Gisele’s being a boob with her breastfeeding zealotry

Macca says:

12:51pm | 04/08/10

Of all Women, I am sure Gisele would know that not all Women’s breasts are the same… apparently not

Razor says:

01:13pm | 04/08/10

Great article - prepare for the onslaught from the fundamentalists.

Good luck

Sirro says:

01:27pm | 04/08/10

Fantastic article. I agree with you 100%.

My wife and I have three children. With the first two breastfeeding just wouldnt work and we bottle fed them. They are both healthy happy kids. The third baby my wife was able to breastfeed, largely due to us being lucky enough to have an extremely experienced pediatrician who saw that my daughter was slightly tongue tied and fixed the issue simply and quickly.

The end result has been another healthy happy child to go with my other two.
In addition my wife is happy that all kids have turned out fine and at last she is able to clearly understand that the result is the most important thing and the rest is simply a means to that end.

In terms of Gabrielle Bunchen. Well good luck to her and her opinion.
As a super model im not sure why she thinks that it has any particular validity greater than any other woman who has had a baby.
It should be treated similarly to the thoughts of any other celebrity who gives us their opinion on a particular issue. Good on you but go back to doing what you are famous/qualified for and leave us to make up our own minds.

Greg says:

01:29pm | 04/08/10

There are no shortage of ‘preachers’ in contemporary life (informed and otherwise), and when you bring a new child into the World, every last one within coo-ee is sure to find you. Most are well meaning, but as far as breast-feeding goes, most cling to, and are eager to relay, the dogmatic tenets impressed on them when they were at the same stage of child-rearing. My wife and I faced a similar predicament with feeding for our second boy, and in a frustrated position not too dissimilar to those mentioned above, we went to see one of the more recognised pedatricians in Sydney. His advice, with respect to our position? “Breast is best, but bottle is better” We never looked back, and our little man’s demeanour improved (quite literally) overnight.
My advice to all mums out there in this position (and I don’t doubt there are many) is to persevere with breast-feeding for a while, but once it becomes apparent that it isn’t working, move onto the bottle, and ignore dolts like Gisele, whose knowledge on the topic is probably limited to what she reads in new age, liberal hipster magazines not worth the paper they’re printed on.

GreekSnake says:

01:30pm | 04/08/10

The key words in her statement were “in my opinion”.

She didn’t say she has a degree to backup the statement, she just stated that’s how she sees it. Since when are models applauded for their intellect anyway?

Super D says:

01:51pm | 04/08/10

Gisele should have just stuck with being pretty.

Pudel says:

01:53pm | 04/08/10

Fabulous article.  I was lucky, breastfeeding was easy for me.  My sister found it hard.  With her first she managed 4 months, but the baby was losing weight, and with ehr second just a bit less than 3.  Both are fabulous kids, happy and healthy and know they are loved.  My brother in laws Aunt was a breast feeding zealot,. and at my youngest nieces baptism, she hid in a bedroom to bottlefeed. 
Breast is best, but it does not work for all.  My advice to any mother is do what is right for you and your child, and that is not just for feeding.  I am not an expert, but have discovered with 3 kids that what works for one may not for another.

dave says:

02:06pm | 04/08/10

Excellent article.
When having babies always remember that yes, the “experts” know lots and lots about babies. BUT, you know your baby better than the “expert”.
If its not working its not working- some people should learn to keep their preaching to themselves.

Laz says:

02:16pm | 04/08/10

Gisele is an idiot.  My four sisters all tried breast feeding as was pushed on them by the midwives and after many failed attempts, they fed their children from the bottle.  After seeing your sisters bleeding breasts and their thirsty little babies I was very happy to see them change to a bottle.  There are now 7 well adjusted, gorgeous kids running around in my family.

Bruce says:

03:07pm | 04/08/10

Take it easy on Gisele. She has most probably just found out what breasts are really for. The baby feeding novalty will most probably wear off by the time the next baby comes along.

Cheryl Gower says:

03:11pm | 04/08/10

I was guilt ridden and got depression from my inability to breastfeed my daughter. I felt like a failure and their was alot of pressure at that time put on by everyone to breastfeed. My second child i managed to breastfeed but if was difficult at first. Breastfeeding is difficult for some and easy for others and being a mother is very stressful as it is without people going on about it.Its up to the parents to decide and is nobody elses business. Feeding a baby by whatever means is only a small part of what a parent does for their children. Comments by that model really make me angry.

