Saturday, April 12, 2014

A good day as a Lactivist.

(A lactivist is an activist who focuses their attention and energy on supporting breastfeeding and normalizing human milk as the standard milk for human babies)

We met family (young looking mom with 2 boys- 3 and 2 yrs old) at McDonald's today. Ellie became fast friends with the older boy and the mom, younger boy, Penny and I sat on the chairs in the play place while the 3 year olds played. I nursed Penny openly like I always do. Other mom smiled when I joked with Penny about her hands not having milk in them. Other mom's 2 year old wanted milky too and, a bit shyly Other mom let him nurse a moment. My heart soared.

I wasn't sure if my nursing helped her feel comfortable nursing her (gasp!) 2 year old uncovered in public, or if she chose to nurse her 2 year old to encourage me to nurse full term.
Either way it was a win-win for normalizing breastfeeding.
Wanting to reassure Other mom that I thought nursing a 2 year old was just fine (or GREAT rather), I mentioned that Ellie (gesturing to the play structure) still nurses a few times a day. Other mom says "really?" And I wasn't sure if she was surprised, impressed, appalled, or what. I mention that it was especially helpful when baby was born. Then she talked about tandem nursing her (then 3) 6 year old daughter when her 3 year old son was born.

I wanted to hug her when it was time to go.

But breastfeeding is just another normal part of parenting, like insisting on eating the cheeseburger before playing, or buckling up in the car seat, or saving the happy meal toy for the waiting room at the next errand. So I just said "it was nice to meet you" and smiled happily.

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