Natasha Chiam
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writer :: feminist :: mother

Family and Breastfeeding

Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival! This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe's Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on the Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today's post is about family and breastfeeding. Please read the other blogs in today's carnival listed below and check back for more posts July 18th through the 31st!

My husband is Chinese.  He has two sisters, a brother and his parents.  Now don't get me wrong, I actually really love my in-laws, even though it took my MIL a good four years to love me back.  They are SO, so good to my kids and at least once a week I don't have to cook a meal. But, to be honest, they are kind of an uptight bunch - DH included!  Throw in a dash of crazy white chick breastfeeding your grandkids FOREVER and well....

...actually, they have been great about it!  I was and still am sensitive to their needs, ie, to NOT see my boobs and they, in turn, have been very supportive of me breastfeeding my kids for an extended length of time.  Maybe they say things to each other when I am not around, but never do I hear any of it.  I have breastfed my babies at our monthly (sometimes weekly) family dinners at our favourite Chinese restaurant, at dim sum Sundays and at their home. I think it is more important to them that we have family time then it is to make a big fuss about me nursing in public.  So they don't question me, tell me to stop or seem otherwise bothered by it.  Now granted, at first my poor brother-in-law could not even handle being in the same room when I was nursing one kid or the other, but he has come around and is way more mature about it these days.

My family is likewise very supportive of my decision to breastfeed my babies for a long time.  My sister has an 8 month old baby too and when we are all together, the boobs are being popped out and into someone's mouth left, right and center!  We are also an EC'ing family (my sister too) and so there are also potty breaks for the baby girls in the middle of the living room when we all get together.  We are just not a shy bunch.  (For those who don't know, EC=elimination communication.)

So here's the thing, I have plenty of things that I could complain about with regards to my in-laws and my own family (and who doesn't), but their acceptance and I believe genuine respect for my breastfeeding practices is NOT one of them.  And because I know that this is not the case for a lot of mommies, I wholeheartedly thank each and every one of them for that!

Peace out my mama peeps, Natasha~

Here are more posts by the Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival participants! Check back because more will be added throughout the day.

breastfeeding, familyNatasha Chiambfcafe, nursing in publicComment