NutritiousMeg

When I was out west in Victoria last month I was surrounded by plenty of moms with nursing babies.  I went to my nephew’s music class, we hit the park a handful of times, we swam at the pool, and generally there are a lot of new families in Victoria.  The one thing that stood out to me was how many women were nursing openly and seemingly very comfortably.  The second thing I noticed was how many of the nursing babies were older than a year old.  Things just seemed so different in Toronto.

With few exceptions, most women I come into contact with in Toronto nurse covered up with a hooter hider of sorts, or they save nursing for the privacy of their home and bottle feed in public (whether it be formula or expressed milk), and they usually wean the baby off the breast around the 6 month mark.  So, when I came back from my time in Victoria, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of “I wish I was raising my child there”…less social pressure…I can admit it: I easily fall victim to peer pressure.

There are so many benefits to breastfeeding; I’d hate to think that a woman would cut the process short, be stressed during nursing, or stay at home to avoid the situation all together just because of the social pressures of living in a cosmopolitan economic hub.  I remember, during my last couple months of working at a restaurant catering to corporate clientele in the financial district of Toronto, a woman came in with an infant requesting a table for one.  She was taken to a seat near the mens washroom and created a huge fuss amongst the men in suits; her baby was hungry, naturally, she nursed him.  Obviously, I get it, it made some of the men who aren’t used to seeing breasts in that context uncomfortable, but on the other hand it really pissed me off; her baby needed to eat and she shouldn’t have to hide in a bathroom stall to feed him!

The emotional and physical benefits of breastfeeding our children are not in question, all of the research indicates that breast milk is the most ideal food for babies.  I can only hope that if I’m lucky enough to be physically able to breastfeed, I’ll also be strong enough to endure the sideways glances and nurse my baby in peace, wherever I am.

I want to hear from you!  What are your thoughts on the subject?  I encourage you to post your comments on the blog so that we can have an open chat about it!