Many of the mommies I know made great friends in their breastfeeding groups. A bond was formed as they shared their struggles and joys. In my previous post about breastfeeding, I mused that it would be a great idea to transform “breastfeeding” groups to “feeding” groups so that all mommies feel welcome, especially mommies who are looking for companionship and friends. Isn’t that why these groups exist in the first place?
In her blog Exploiting My Baby, Teresa Strasser recounts why and how she goes about going to her local breastfeeding group and feeds her baby formula…in the past covertly, now openly. I found the piece, “I’m Like the Guy in Fight Club,” to be eye opening, amusing, and touching. It also convinced me that there are probably a lot more moms who would be open to the idea of a more general “feeding” group.
Now I have to make some friends and have a baby. Then maybe I can get something like this off the ground.
Thanks for the link to that blog post. It was funny. The truth is, I never had a supply problem. To this day, I don’t. So although the women in a support group may have all kinds of issues, BFing for me is easier than all alternatives (I’m doing it right now). But I know it isn’t the case for everyone.
Hey Sara! That is a great idea. I was never able to breast feed, so I did feel a little excluded. I do attend playgroups, and have met heaps of Mom’s on a wonderful website here http://www.calgarymomscommunity.com . It has everything that a new (or experienced) Mom could ever need, from support, to pages just for venting. Since you are doing such an awesome job with this, you should do a website like CalgaryMoms (something like CaliforniaMoms or RedwoodCAMoms. She charges just $20 a year and you can meet many of the over 4500 other Moms that have joined 🙂
If you even want to email Britt, the owner of the site, message me and I will send you her email address. Her website helped me through my post-pardum, the loneliness and other issues.