Giggles and Boobs

I've been giggling to myself all day long.  Not about boobs though... I'll get to that later.

My mowhawk clad half-pint reminded me once again this morning that I need to censor what comes out of my mouth.

As he struggled to put his jacket on, the little one hissed something to the likes of, "I'm so freakin' cold!"

Wait... WHAT???

I really didn't think that "freaking" or "freakin'" was that bad, until it came out of the mouth of my two year old!

To make sure he really said the PG13 version, I asked him to repeat it.  Again, in a slightly sharper weren't-you-listening-the-first-time tone, he hissed, "I'm SO FREAKIN' cold!!"

Note to self: Censor. Censor. Censor.  Freedom of speech (A.K.A. freedom of foul language) should not be allowed in front of impressionable preschooler ears.  There is a time and place for everything after all!

In other news and on a totally unrelated note, some of you may know that I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total boob-nazi.  If it works for you, great.  If not, then so be it.  It has to work for both BABY AND MOMMY!  But at the end of the day, breastmilk IS nature's perfect food for babies.  It just is what it is.

Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti, a flood of Facebook messages lit up my news feed with information about breastmilk donation for the babies who had been affected by the disaster.  If you read my post the other day, you know what  a hard time I've been having processing the devastation.  I immediately contacted the numbers to get more information and find out if it was a legitimate call for help.  I am still nursing our youngest child and figured that it might be small, but that donating milk would be an easy way that I could help the littlest victims.

I was disappointed to find out that the calls for donations are not legitimate.  Unfortunately, because of the highly perishable nature of breastmilk and the immense difficulties that crews are facing getting supplies to victims of the quake, there are no donation banks accepting milk for Haitian babies affected by the disaster.  Furthermore, I learned that if the potential donor is nursing a child who is over the age of twelve months, her milk is not eligible for donation.  Boo.

And while we're here, let's take this moment as an opportunity for some education.  The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends breastfeeding for the first six months and up through two years of age.

Over the past decades, evidence for the health advantages of breastfeeding and recommendations for practice have continued to increase. WHO can now say with full confidence that breastfeeding reduces child mortality and has health benefits that extend into adulthood. On a population basis, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is the recommended way of feeding infants, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods for up to two years or beyond.

Source: http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/topics/prevention_care/child/nutrition/breastfeeding/en/index.html

Furthermore, evidence suggests that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of breast cancer - which unless you are new to this blog, you know that I am also a huge advocate of breast cancer awareness.  This fact has not been a deciding factor in whether or not to breastfeed my children, but it is an added bonus.

After pregnancy, breastfeeding for a long period of time (for example, a year or longer) further reduces breast cancer risk by a small amount. Source: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/pregnancy 

So yes, I am still nursing my 15 month old.  And yes, I would be more than happy and willing to donate milk to a child in need.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

Love, hugs, and blessings,
The Mama