OK magazine feature on the two of them with their new baby. Photo of Jordan bottle feeding her little girl. Peter Andre’s comment: “Junior didn’t breastfeed and he’s turned out fine.” A comment oft-heard but one along the same lines as “I never sat in a car seat as a baby and I turned out fine.” Why do some people find the concept of ’increased risk’ so difficult to understand? It doesn’t mean ‘if you do a then b will definitely happen’, it means ‘if you do a, then b is more likely to happen’. Of course the other thing with breastfeeding (and other things one does/eats as a baby/child) is that, while little Junior might be fine now, there are problems he is more likely to encounter in later life. I hate when I hear the ‘I/he/she turned out fine’ argument for not breastfeeding - it’s so daft! But hurrah! for Jordan, who is blatantly honest and just says “I don’t want a baby drinking from me. The thought of it makes me feel really funny. I think only a certain person could handle my knockers.” Yes, I feel sad that this woman’s life experiences so far have led her to see her breasts in this way, and only in this way, but she is showing that, in a way, she is empowered - she is confident enough to admit she doesn’t want to do it, and won’t feel guilty for her decision because it’s her decision and hasn’t been made for her by circumstances.
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10:14 am
I agree that it is heartening to hear Jordan being honest about her reasons for not breastfeeding. I was always of the opinion that it is better for women who do not feel comfortable with breastfeeding to bottle feed rather than to be in a situation where they are resenting their babies. But recently I am embracing a more understanding view.
My sister has had a baby and is persisting with breastfeeding even though she does not enjoy the sensation of being fed from and she will be moving over to formula feeds in the near future for other more personal reasons. She stated it like this: “I do not enjoy breastfeeding, to be honest I would rather be bottle feeding, but at this stage I want to give my son the best nutrients available while I can.” She intends to continue for as long as she can, but it won’t be long. She’s a bright girl and knows her options but has also had to overcome the suggestion that she is somehow taking risks with her child or neglecting him by planning to move over to formula earlier than what is the norm.
The country where we live (Denmark) is very pro breastfeeding and women breastfeed in public with no problems and are expected to breastfeed, so my sister is probably experiencing what breastfeeding women do in countries that are not ‘au fait’ with boobs as feeders..that being, her being looked down on because she is breaking with convention and only planning to breastfeed for a brief time.
I found breastfeeding easy…it was easy for me to give myself over to the symbiotic relationship between mother and child..but it is not always the same for every woman, throughout the ages there have always been women who do not ‘get on’ with breastfeeding..and that is one reason why substitutes were developed. It is sad that these substitutes can be pushed on women who may be perfectly willing and able to embrace full breastfeeding - and I do not understand the way people sometimes market formula as making life easier on a practical level (all that messing about with sterilising things!
I’d never be able to do that). However, one compassionate thought I am trying to keep in mind when facing lifestyles different to my own is that ‘there but for the grace of God go I’, which leads me to be more patient with life choices others make about how to feed their children. Breast is best, we know this, but it is not always realistic.
And so, in Jordan’s case - I agree - it is clear that she has made an informed choice that she is comfortable with and that her baby is indeed turning out just fine. But then again, there will be an army of people ready to point the finger of arrogant judgmentalism at ‘Jordan and Pete’ if their babe grows up to be a sufferer of asthma or allergies
I am grateful to you for fighting so hard on the frontlines of these issues. It is thanks to these types of efforts that healthy coverage of these issues are becoming more promininent and that the sisterhood of women gains insight and understanding amongst ourselves and we can share with compassion and respect our individual experiences of how we reach a choice about how to feed our children.