Suve says:

03:13pm | 04/08/10

Gisele should realise that all women are different. She of all people should have a greater understanding of this as she makes her living from not being like other women and good luck to her with that. However the ease of breastfeeding differs from woman to woman and while it is recognised that ‘breast is best’ if you simply can not breast feed then it is perfectly reasonable to feed your child the best alternative possible without any kind of guilt trip. I had great issues breastfeeding at the beginning but luckily I had a fantastic lactation consultant and was able to feed my child both breast milk and formula until I had healed enough to go back to full breast feeding, which I continued until my child was 12 months old.

What is Gisele trying to prove here, that she is not only better looking than 99.9% of the female population but is somehow a better mother, better at giving birth etc. It appears that she has displayed one stereotypical quality associated with her profession and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what that is…

Jackie says:

03:16pm | 04/08/10

I beleive some women exist purely to make the rest of us feel crap, Giselle is clearly one of these women. I was lucky enough to be able to breastfeed my 4 babies until 12 months, when I chose to stop. But it wasnt without complications, my son was a whopper & like above I struggled before combining breast & bottle.
The reasons some women choose not to breastfeed are often complicated &  are often medical but can also be financial-returning to work or social, because not everyone is as comfortable with their bodies as Giselle.

bennie says:

03:28pm | 04/08/10

I was bottle fed as I was an adopted baby.  It hasn’t seemed to hurt me at all.  I’m not even overly obsessed with boobs!

TheRealDave says:

04:03pm | 04/08/10

I think I mentioned this in the last ‘Breast is Best’ Punch article a few months back (we seem to get them every few months). When our oldest was born in 2000 we were asked literally minutes after she was born whether we were going to breast or bottle feed by the mid wife. No raised eyebrows or pushing one way or the other. I noticed one article pinned to the noticeboard about the benefits of breastfeeding and some class about it. We went breast, but stopped after 6 months because it was too painful for the missus and she basically wept through the last month. When the second was born in 2003 I noticed Breast feeding posters on a few walls and this time it was assumed we’d be breast feeding, which we were and she stuck it out 6 months again, in pain a lot of the time. When the little man was born a year ago (turned 1 last Friday actually) I noticed that every single avalible wall space in the entire maternity wing was festooned (yes - festooned) with Breast is Best paraphanalia like posters, charts, pictures of mothers breast feeding, pamphlets, booklets etc No other child birthing or child reading info…all breast feeding. And it was a lot more in your face as in dire things could happen if you didn’t breast feed. I was a tab preturbed even though we went breast again, but this time only for 3 months as the missus just couldn’t do it anymore.

But it was a remarkable change in attitude over 10 years.

pete m says:

04:59pm | 04/08/10

We have a boob is best relative who thinks they should stay on the boob until school, and accepts no excuses for not being able to breast feed.  Luckily for her well being she kept her mouth shut around my wife and I after the 3 months of hell we went through with baby number 1.  Mere days after switching to bottle she was happy as any baby and we got our lives back. 

gisele - you may look hot, and we agree on your boobs being best, but to say it should be law, rofl.  too many flashbulbs going off in your head, poor dear.

Mother says:

05:43pm | 04/08/10

This is what happens when we let decorations talk..  Personally I took feeding advice from .... my health nurse and doctor.  One breast feed one bottle feed and they are both fine!

She should stick to being a decoration.

Sam says:

05:56pm | 04/08/10

Tell me about it, thank god my parents weren’t this insecure or who knows how me and my siblings would have turned out.  It always amazes me how outraged people become by someone else’s opinion it’s as if they are doing their very best to be offended as easily as possible.

Mr Subramanian says:

07:02pm | 04/08/10

There’s good reasons to be bottle feeding, and there’s bad reasons. If you’ve given breast feeding a go and it’s just too painful / baby’s not getting enough to eat / Dad’s feeling left out, well and good. If, on the other hand, you just can’t be bothered with the hassle of breastfeeding and are doing it mainly because it’s more convenient for you, then I think people might have a case for not thinking “You go Girl!”

