If children had a bit of education about breastfeeding at school...

[hunkermunker]

Would that be good or bad?

I think from the pov of raising awareness and normalising bf might be good.

But it might also make feelings of guilt rise to the surface if they come home and say "Mummy, did you bf me?".

Whaddya think?

It's true that this should start at a young age. I remember seeing my cousins being breastfed and my mother expressing for my brother (when I was 3), and I am sure that this affected my perception of breastfeeding. I then breastfed my daughter in front of her 4 year old cousin who copied me and pretended to breastfeed her doll (it was hilarious, she even did the dopey face). She has seen her mother breastfeeding too. Now she thinks of it as an easy, obvious way to feed a baby and hopefully will grow up thinking in that way.

lol at dopey face

I know, but I think there's a limit to what we can expect schools to fit into their curriculum. Loading a washing machine....hmm.

I do think they should be taught some basic principles of how to navigate the adult world though - basic legal perameters, insurance, mortgages, taxation, rental agreements, benefits, disability discrimination law, general employment practices, that sort of thing. I do agree that kids leave school knowing sod all about how to build a life for themselves.

But knowing how to feed a new baby is just as important as any of those things IMO

Plibble, loved the comment about her even having the dopey face. PMSL. Thought it was just me....

Def a good thing as this would help people understand and associate bfing as the norm - which is what is needed. They shoul be educated on bfing from pre school age - i think

Also think its a great idea.
Good to get kids used to the idea that its natural to bfeed a baby, rather than giving a bottle.
Also think its sad that so many books show babies being given bottles.
Do think more women would find bfeeding easier if they had grown up having seen it being done - learning by example.
Have no idea whether this is true but am fairly sure in cultures where bfeeding is the absolute norm mothers have fewer probs bfeeding than we do here (certainly true in Scandinavia where the bfeeding rates are much higher than here and no one feels awkward bfeeding in public).
When I am out and about in Norwich where I live I v rarely see anyone bfeed whereas every time I am out I see at least one mother bottle feeding.
So yes I think its a great idea to be more open about it, starting in school, from a young age...

Usborne has a brill book that raises this sort of positively Facts of life...talks about bf and the positiong and how it works, but also about bottlefeeding, as in mentioneing if the mum decides to bottlefeed for whatever reason, bottle feeding involvels loads more work with sterilising..so, there is lots you can do to help out....so, it doesn't make bottlefeeding alien, but points out that it is more complicated, really!
breastfeeding should be seen all the time and talked about...if it was, there wouldn't be issues around it in the first place...it's just because it's the not normal feeding method that children even consider it weird....and would choose not to do it!

haven't read whole thread but suspect i may be going against the general consensus here but ...

no. I don't think it should be taught in schools.

We have the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe, and IMO part of the reason for that is that teenage pregnancy is almost viewed as acceptable. So I think that teaching those potential mothers how to feed their babies when they have them (next year) would just add to the dilemma.

IMO those who are sensible and who have no interest in having babies until they are in a more stable place in their lives will have no interest in breastfeeding because it doesn't apply to their life at the moment. And the rest who are baby mad and who are likely to be pregnant next week/month/year will take it all in and it will give them something else to be proud of besides the bump they are sporting at the age of 14.

u r wrong though, teenage pg is such a thing because a Baby is a fashion accessory...however, teh feeding method does make a differnece to a childs life...surely that part should be respected, and maybe, if anything at a youg age put girls off until the are ready!

but babies are fassion accessories to teenagers because there is no longer such a stigma attached to being a teenage mum.

Schools teac children about healthy foods, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will grow up eating a healthy diet.

it's not in school where the message needs to be put across, it's in society as a whole. we need to address why breastfeeding is seen as such a taboo and put it right at the source, eg women being able to breastfeed in public etc.

also one hasd to consider we have the lowest bf rate but highest teenage pg rate.....so, surely you can not say breastfeeding is at fault for that!

agree with tat one...of course it shouldn't just be discussed in school, but everywhere...soceity should be a breastfeeding and supportive of it...but education IS part of that!

no no I'm not saying that breastfeeding is at fault - I'm saying that teenagers don't need any more encouragement to have babies.

We need to be teaching children about life, about mortgages, bank accounts, how to manage money and not to get into debt. We need to be teaching them how not to get pregnant, not how to feed their baby, because IMO most of that information won't be absorbed, when I was a teen I couldn't have given a toss about breastfeeding, about reuseable/disposable nappies, because I had absolutely no interest in babies. It wasn't until I actually decided to have a baby that I considered what this would involved, and made the decision on the feeding method I would prefer.

fact is...kids have babys, and those kids should know all there is about the best ways to raise a Kid....
but agree, we should raise Kids to be decent, honest human beings giving to society rather then taking!

But surely if you were really going to chnage the pattern of breastfeeding you'd address the issue of support for new mothers. Initial b/feeding rates are up (at least locally) to around 88%. This drops to about 50% or less at 6 weeks and something around 15% at 6 months. If more mums were b/feeding to the 6 month point then you would change the norm very quickly. I think that the current education program encourages a large number of women to try breastfeeding, but they need specific support to get to the 6 week, 3 month and 6 month milestones. In particular if you provide support in those first 6 weeks I think that you could have a considerable impact on b/feeding levels overall.

Agree bfeeding needs to become more accepted and acceptable in all areas of society if we really want more women to do it, think bringing it up in schools from a young age is a good start.
Think also it's attitudes among older generations which could do with shaking up (traceyn's post shows this), though this isn't what the OP is asking....

no. those kids can be told all there is to know about raising babies if/when they fall pregnant. IMO at 5, 10, 15, you just don't need to know about breastfeeding, because it is not, and should not, be something you need to concern yourself with for many years.

If we start teaching primary school children about breastfeeding, it's quite possible many of those children will go on to have careers before they have babies, and by the time they have babies you're 20/30 years down the line, by which time public opinion/advice has changed anyway.

Just checked - the figure for the whole of England was intial b/feeding takeup of 78% in 2005.

If those 78% were still breastfeeding at 3 and 6 months, the norm would be changed.

Putting b/feeding in the limelight isnt going to make young girls think "hmm, I think I wont bother using contraception/protection"

Showing b/feeding as 'normal' instead of bottle feeding will not make teenage girls go out and have unprotected sex. Thats really quite a leap, IMO.

Ladymuck, is it really just about support though?
Am pretty sure many women give up quite soon because they are not comfortable bfeeding in public (loads of poeple I know gave up for this reason, rather than having probs feeding).
Also there has been such a move towards getting babaies to sleep through the night and the general consensus is that giving formula helps with this...
I bfed my DS until he was 2 (he self weaned) but I never grew to feel comfortable bfeeding him in public...

78% is quite a high figure IMO. the other 22% would obviously factor in mothers of premature babies and babies in scbu who were unable to be breastfed, would be interesting to see what percentage were babies that fell into that category.

so in actual fact, breastfeeding from the outset is seen as pretty much normal, it's continued breastfeeding that isn't.

Maybe instead of trying to "teach" young children about bfeeding we should aim to get them used to seeing it and being around bfeeding women.
I think bfeeding is a skill you can pick up from seeing it done and feeling comfortable with it, too few of us today are exposed to bfeeding women, sadly.