misskriss

My 12 year old has one. I think it's great and it's useful for me. True she isn't out of my sight much but it's amazing how handy it is when she is gone. She calls me when basketball practice is over or when she's at sleepovers with friends. She goes to the dz a lot too with my husband and she always calls me from there. If we're at the mall and she goes off with her friends we can keep in touch as to where exactly she is. It's not about being a gadget and I know I survived without one as a kid but I think this is good technology. We're all on a family plan with tmobile and it's great. We never go over our minutes and that's with three girls. My 14 year old sleeps on the third floor and instead of yelling for her or running up three flights of stairs with the baby I will call her on her cell phone to come down..

LOL... I haven't done that but if a tissue isn't available I will gladly squeeze his little nostrils together and get all the snot off. I did that at the park when I forgot the baby wipes. Just wiped it right on my pants. I've been pooped on, peed on, vomited on and it's all good.

OF Course, they are funny. When Willem does it, I say, "Willem tootied." And he laughs and he tries to do it again. He laughs every single time and you can see him strain to try and get one more out. He does the same thing when he burps. He burps and then laughs and then imitates the sound of the burp and cracks himself up. This is at one year old. Great entertainment, let me tell ya.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

If it doesI don't really notice. I just have the cup in the morning if I go to Starbucks and that's it for the day. When he nursed exclusively I avoided it or just got decaf. It's the bottle of wine I drink that really helps when I want to get him to sleep. KIDDING, KIDDING, KIDDING, KIDDING, KIDDING!!!! Actually, I will have a glass or two of wine some evenings but it's after he's gone to bed for the night.

So this morning we went to Starbucks as we typically do. I had my Peppermint mocha and he had his venti dark roast. The baby had some gingerbread loaf. We had been lingering for quite a bit and Willem was getting sleepy as it was time for his morning nap. He started fussing and was letting me know he wanted to nurse. Typically, we would have packed up and gone home so I could nurse him and put him to sleep because Starbucks doesn't have anywhere private really. Well... we were still enjoying our coffee so I decided to be a rebel and nurse him there. I didn't have a blanket but I did have his little blue jacket which you can see in the picture. It's not covering him because he yanked it off when I tried to cover his head with it. You will see though that my shirt covered me completely. No one batted an eyelash at me. He nursed for about 5-10 minutes, I unlatched him, covered back up and then he slept peacefully over my shoulder while we finished our coffees and just relaxed. I'm glad we stayed.

I'm sorry anyone sent you unkind pm's. and that was a great post by the way.

That's great to hear. She's one of the good ones, for sure.

Happy Birthday Val! Was just thinking about you a couple of days ago wondering how you were doing.

I have three bottles of San Pelligrino by the bed so I'll stay well watered up. I love that stuff. I never drink hard liquor but maybe if I mixed the whiskey with some herbal tea and honey. Just a cup. I don't know...

We have a bottle of Oban. Maybe I'll have a taste.

I love Squeak

I'm sick in bed talking about breastfeeding babies and irritating people. I think I will forgo nursing tonight and have a hot toddy or something else. What's a good drink for a sick person?

I think you took it the wrong way. But this is the internet...LOL I never suggested that anyone wanted to ban breastfeeding. Everyone has an opinion and that is cool and they differ and that is cool. It's what makes the world go round. I'm not a militant breastfeeder walking around with my tits hanging out while a five year old is suckling. I do shave my legs and my armpits as well.

Actually, he's the prude. He gets offended if I try to squirt my milk on him which I will do if we're in the shower just to get him all grossed out. I'll also ask him if he needs milk in his coffee and whip out my boob which also makes him shudder. Granted I only whip it out in the privacy of our own home.

Good for you. I know how hard pumping constantly can be. My third was only 4 weeks early but her lungs weren't quite ready yet and she stayed in the nicu for about 10 days. I pumped and pumped and pumped. When she was off of the IV they would feed her my milk through the tube that went into her mouth to her stomach. I forgot what they called it. I remember the first time she was able to drink from the bottle. Her father was feeding her with my milk. You are amazing to have kept it up for so long. .

