h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This is a great topic for a Guide Entry!
Both my girls were/are breast-fed, and I do believe that it is the best, most healthy way to feed an infant. Both my kids were little pudgie, healthy, intelligent, bright-eyed babies. While my genes *may* have played a small role in that, I thik the breast milk helped a great deal.
All too often I see thin, sickly children and I just know they're on the bottle. And sure enough, that's nearly always the case!
I just don't know why people continue to bottle-feed. I mean, even the formula companies now say, "Breast is best, but buy our crap anyway..."
And I makes me crazy that hospitals send home new parents with packets of formula and coupons for formula and other bottle-feeding paraphernalia! We gave all our junk to the local food bank, but it's the premise that they're *giving* you this stuff so the milk doesn't come in right (or at all) and then you kid is hooked on the junk for months.

The nurses were all impressed by my favourable attitude toward breast-feeding and I joked with them that as long as my wife does it, I don't have to get up for middle of the night feedings! One said she was going to tell that to new fathers who had doubts about doing things the natural way! It makes me laugh that a dumb joke will be used to promote breast-feeding among stupid, lazy men. But if that's what it takes....


Anyway, aside from the ranting. Great start, though I'd love to see you add a bit more to help this page get Approved. If I can help, let me know!!

Sure, I'd love to do some collaborating. I think my main point in this was that I am annoyed (to put it mildly) about negative social opinion around my most natural of acts, and I was venting in a humorous fashion, but really, while wanting to retain the flavour of what I originally wrote, it could use more context, history, description, etc... Let's spruce it up!

OK, I'll try to get to this over the Thanksgiving Weekend and post something on Monday for you to check out. And If you trust me (he, he) I'll combine my stuff and your stuff into one big stuffed entry as well...

Sure... I guess some points that I'd really like to see get it are about breastfeeding's changing status as a sociologigal indicator. ie. it used to mean you were poor if you breast fed yourself (the age of wet nurses), then the rise of formula meant you were poor *and poorly educated* if you breastfed, and now it probablly means that you've reached a higher level of education if you make the choice to breastfeed. Also the point that there are people who will pay money to go into a strip bar and oogle (sp?) women's breasts, yet be offended by the sight of me feeding my child on the street is an important one. In Canada there have been a number of court challenges around a woman's *right* to breastfeed in public. Hello? I'll try and dig up the info, maybe some links. gotta go - jethro's crying

ok, i'm back. Speaking of breastfeeding...

I just read my interupted post (should have been get in, not get it BTW) I will try and find some links about women being charged with indecency for feeding in public and post them here.

Do you think we could keep my original entry reasonably intact, perhaps as an intro? I'm kind of attached to the bit about "civilized"

I'll just write up a bit and leave it for the subbies to combine...

Nothing's been done on this for a long time...

I was just thinking about doing an entry on the topic - more along the lines of breast vs. bottle feeding - primarily on the advantages of breast feeding as opposed to the supposed advantages of the bottle.

More information on the benefits of breast vs. bottle comes out all the time, so it is an entry that would need to be updated from time to time.