Pennsylvania Judge Tells Mom Not To Breastfeed

A judge in Northampton County, Pennsylvania thinks he knows when a baby should breastfeed, and when a baby should be weaned. After all, aren't all children cookie cutter clones of each other? Shouldn't their development, by and large, mirror image the development of all other children, as they grow to become more and more sheepishly alike? And why would a mom still breastfeed a baby who is ten months old? Shouldn't all babies be on formula by then?

Jessica Moser was just told by a family law court judge, who isn't named in this article, that she has to stop breastfeeding and put her baby on formula so the baby can spend two nights a week with her non-custodial father. The baby will not take a bottle, and Jessica cannot pump enough for two days. But the judge has mandated that this baby will switch to formula, or he will take all of Jessica's children away from her. Sadly, this kind of crap happens all over the country. In fact, breastfeeding is something women are encouraged to avoid in Northeast Kansas. It seems that the judicial community has found one more brutally effective weapon in it's brutal attack on the American family. Bravo, Northampton County! Today you got famous.

Not every baby can tolerate formula. Celiac disease runs in my family. (this was unbeknownst to me when I had my children) My natural children were all breastfed, and that is probably one of the reasons they are so healthy, and have not exhibited symptoms of celiac disease, themselves, as the autoimmune disease is hereditary. Breast milk, even in perfectly healthy babies, is always better tolerated than formula. One of the reasons that the diapers of breast fed babies are less smelly then the diapers of bottle fed babies is that breast milk is easier for any baby to digest. Also, breast fed babies generally develop more quickly, into more intelligent students who display much more independent thought. Could this be another reason the judge would like to stop this woman from breastfeeding? Hmmm.......Those special education teachers would find themselves unemployed if too many moms breastfed! Also, breastfed babies are less likely to be obese as children or as adults.  Formula simply isn't a match, at all, for breastfeeding; and if a baby won't drink it, the point is moot. Is the Pennsylvania judge going to punish a ten month old by sending her to bed with no dinner?

What's wrong with simply giving the mom six months to wean this baby, since babies usually are not weaned overnight, and starting extended visitation then? In six months, this ten month old will be closer to an age when most babies are weaned, able to eat more of what everyone else eats, and able to communicate via spoken word. Why punish a baby just for being a baby?

 

Breast Fed Babies

Wow. I really don't understand why the subject of breast feeding one's children is such a big deal. That's how I fed my kids. That's how all babies were fed before bottles and formula were invented. Not that I would breast feed a child as big as the boy on the Time Magazine cover......I always stopped nursing as soon as I discovered that I was pregnant again. The youngest was nursed until he was almost three. It worked out very well; no sour-milk bottles, no getting up at night to fix bottles, no formula. Even the best formula is no match for mother's milk. Diapers of breast fed babies are not as stinky as diapers from bottle fed babies, too. Of course, at work, I had to use a breast pump. And I have had many a rude boss or co-worker who did not understand, but I did it anyway, and among sacrifices that a parent can make for a child, that one is rather small.

A dynamic that goes hand in hand with breastfeeding is that, even if by default, one generally has to HOLD one's baby while breastfeeding. With all the the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby, that is probably the most important one. It would be interesting to conduct a study on mothers who abuse or murder their children, and determine how many of those mothers breastfeed. I cannot imagine wanting to harm a baby while I hold and nurse that baby.

Once again, I really don't understand why breastfeeding garners such a huge public reaction. It isn't sexual, and before bottles and formula, it was the only way to feed a baby. I also had no idea that by feeding my babies, I was inadvertantly breaking the law in a couple of the states where I publicly nursed. Totally amazing; children can become the victims of terrible crimes and justice never be served, but there's a problem with a mother feeding her child the way nature intends. This population gets worked up about the wrong issues.

Samantha; a proud, breastfeeding mom.