As the title says: I've been breastfeeding my dd (first child) exclusively for seven months now. A rocky start, but I love it.
I've drank cow's milk all my life. I used to drink it by the glass; in recent years, I only have it in hot drinks and on cereal every morning.
I've never been a vegetarian, but do try to buy ethical/fairtrade animal products.
What's made me feel so sad for dairy cows, and putting me off drinking milk, is that strong yearning, physical 'need' to breastfeed when dd is due a feed. Or when I wake in the morning and she's had fewer night feeds, so my boobs are really full.
Anyone who bf will know this sensation, and that the relief when your baby latches on is like having an itch scratched!
Well dairy cows, they only get to 'feed' twice a day, I think? And even then it's synthetic, because they're being milked by a machine, not feeding their calves. I see them all moo-ing plaintitively at the field gate at milking time, and think how desperately they must want to feed their young, and for physical relief.
I'm aware this post might sound naive and probably laughable, but I'm also sleep deprived, so humour my poor little brain, which has been processing these thoughts for a few days, and tell me if you've ever felt the same.
Should I give up dairy in sympathy for the cows? Or are the cows fine and not suffering at all?
PS. Why do ethical vegetarians continue to drink/eat dairy when cows are possibly suffering from not feeding their young/bring milked more frequently?