Are you breastfeeding?

[victoriascrumptious]

Everytime MIL comes round she asks if I am breastfeeding;-I find it really irritating, in fact I get irritated by anyone who asks me this.

With DD1 I breastfed for 4 months and then stopped, dd2 is breastfed and is now a month old and has terrible colic. MIL and SIL have both made comments about the 'rarity' of bf babies getting colic. SIL bf her dd until she was 18 months old.

Last time MIL came round I had left a used bottle out on the kitchen worktop. I have to feed dd a couple of tablespoons of milk from a bottle as her colic meds need to be mixed in with milk (Colief). I saw her looking at this and then she asked me again if I was bf-ing (despite already asking the same question the day before). I feel annoyed because a) I feel like I am not being believed and b) I feel like i'm being talked about and judged c) I don't think it's anyones flipping business whether I bf or not.

I am however slighly concerned that I may be over sensitive bordering on the paranoid.

Does anyone else get annoyed about people asking this stuff?

i don't get irritated by it in general.
i would get irritated by the same people asking me over and over again though! so i don't think you are being unreasonable.

My baby days are long ago, but my MIL asks me questions over and over again. It is trying!

Both my breastfed babies had colic, in fact I was told that breastfed babies get it worse becuase they take in smaller bits of air while feeding (bottlefed babies tend to take in larger gulps) and therefore harder to effectively wind.

I think you have become sensitive to this particular subject, and instead of just rolling your eyes and dismissing it, it is becoming an issue. Perhaps make a joke of it to MIL, remind her that she asked you the day before.

agree just point out she already asked you. keep doing it and she might stop.

or, say something like "not right now, no"

I think the 'you asked me yesterday silly' approach might work. Or you could just ask her why she keeps bloody asking. I know I got defensive about it when I struggled.

My parents are the opposite and keep asking me when I'm going to stop bfing "you're not still doing that are you?" is often said in a jokey banter kind of way. accompanied by judgey look. My DS is only 12 months! he can't even use a spoon properly yet!
Basically you can't win so just try your best to ignore other peoples hang-ups and do your own thing.

Ask her (in a concerned way) if she has started having memory loss

why not just bf your dd when your MIL is next around? Surely that would stop the questions!

"I am bf as I was the last time you asked and the time before that and the time before that. When I decide to stop bf ing I will make sure you are the first to know - until that point it is safe for you to assume that I am breast feeding" and smile sweetly.

ha, joolyjoolyjoo beat me to it - I was going to say ask if she has noticed that she is getting more forgetful and whether people are giving her slightly puzzled or concerned looks more?

BF babies can definitely get colic. My (now grown up) sister was bf for 9 months but had colic so badly my dad still occasionally calls her "Foghorn".

I would be tempted to go with Joolyjoolyjoo's suggestion!

My Bf DD had colic too.. I never heard the theory mentioned above about BF babies getting it worse, and I did a lot of research at the time. My sister, who is a MW, used to say "If she's colicy now, just imagine if she weren't BF"..

Hope it passes soon. It will. And then it's like having a whole different life!

go with joolyjo's idea, yanbu to be annoyed that she keeps asking over and over, and sounds like she doesn't believe you and is waiting for any excuse to start criticising.
i would find it annoying too so dont think its just being over sensitive

I'd be tempted to say 'No, MIL not just now, she's not hungry / just had the breast'.

i get that as well jemart... my dd is 13 months and i'm pregnant, apparently bf will cause me to miscarry....i'm 23 weeks [hmmm]

i would look at my breast and say no