In proof that people who don’t know much about babies should not be commenting on how one parents them, Whoopi Goldberg‘s comments on The View this week have made her public enemy number one among the breastfeeding mom set.
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The talk show hosts were discussing moms who cross-nurse or nurse one another’s babies, when Goldberg came out with this humdinger, “If they’re old enough to have teeth, they should not be breastfeeding.” Take a listen:
OK, we could get up in arms (and rightfully so), but what’s really going to make a difference here is education. So let’s just shoot this popular myth right in the foot, shall we?
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A baby’s first tooth typically erupts sometime between 4 and 6 months of age. Now, considering the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends moms breastfeed up until at least 1 year and that the World Health Organization extends its nursing recommendations to at least 2 years old, there’s really only one word we can use for people who trot out the old “kids with teeth shouldn’t breastfeed” trope: wrong.
In fact, we could go even further to shut down Goldberg and her misguided ilk by pointing out that some babies are actually born with teeth, albeit only about 1 out of every 2,000. Not only is it entirely possible to breastfeed them, but the doctors all say you should (see above).
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So let’s say The View hosts leave the baby-rearing advice to someone who knows a little bit about the development of children… like doctors.
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