I called it: Mothers need to breastfeed their babies now
UPDATE: GO HERE FOR MORE DETAILED INFO ON WHAT TO DO
What did I call? Well, the news today is that Walgreen's is restricting purchases of baby formula. Think about that. I also was right about what to do about this unbelievable development, but it takes forethought.
I have ventured into podcasting in association with The Center for the Restoration of Christian Culture, of which I am a Fellow. It's called The Home Truths Good Cheer Society, and in my first episode, posted a few weeks ago, called "The Reasonably Stocked and Prepared Life, or Doing a Little More," I spoke a bit about the importance of breastfeeding.
Now, I have a lot of reasons to encourage breastfeeding and in my book, The Summa Domestica, I have chapters and chapters on the subject. But in the podcast I really wanted to focus on something that struck me forcibly as I thought about inevitable shortages of food in the coming time.
My question is a frightening one, and we are seeing it now: What if you have a baby and rely on baby formula -- and there isn't any to be had?
When you breastfeed, you don't need to buy anything -- although I know that this could be news to today's young mother who is led to think you do need pumps, bottles, and who knows what.
But you don't.
But if you rely on formula, there's no going back.
Also contrary to what you might be led to believe, the vast majority of women can breastfeed their babies. Believe me, having written about it extensively, I am well aware that exceptions exist. But they are exceptions and they are rare. Breastfeeding a baby is just as essential a bodily function as one's own digestion and so on. However, breastfeeding is something the mother must commit to at the outset or it doesn't work (unless she has had children before, and even then it can be difficult).
The shortsighted and even dangerous reliance on "science" -- the rationale for bottle feeding in the first place -- has caught up with us.
If you are going to have a baby soon or know someone who is, please realize that breastfeeding needs to be a priority. There are many helps for overcoming cultural pressure to do otherwise, including on my blog and in my book.