Alas, this picture will just about do me.
I’m calling it.
This photo is bullshit.
This breastfeeding picture has created controversy around the world after it ignited the “when is a child too old to be breastfed?” debate. Let me begin by saying, FORGET IT. I don’t give a baby’s-merconium-smelling-fart about how long a mother chooses to breastfeed her child. Hell, breastfeed your child during her high school graduation for all I care. Go for it.
But I do have a problem with this.
Paulina Splechta, the photographer, told Mamabean, “I am proud to be able to capture this amazing moment, but I am even more hopeful that through the work that I do, I can help contribute to spreading the word in our society that breastfeeding is normal.”
Newsflash: this moment is not normal.
The Waves
I would struggle to swim in that swell BY MYSELF. Let alone with a child. Let alone with a child suckling at my breast.
I’m really worried about this woman’s lovely top.
Also, I couldn’t even wear that top without being paranoid of sticky, dirty baby fingers coming anywhere near it.
The Sunset
Two words come to mind when I see that sunset. Witching. Hour.
I cannot do anything or be anything other than a slave to my children at this time.
“Would you like another yoghurt, sire?”
“Shall I do the buttons up on your pyjamas?”
Sometimes I feel like bloody Carson The Butler from Downton Abbey as I dress and feed my tired, emotional people.
Going outside? To the beach? In the water? My head might spin off if I think about it any more.
The Position
When you’re breastfeeding, it’s all about the position, right?
Football hold. Traditional hold. Latching. Burping. Gagging. My heavens, I could write a book about it. (Because we all know we need another book on breastfeeding). Let me paint a picture for you:
The average mother is propped on a comfortable couch (or the most comfortable she can find), cushions surrounding her back, pillows under her arm. Sometimes she’s sweaty from being so – well, so bloody – close to another body. It’s a process. It’s a process when you’re in the comfort of your own home.
Breast-feeding at the beach doesn’t look like this.
Breastfeeding AT THE BEACH? I’ve tried it. It is possible the most awkward and ridiculous and crying-inducing activity a mother can do. Sand everywhere, the baby doesn’t feed properly, the baby is hungry, the baby is cranky, it’s glarey, windy, rocky, shelly and annoying because all you want to do is: ENJOY THE BEACH.
It’s basically the complete opposite of this picture.
Today, I viewed this photo with other mothers from our office. Women who have spent night-after-night massaging their breasts with olive oil in a bid to eradicate mastitis.
Women who have paid physios ridiculous amounts of money to heal their sore necks from persisting to latch a babe onto their breast and almost broken their neck whilst doing it. Women who have endured sticky jewellery and watches as they’ve unknowingly filled with leaking milk and vomit.
Women who know that breastfeeding certainly doesn’t look like this.
At all.
Breastfeeding is much, much more.
In the morning, it’s beautiful.
In the day, it’s demanding.
In the afternoon, it’s annoying.
In the evening, it’s painful.
In the middle of the night, it’s peaceful. It’s quiet. It’s unforgettable. Through the tiring minutes, you know this is a short season. A moment you won’t share with anyone else. It’s pure. It’s precious.
Breastfeeding isn’t about anyone else.
But this photo is for us. She’s staring at you and me. And I think that’s a real shame. For her, her baby and us.
Because it’s not real for anyone.
Top Comments
If you've breastfed for that long, it will be that easy. It gets easier over time. There's no shame in that! That photo would be a stunning photo even if the breast wasn't involved, it's a lovely photo of mum and child. And of course she has a lovely top on, she posing for a professional photo! Would you pose in your tracky dacks ?
I'm so over the whinging over breastfeeding. It didn't work with my first and it worked with my second. They were both equally amazing experiences. If you have successfully breastfed past 6 months or even a year it will be this easy and it will likely look like this picture...but sure the early days are painful and uncomfortable. I understand showing a pro breastfeeding pic makes those unable to breastfeed feel awful (God knows I felt like that too with my first). And vice versa. But let's just agree this is a lovely picture of a peaceful mum and child and they would be that peaceful whether there was a breast in the child's mouth or not. Mother and child is what's breathtaking, not breast or bottle. You don't have to choose a side people, just feed your child however it works and enjoy whatever the method and move on! Why would the author come to such a bitter conclusion? If breastfeeding made you feel that terrible perhaps you should have tried the bottle earlier, sometimes it's what works best for our mental state that is best for mum and Bub. If you're still harbouring this bitterness perhaps you should talk to someone about it.