La Leche Kid's Meal

Posted on Tue 08/23/05 in South Florida

Last night, my wife and I went to Beverly Hills Cafe for dinner.
As usual, there were lots of families with lots of kids. The family sitting directly in my view was a man and woman in their 50s with two children, about 3 and 6 years old. The little girl was cute and very talkative; I heard her order grilled cheese for dinner.

Their order came and they ate. Just minutes after the girl gobbled down her grilled cheese, I looked up to find the girl attached to her mother’s tit. I couldn’t stop watching. While she was being as discreet as possible, the fact that the girl had ordered her own food was overriding any rationale that tried to reinforce the normalcy of breast-feeding. What really made me queasy was the girl wiping her mouth when she was finished.

I support a woman’s right to breastfeed. I support the laws allowing women to breastfeed in public. I acknowledge that there is nothing sexual about breastfeeding. However, I DO think it is a bit weird for a kid who can order her own food to be still feeding off the tap. As my wife points out, that girl will probably remember breastfeeding. I was breastfed, and I am certainly glad that I have NO memory of that.

There are many women who will breastfeed until their child is nearly six-years-old. I can imagine the drive to school going like this:

Hey mom, I’m hungry. Can we stop at McDonalds on the way to school?

Well, we’re running a bit late this morning, so why don’t you just enjoy some fresh, mother’s milk?

I suppose a 50-year old woman breastfeeding her child makes her feel young and hip again. Sorta like cigarettes.