Dads and Breastfeeding
Posted on 16. Mar, 2009 by Brian Reid in General
The piece of writing that is now burning up the intertubes is Hannah Rosin’s Atlantic attack on breastfeeding. It’s one of those articles that needed to be written, but I must admit to having read the piece only *after* DaddyType’s elegant takedown. DT should be required reading alongside the Atlantic piece.
My brief pass through the data seems to suggest that the breast-is-best argument is well-supported in a statistical sense, but that the benefits — at the individual level — are exceedingly modest. This isn’t an argument against breast-feeding, but a sense that the benefits ought to be put in a broader perspective. Rosin is right that — in certain communities — breastfeeding has become part of the parenting canon, and that’s not a view that has been well-examined.
And for all the ink spilled, Rosin pays little attention to dads. I’ve done the bottle thing, with both breastmilk and formula, and I have little sympathy for guys who use breastfeeding as an excuse to check out (or moms who let them).
Vincent O'Keefe
17. Mar, 2009
Dear Rebel Dad,
I applaud your bravery as a man entering the minefield of breastfeeding. I have been a stay-at-home dad and freelance writer for nearly nine years now, and my wife breastfed both of our children for many months. But it was very difficult. Like you, I tried to support her as much as possible via bottle-feeding of breastmilk, etc.
An extra challenge for us was our firstborn had colic and could only be soothed with a breast, which made me SAHD-out-of-luck. Some comical situations ensued, and I wrote about one in a book titled What Would MacGyver Do?, edited by Brendan Vaughan. The piece is called “The Night Dad Dressed in Drag.” While all of this was emasculating (of course), I was proud to get a stay-at-home dad story into a book inspired by MacGyver.
Vincent O’Keefe, Ph. D.
Fierce Pika
27. Apr, 2009
Well done, sir. As a stay at home Dad, I applaud your efforts.
Regarding breast milk: since I was intimately involved in this part of the process (i.e. feeding my daughter pumped breast milk), it forced me not only to more carefully monitor baby’s feeding, but also my wife’s working life: how much stress she faced, whether she was taking adequate breaks, helping her assemble everything she needed for the work day (including breast pump parts and her lunches)—all of which impacted on my day based on how well she was able to hand me little bottles of breast milk to put in the fridge at the end of the day. Because I knew the exact quantities baby ate, we could track her intake. Because I had to plan feedings well in advance (lacking the ability to whip out a boob on short notice), I had to keep excellent track of the time, and work hard to pick up on baby’s hunger cues, and also finding means to get the kid to sleep or quiet down, since (again) I couldn’t just have her fall asleep suckling on my breast.
All of this meant that, in short, I had much more energy, commitment, attention and time invested in the subtle things happening in my family’s lives than I might otherwise have had, and I therefore ensured that things ran smoothly since I was the primary depository of what needed done around the place.
You know, just like Donna Reed.