Tarzan says:

09:07pm | 04/08/10

Once again a comment and the person is persecuted in the media because of PC guilt. We must all be so careful not offend anybody by our comments. Because everybody is different and has special needs.

amused says:

10:13pm | 04/08/10

She is an overpaid twat whose job it is to stand in odd positions while having her photo taken. She is also a new mother who clearly did not mean that there had to be a real law about breast feeding. She just made a simple comment that has been taken the wrong way. She should be more careful in the future.

Robert Smissen, rural SA, God's own country says:

11:35pm | 04/08/10

What I find scary beyond belief is that so many of the child “experts"don’t have any kids of their own but got all their expertise out of a book & because they’ve been to university obviously know more on the subject than your mum or mother in law. I had an intersting coversation with a former client that was working in Torrens House (part of Glenside Mental hospital) she told me that nearly 50% of women who end up in their are school teachers & nurses because all their “book learning” was to no avail. I ran play groups for up to 60 kids at a time & the ignorance of some of the mothers was frightening. My best advice to a new mum is to do what feels right for you, it usually is the right thing.

abeavherhausen says:

08:27am | 05/08/10

I do believe this is the woman who has claimed that her natural labour didnt hurt AT ALL. The woman is clearly a delusional nutbag.

Kel says:

08:35am | 05/08/10

Thanks for a great article. Despite being female, I’ve never been pregnant and never took much notice in high school as to our bodily functions on the subject, nor have I ever had any desire to research it myself. Before reading this I probably would have agreed with Giselle, but now being a little more accurately informed I agree with you (and thanks for opening my eyes!). You need to do what’s best for yourself and your bub, and don’t let any uneducated fools like myself convince you of otherwise!

Robert Smissen, rural SA, God's own country says:

11:24am | 05/08/10

Funniest thing I ever saw & poetic justice to boot, when I visited my wife in hospital after my son’s birth, a woman with her breasts bound up because she wanted to please her hubby that thought breast feeding was disgusting & didn’t want to share her breasts with their baby. She was almost drowning in milk. I thought it was justice for aquessing to her pig of a husband

The Kitchen Philosopher says:

11:28am | 05/08/10

Good article.  As one who suffered a tortuous three months of piranha-like suckling from my first born, I can see why many mums choose the bottle.  My situation was not helped by the Breast Nazis who insisted I express my own milk (and gee, wasn’t THAT successful - I’m sure he would’ve thrived on the two millitres I could muster up).  Fortunately, after a sensible MCH nurse finally suggested I ‘rest’ my boobs for a whole day (and yes, give him formula - it won’t kill him!) breastfeeding became a breeze.  On the downside, I got so good at it that by the time Number 2 came along, I almost drowned the poor kid and was forced to ‘posture feed’—which is not very convenient when you have a two year old trying to flush the cat down the toilet and/or escape to the nearby creek.  Enter the bottle.  Result? Happy baby.  Happy mother.  Happy cat.  (Toddler not so happy.  That creek looked DAMNED appealing!)

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Lindsay Matthews says:

11:56am | 24/07/11

I wish that Mom’s whose ‘failed’ at breastfeeding would own up to their choice.  I am a IBCLC and I have had to pay for my education and business.  I get women daily trying to get me to offer my services for free.  I wish that our Governments would see breastfeeding as an essential service and cover it under healthcare plans, but sadly, they do not.
As the author of this article explains, she spent hours on ‘hotlines’ and got contradicting advice.  Would you expect any medical professional worth their weight in salt to be able to diagnose an issue over the phone?  Probably not.  You get what you pay for in this world.  I hear too often “Oh, I cannot afford that!”  But you can either choose to breastfeed your child and pay for the help needed, or formula feed and pay for it in installments.
Breastfeed should not hurt!  When done properly, and women are properly supported, 99.9% of women can do it.  You are here because 30,000 women in your line before you were able to.  Are you special in some way from your Great Grandmother?  Probably not.  Formula is easy, readily available, and marketing makes it look appealing.
Feeding formula is like feeding your kids McDonalds.  Either way it is science, not nature, based foods.  If you feel judged by this, look into how your baby’s food is made and compare that to a Big Mac.  Not a lot of differences.