my nipples in 24 hours. I had to stop breastfeeding so I could heal, and they messed up my production. My baby would have been eating cereal, I'll tell you that! I was in agony every second.

Answer 2

I don't think that would be cool at all even though, I am a breastfeeding supporter. If we had a system like the one you stated, people that did have the prescriptions and needed them might not always have access to the formula they need. Sometimes pharmacies run out of medicines forcing the customer to go to another pharmacy or do without. Further more it should be the women's choice whether or not she breastfeeds or bottle feeds.

Answer 3

personally, i think it should be left up the the individual mother.
i TRIED to breast feed! my milk dried up with ALL of my kids only after several months..i tried everything to keep it going, massage, pumping, herbal cures, mediation...etc.
i HAD to formula feed, and i hated it! but...i did give them what i could get for the first year..even if it was just an ounce. some is better than none.
now i have a 5 month old...and i made it to three months with breast feeding but just as before i dried up. so here i am..again formula feeding. a law like this that would make it impossible for me to just buy what i need at the store is INSANE! a prescription? give me a break....that would be outrageous! i have no choice, would i be considered a failure to those "hyper" crazy la lecahe women?

Answer 4

No, thats a stupid idea. I do hate that some people don't even give breastfeeding a chance, but sometimes babies don't take to breastfeeding. It's not the mother's fault and it's not the baby's fault--it just doesn't work sometimes. I think if they banned formula there would be a lot of starving babies out there. But I do hate when people don't even try breastfeeding, I think that's selfish.

Answer 5

I plan on breastfeeding my children but at the same time I believe it is a woman's right to choose whether or not they breast feed. There are many, many reasons why some women don't choose to breastfeed. I may have opinions about it but I don't go about forcing other people to accept my opinion as fact and make it into law.

Answer 6

hmmm, i curently live in germany, and there is formula all over.....very strange but no it is a womans decision.....not the states. some women have troubles latching on, some dont produce enough milk, some work, ect, ect, ect....isnt america the land of freedom, but we are going to force every woman that has a baby to breastfeed what if this woman is too poor to afford health care? and cant breastfeed, should her children suffer.....its bad enough the stuff costs so much, but now you ant to make it almost unavailable.....did you eat paint chips?

Answer 7

Well, as a mom to 4 breastfed babies, I'd have to say if every place were like Germany, in that aspect, The world would be a heck of alot healthier,and happier! I think that once you have children its your responsibility to do whats best for your child, whether its "your desire" or not. Its not all about you anymore, and its a proven fact--BREAST IS BEST. You should be happy you were "forced" to do whats best for your child. How will You feel the next time there's a formula recall, and you discover its the brand you've been feeding to your baby???.....guilty, most likely because you willingly chose to give your baby "synthetic" nourishment, and all the risks associated with it, instead of continuing to provide him/her with the most PERFECT food source you could, for the plain fact, you just didn't like doing it. I dont like changing my baby's diaper, but I'm not going to leave them in a pile of crap just because I hate doing it. You're always going to have to make sacrifices, and do things you'd rather not for the benefit of your children..Its called being a MOTHER.

Answer 8

No, breastfeeding is not for everyone, but personally i love it, i feel such a connection.
But in no way i swhat you are doing wrong, and I hated the Letche League, it was hard to start out breatfeeding, it takes time to adjust, and all they do is tell you your doing it wrong and then 10 different ppl tell you to do it 10 diff. ways!!! I say do what feels right, just make sure the kid is eating something :)

Answer 9

I am sorry you are disgrunted and unhappy. Personally, I don't care for anything that is mandatory. Isn't it interesting that some Mothers are upset because they have to breast feed and some Mothers are upset because their milk never comes in and they can not breast feed.

Hang in there in a few years this question will not be so important to you.

Granny

Answer 10

that would be really stupid... my twins were premature and gained weight really well on a special formula called Neosure..for low weight babies..now they are caught up totally...

theres NO WAY i could have breastfed 2 babies 3 lbs 10 oz. and 4 lbs 10 oz they did just fine on formula and its every womans choice to do it or not...for me it wasnt an option