Sorry, I didn't know you have experienced breastfeeding. Or is it the research you are talking about. I'm really not trying to be snippy... Honestly. From what I read on here you seem like a really sweet girl and we just have differences of opinion. None of my children have nursed past two (at their will) but if someone else wants to then I think it's their right. I provided a link with some info for anyone who is interested. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that "Breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first year of life and beyond for as long as mutually desired by mother and child... Increased duration of breastfeeding confers significant health and developmental benefits for the child and the mother... There is no upper limit to the duration of breastfeeding and no evidence of psychologic or developmental harm from breastfeeding into the third year of life or longer." (AAP 2005) The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that breastfeeding continue throughout the first year of life and that "Breastfeeding beyond the first year offers considerable benefits to both mother and child, and should continue as long as mutually desired." They also note that "If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned." (AAFP 2001) A US Surgeon General has stated that it is a lucky baby who continues to nurse until age two. (Novello 1990) The World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of nursing up to two years of age or beyond (WHO 1992, WHO 2002). Scientific research by Katherine A. Dettwyler, PhD shows that 2.5 to 7.0 years of nursing is what our children have been designed to expect (Dettwyler 1995).

Says who? Do you have experience or have you studied extensively about it? Technically a 7 or 8 month old can ask for it by tugging at your shirt. My son has been calling it boo boo for over a month now and the AAP strongly encourages to nurse for at least a year. Should I have stopped because he asked for it? People who have never breastfed a child think it's so easy to throw a blanket over or a cloth or whatever but it's really not that easy. When I would cover with the blanket I had to have help getting all covered up and as he got older he would yank the cover off. You can still cover most everything with your shirt anyway so it isn't an issue. I just don't get everyones uptightness with it. I did go in bathrooms and dressing rooms to nurse but if that isn't an option then I'm not going to not feed my baby because someone might get offended. I was/am always discreet when nursing, I just don't get why people are getting so worked up about it. It's like when the whole country went into a panic because of Janet Jackson's nipple at the Super Bowl. If you have children and decide to nurse you will see that it isn't always easy. I think people have to experience it to understand it. I can also see because of the society we live in (where porn is acceptable but breastfeeding is not )why people may be uncomfortable and it's why I'm respectful of those around me. Still irritates the hell out of me though.

not yet

Agreed. I would go in a second so I wouldn't have to worry about offending people. I have learned all over town which bathrooms have lounges with couches and which do not. At the mall I would go into a store and ask to use the dressing rooms and they always let me. I still hate feeling like I'm hiding away though just so someone won't catch a glimpse of my offensive breast. Babies R US is great because they have rocking chairs in the "nursing lounge." Maybe more places should offer these.

"A pair of substantial mammary glands have the advantage over the two hemispheres of the most learned professor's brain in the art of compounding a nutritive fluid for infants." --Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894)[ "Formula feeding is the longest lasting uncontrolled experiment lacking informed consent in the history of medicine." -- Frank Oski, M.D., retired editor, Journal of Pediatrics

?? One can never quite arrange for everything when you have a baby. Especially the first four /five months when babies nurse exclusively. I could have never left the house if that was the case. If you have children one day you'll understand.

What I don't understand is that men want to see breasts in movies, on tv, at the dropzone, on dropzone.com, etc. Look at how much money is spent on pornography in this country. And people get offended at the sight of a breast when a woman feeds her child? Please... breasts are not just for the sexual pleasure of men. They are for the care and feeding of human infants. I guess it's okay for people to flash their tits at the dz and show their pictures here on this website but God forbid a woman show her breasts when she feeds her child.

Yeah... I agree. And I even bought a special cover up so I could nurse in public when I needed to, however, he hated it. I remember one time I was at California Pizza Kitchen having dinner with my family. The baby got hungry and was crying with the blanket over him. I went to the bathroom so I could nurse him without the blanket. I remember sitting there on the toilet feeding my son. I felt horrible. Toilets were flushing, people were pissing and I definitely wouldn't want to eat my dinner in there. I went back to the table and nursed Willem. I didn't use a blanket because he protested but you couldn't see my breast. I had a nursing bra on and my shirt pretty much covered everything else. Going to the bathroom is not always an option. This isn't directed at you at all as I know you did nurse your babies, but it seems that it's mostly men and women who never breastfed who have the biggest issues with it. I could care if a woman nurses her baby or gives her baby formula. That's not my business. What's good for one person isn't good for someone else. I don't condemn anyone's choice, just don't condemn mine.