It will come as no surprise to most Mums that how to feed a baby can be a contentious issue. Those who bottle feed can feel judged by those who breastfeed. Those who schedule feed can tend to be judgemental of those who "demand feed" - and vice versa. Those who breastfeed for one year or six months often express judgment of those who feed their children for two years or four. Whenever these conversations come up, I like to churn out my standard line. "Each to their own, each to their own", I say!
This is not because I believe the Bible has nothing specific to say about the baby feeding issue. It is because I believe the Bible speaks very clearly to this issue, and encourages us to take an "each to their own" attitude. Romans 14 indicates that we not to judge others based on what they eat. Food is one of the "doubtful things" over which we are not to get into disputes (Romans 14:1).
I am uncomfortable when Romans 14 is applied to anything and everything, from pot smoking to belly dancing. This type of application amounts to the idea that anything that is not specifically mentioned in the Bible is an area of total Christian liberty. I attempted to counter this argument in my post "Sure, you can be a Christian polygamous, petrol sniffing, right wing racist if you like". Romans 14 tells us which matters it is speaking of - food and special days. Baby milk falls into the category of food, does it not? Therefore we shouldn't be spending our days commenting on what others are doing.
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Breast feeding are the best for babies up to two years
ReplyDeletebreastfeeding is such a touchy topic for so many, including me.
ReplyDeletei breastfeed my babies. i joined la leche league, which a breastfeeding education/support group for moms and babies.
when i had my second child i really had to take a step back and be accountable for my own judgments on moms using bottles/formula. afer a lot of prayer i felt lead to leave la leche league (the group does not tolerate formula or any type of bottle feeding, etc) and i had to teach myself a new way of thinking that did not include judging others for how they fed their babies.
a personal joy that happened was we purchased a breast pump and i began pumping breastmilk and then my husband could use a bottle to feed our youngest son, zak. being able to fed his baby was a great joy for him.
god lead me to open my mind and my heart.
on another note, i did love nursing my children and my youngest one nursed for 4 1/2 years.