What I'm against is the La Leche whackjob cultists browbeating my wife because she had difficulty breastfeeding our first and who started insulting her when she told them that she did not intend to breastfeed our second.
I had to toss them out of her hospital room.
That sounds terrible. You were right to kick them out.
For the record, I had the opposite experience: Family members were constantly questioning my decision to breastfeed, arguing with me about it, trying to sneak the baby a bottle, and so on. It was a constant battle. By our second baby, though, they backed off. But then, our third did have trouble gaining weight, and everyone was worried again.
Once, I even was accused of laziness - as if I didn’t want to go through the trouble of preparing a bottle. LOL. People have no idea how difficult and challenging it is - at least for some of us - to nurse a baby. I also was accused of being “too attached.” LOL. I can laugh about it now, years later.
La Leche whackjob cultists browbeating my wife because she had difficulty breastfeeding our first and who started insulting her when she told them that she did not intend to breastfeed our second.
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The La Leche types breastfeed way, way late — 5 year olds and so forth. My wife had to give up breastfeeding because she dried up after an operation when she couldn’t see the baby often enough to keep the milk flowing. Baby was maybe 1 year old. If a woman can’t do it, she can’t do it (that’s what the old wetnurses were for before formula). No shame in it. It does take a little while for the woman to get going though . . . and babies are ok with that, it’s the way they are designed. They barely need any milk at first. Lots of professionals to help with the process as well, nurses that specialize in it and so forth.