BREASTFEEDING | TRAVEL
Globetrotting & Breastfeeding
Man writes about breastfeeding and then ducks
Our son, Austin, was screaming his head off, like the sky was caving in. We were on a small boat in Southern India, surrounded by tourists from all over the world. They politely ignored us as they tried to enjoy the beautiful scenery over his continuous bawling. I don’t think it was very easy for them to do that. So my wife took our son off into the tiny on-board toilet and reappeared, five minutes later, with a quiet and happy little boy in tow. A German woman asked how she had managed such a miracle. My wife answered simply, “I hit him”.
You’ll be glad to know she didn’t hit him. And I suspect hitting anyone doesn’t make them less upset. My wife just said that because it was an easier, perhaps even more socially acceptable answer than “I breast fed him”. You see he wasn’t a baby anymore but had not long turned four.
Not many people will be as militantly pro breastfeeding as my wife, but when travelling we could feel how much easier it was to manage his emotions and keep him fed, whilst on the move. At the ridiculously early age of five months, we toured round the Arctic Circle during the Scandinavian summer, which is a much hotter and more relaxing experience than the word ‘Arctic’ suggests. At the top of mountains, where the snow never melts and in the middle of forests, where the mosquitoes are huge, but fortunately disease free, Austin stayed fed and happily oblivious. Sometimes we would be in remote places, wild camping, and so preparing food or sterilising a bottle would have felt like a daunting prospect.
He carried on feeding until it finally faded out shortly after his eighth birthday and now, double that age, he’s a happy, motivated, and independent young man.
The arguments around breastfeeding will always rage and men should probably stay right out of it. However, I do know that if you want to travel a bit during those early days as a new parent, then food and a soother on tap will make it a whole lot easier.
Now how do you turn off the responses in Medium?