1) My mother-in-law. Who has recently informed us that she just thinks daycare is bad for the baby. And yet! She is not offering to move across three states, abandoning her husband and elderly mother, and take care of him for us.
2) People who don't use common sense. For example: some people (normal, healthy people with normal, healthy babies, no preemies, no GODDAMN THRUSH) think you have to completely sterilize every part of your pump every time you use it. Hello!! Have you ever cultured a swab of a human mouth? NOT STERILE.
3) People who think pregnancy and breastfeeding mean you can't take any drugs at all. I even met someone who was afraid of taking antacids (the calcium kind), and not the whole bottle. She was afraid to take TWO. There are studies. Read them. This is what they are for: to find out if such things are safe.
4) People who think breastfeeding means you can't drink AT ALL. Let's say you have one beer- heck, let's say you have two! - and your BAC is 0.04. That's 0.04 percent. That means your milk is 0.04 percent alcohol. That means if your child drinks a whole lot- let's say it's the end of the day, so maybe 8 ounces- there's 0.09 mL of alcohol in the milk, or 2/100 teaspoons. Or roughly a third of a teaspoon of beer. Have a damn beer already.
5) My mother-in-law.
P.S. RIP Haloscan, by which I mean they're a bunch of weasels. Comment moderation, alas, is now on.
P.P.S. By which I mean that I broke comments and am trying to figure out how to get them back. Oops.
Yes, yes, yes! Eminently sensible, as always.
ReplyDelete(Plus, this will let you see whether comments are working, for this post at least!)
Thank you! Number 3 and number 4 in particular are huge peeves of mine.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Number 3 and number 4 in particular are huge peeves of mine.
ReplyDeleteAlso, people who can't figure out how to only post once really annoy me.
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ReplyDeleteYou are a brilliant woman! I totally agree with every freakin' word!
ReplyDeleteSigned
~a fellow daycare using, BF-ing lab worker, who btw sits by the *GASP* radiation hood while pumping (no, that will not cause tumors in my nursing child!)
ARRRGH!!! Some people need to shut the heck up!
It seems to me-- speaking as someone who doesn't have children--that the emotional stress wrought by parental depression, anxiety, and moodiness is at least as hard on children as the minor physical stress induced by consuming 1/3 of a teaspoon of beer. So if drinking one beer is going to help you cope, have the beer. And if drinking one cup of coffee is going to help you cope, have the coffee. I dare say that the same principle applies to many drugs, certainly to over-the-counter drugs. What six-month-old wants to deal with the sights and smells and general crotchetiness of a parent who has severe indigestion? Babies are people, too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck getting through this difficult season . . .
Also on notice: people who are convinced that their baby sleep technique (*coughFerber*cough) is The Only Good Solution and if you don't use it, you lose the right to complain about sleep issues.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, JF--the judgey, it is strong in mother-land.