"Kim" wrote in message
.. .
wrote in message
oups.com...
wrote:
wrote:
So what's wrong with being fed bottles of Bud?
While I wouldn't turn down a Bud, I much prefer a
Yuengling Black & Tan or a Guinness Stout. Or a
Genessee Cream Ale.
Beats me, I'm not into suds.
As for what is fed to babies,
Ye gawds in all the years I've been lurking in this funny-farm I can't
think of another topic having popped up which is a far afield from the
code test war. Ever. .
WEIRD!
Oh, I think you could find some pretty darned furhter off-topic
discussions
than this. In fact, bottle feeding frees up a woman to pick up a mic or
slam a fist, as it were.
Well that's one way to tie it into amateur radio (or any other topic for
that matter).
Whether a protest of the topic or not, I couldn't tell, but you've bit
right
into it, I see.
it should be remembered
that for a couple of decades in the middle of the
20th century, the "professionals" and "experts" told
us that bottle-feeding was *better* for infants than
the "old-fashioned way". The newfangled "formula"
and all the attendant apparatus was "scientific" and
"progressive", they said. Of course it took a whole
pile of hardware (bottles, sterilizer pot with lid and
bottle rack, nipples, nipple rings, seals, bottle tops,
tongs) the formula itself, and a kitchen to do all the
processing to do what "the old fashioned way" did semi-
automatically.
The "old-fashioned way" was
put down as being vaguely third-world, Luddite,
"horse and buggy" and inferior both physically
and psychologically. Moms who tried to keep the
old ways met with resistance, opposition and
insults.
Uhhh . . are you "explaining" all this to me James or what? If so spare
me willya, I was raised in those days and so were my kids and those
times spanned more than just a couple decades. Yeah there was a bit of
hardware involved but the process was a no-brainer and it wasn't nearly
as complicated as you've intimated. Tongs? sterilizer pot? Bottle rack?
What? Nonsense. Never had any of 'em. By the way the handiest widgets
by far were the 'lectric bottle warmers. Didn't have any friggin'
pacifiers ether.
Well when I was planning to have children, I sat down and evaluated the
alternatives based on my lifestyle and the technology available to me. I
ended up working full time and choosing breast feeding for both children. I
didn't care one bit for historical precedence or political correctness.
[snip]
After all, the "professionals" and "experts" knew
best, right?
As if!
Yeah as if. In the first place you weren't there, I was but never mind
that little detail. The bottle-feeding days were the biggest move
forward ever in the liberation of women, especially moms. Finally moms
didn't have to hover over their wee ones 24/7 and were able to do
"radical" things like trudge off to jobs and even short vacations
without the kid thus getting the ravenous little beasties out of their
lives for awhile for a break for others to feed. I sure did my share
and so did grandparents and others.
I personally found breast feeding to be liberating. If I wanted to go
somewhere, all I had to do was stuff a couple of diapers in my purse, grab
the baby and go. Didn't have to worry about how much formula to take or
how to keep it from spoiling, etc.
Good grief. Take a breath there. I really don't know if you're being
gruff
with a reason or if you are somehow insulted by Jim's attempt to caution
at
what "experts" may say at any given time. I think the more demonstrable
part of Jim's post was that it is the advertising that drives what is
"best"
for...well, anything. Here, it happens to be whether breast feeding or
bottle feeding is good/better for people.
The two problems with the current politically correct
gotta-do-the-boobs drill are (1) it puts the moms back into the same
crippled sorts of lives the cave women lived and (2) fathers don't have
to be bothered with the feeding so they can wander off and be Real Men
again. Bull****. Lemmee clue you about the biggie which has been lost.
A non-mom reapetedly having the sole responsibility for feeding an
infant is by far the second most powerful bonding force there is.
Ah. So, this is going to come down to some argument for or against the
"politically correct" angle, for you. Let me give you a clue: moms who
"gotta-do-the-boobs" drill are quite capable of doing the boobs AND all
that
you mention above. I bottle fed my first baby and breast fed my second.
I
got to try both and enjoyed both. Neither method prohibited me from doing
anything and I didn't feel cave-like at all, as your neandrathalian
attitude
suggests. One thing that pretty much cannot be argued is that, in a
healthy
environment where mom is healthy, breast milk is far superior to
manufactured formula. Given that, dads are not at all locked out of the
experience of feeding, as breast milk can be pumped into bottles and fed
to
the baby. Moms are free to pump their breasts at work, saving the milk
for
bottle feeding at the nursery, or by dad, or by gramma, or whomever.
Feeding a baby breast milk does mean that there are any cave relationships
that have to be endured.
Kim's got it 100% right here. As mentioned above, I worked full time.
Breast milk has many advantages. If the mother is healthy, it is
automatically the correct balance for the infant. In addition, it tranfers
any immunities that the mother may have to the infant for the duration of
the time that the baby is breast fed.
A non-mom can repeatedly have the sole responsibility for feeding an
infant
AND experience the most powerful bonding force there is, simply by feeding
the baby with breast milk through a bottle.
I spent thousands of hours in that mode and looking back I wouldn't
have missed it for all the world. My sons-in-laws have no idea what I'm
talking about when the topic comes up and the grumpy old ex couldn't
agree more despite the fact that agreeing with me on any subject galls
her no end.
You are a dedicated dad and that is admirable in terms of the men in your
generation who wanted nothing to do with the babyhood of their children.
My
childrens' father; nor any of my gal-friends husbands, wanted to change
diapers, feed, bathe, or even watch their child alone. We dragged the
kids
everywhere, were expected to maintain the home, get the food on the table
reliably, keep the "kid" quiet and, not only no, but hell no, dad wasn't
about to watch a baby while mom just took a break.
It is fantastic to find a dad that takes part as you did. I have to give my
daughters' fathers credit for participating in child rearing even though in
both cases we divorced for other reasons.
What paper diapers? Don't be silly . .
In closing here James ponder this: You've spent more than just a few
minutes rachet-jawing with my youngest. Who was 100% bottle-fed as
often as not by her daddy. What evidence do have to offer which
indicates that she'd have been better off if she'd been boob-fed
instead?
Watch bottle-feeding come back again and remember where ya heard it.
What I hope to see is that mothers are free to choose whichever method suits
them and their lifestyles. While breast milk has a slight edge, modern
pediatrics has insured that formula is an adequate substitute.
73 de Jim, N2EY
w3rv
You seem way too defensive, as though Jim was shunning one style of
feeding
over another. I think what Jim was shunning is the readiness of people to
believe so-called experts, when the experts driving mechanism is
advertising
or influence, etc. I think bottle feeding is the preferred mode today,
isn't it? It doesn't have to "come back," because it hasn't gone anywhere
in the past 20 years, or so. Most women I know who are having babies
these
days are bottle feeding--though many more than used to are feeding breast
milk, pumped while they are at breaks at work and refrigerating the milk
for
future use.
Kim W5TIT
At least in my lifetime, there have always been more women bottle feeding
than breast feeding. Most of my daughter's friends bottle feed although she
chose breast feeding. She made her decision on her own without pressure
from me. She got herself an extra fancy breast pump. It is motorized and
does both breasts at once. Somehow this bring about visions of the farm and
the milking machines we used to have when I was a child!
Dee D. Flint, N8UZE