Feeding Infants: Anglo-Saxons, French and Italians Compared
Warning: Sweeping generalizations below.
But there is truth in all generalizations...
These generalizations only apply to bourgeois, educated parents in all three countries, by the way.
Breastfeeding
Anglo-Saxon Mommy - The Academy of American Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of one year. Health Canada recommends two years, as does the World Health Organization. So highly educated Anglo-Saxon mommy, aware of all of these recommendations, gives breastfeeding a go. She even pumps milk when she has to go back to work.
After six months of stares, insinuations and nudges from family, friends and people on the street who are, er, uncomfortable with breastfeeding, Anglo-Saxon mommy switches to formula.
Italian Mamma - The pediatrician told me to stop breastfeeding at sixteen weeks. I must obey the pediatrician, no matter how contrary to nature and common sense his or her advice seems. The pediatrician is God (editor's note: since the pediatrician has not read an article or book in about twenty years, I guess he must be).
French Maman - You want me to do what? And ruin my beautiful breasts? Are you kidding me?
Breastfeeding in Public
Anglo-Saxon Mommy - Oh my God. Are you crazy? I can't breastfeed in public. Someone might see a bit of my nipple. What if I offend the person (editor's note: because heaven forbid that your baby's well-being might be a greater priority than some other person's aesthetic sensibilities). I need a blanket to cover up. Or maybe I should breastfeed in the public restroom (editor's note: EEWWWW!!).
Italian Mamma - Italian mamma will breastfeed baby in public but if the baby is older than four months, family will inquire as to why she is "still" breastfeeding and older men will offer her a blanket (editor's note: why not ask the older man if he would like to eat under a blanket?).
French Maman - Okay if I have to but I really hate for men to see my breasts outside of a sexual context. After all, I have my femininity to preserve [and breastfeeding is masculine?].
(Aside: One well-known and respected French psycho-pediatre, Dr. Marcel Rufo, said in an interview with Elle magazine that a mother should wean her baby from the breast at six months, latest, because baby needs to "learn" that maman's breasts are for papa and not for baby. WTF???).
Bottle-feeding
Anglo-Saxons- Most North American doctors recommend bottle-weaning around one year, 18 months latest. Most Anglo-Saxon parents don't get around to it until their child is two years old. There was one recent study that showed a significant link between extended bottle feeding and anemia, particularly in hispanic children.
French and Italians - Not uncommon to see four-year olds sucking up a bottle of milk or, worse, apple juice. While sitting in a stroller.
Solids
Anglo-Saxons - The Academy of American Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend that infants start solids no earlier than the age of six months. The educated Anglo-Saxon mommy has every intention of following this recommendation...until her bruiser five month old shows various signs (waking up all hours of the night to nurse, crying for milk every hour during the day and generally being insufferable) that he already has the appetite of the average Bangladeshi eight month old and to please give him some real food now.
Unfortunately, even the most educated Anglo-Saxon parents have been brainwashed by Nestle to believe that they need to feed their infant processed rice cereal (read food having no nutritional value whatsoever except for a huge overdose of iron to really kill the baby's liver).
Italians - The pediatrician told me to start solids at sixteen weeks. I must obey the pediatrician, no matter how contrary to nature and common sense his or her advice seems. Pureed fruit and veggies (in addition to formula) from sixteen weeks it is.
French - Baby gets haute cuisine from five months onward. This consists of adding pureed vegetables to baby's bottle, in addition to the formula (no breastfeeding here), so that baby gets used to the taste of real vegetables.
To the credit of the French, rice cereal is hardly known or available in France, although I have noticed Bledina trying to make inroads with its version. I remember our French pediatrician telling me that when the Bambina would be ready to eat real bread, she would eat real bread and that there was no need to give her some refined, processed, and stripped cereal as a substitute.
Of course, I am only talking about trends here. And not everyone follows trends (fortunately!). I have a French friend who firmly believed in "child-led weaning" and who breastfed her daughter for five years. I have Italian friends who breastfed beyond one year. I know Anglo-Saxons who chose not to breastfeed at all. But the trends are definitely there.
16 comments:
I was having lunch with my former co-workers the other day and I asked after another former co-worker who had a baby recently. Coworker A said "Oh yes, Coworker with baby just came by a few days ago with the Bel Bambino but she wasn't feeling well as she was taking a drug to stop her breastmilk being produced." I was a bit confused since the kid is about 2-3 months old - surely too young to wean - and the mother has something like 10 months of maternity leave to go- but maybe your post explains it. Her paediatrician ordered her to stop breastfeeding as he's too old now at 2-3 months? Why would they do that though? Crazy!
I would agree with your generalisations, being an Anglo-Saxon mummy and having French friends. I can't speak for the Italians though, but I would like to add the German perspective, if I may:
Breastfeed for a minimum of six months, but usually a year. However, no feeding on demand - according to the midwife, babies must feed every four hours even if they are starving and screaming for food.
Absolutely no shame about whipping out the boob anywhere or in front of anyone.
Once weaned at a year, baby must have milk for another year at least.
Solids start at six months. First food: carrots!
Charlotte, No shame about whipping the boob out anywhere doesn't surprise me. Having spent lots of time in German saunas, health spas and beaches, I know that the Germans have no qualms whatsoever about nudity.
The French, like the Germans, are not bothered by seeing a bare breast in public. But unlike the Germans, it does seem to bother them to see breasts used to feed a baby rather than as something sexual.
Kataroma, the info that I have received here is that breastfeeding is standard for the first 16 weeks and then baby is weaned. I think Italy is caught in the 1970s on this front, as with everything else :-)
LOL! I do have to laugh at your generalizations, but thankfully I'm an "Anglo-Saxon" mommy who breastfeeds her children (and in public if necessary without embarrassment!) for at leat 15 months and doesn't start any form of solids (even cereal) for at least 7 months (although I'm on my second one and she didn't start until 9 months -- she was already over the 100th percentile in weight!). Never touch formula ... and juice? Well, that's not even considered until well after 1 year old and then it's 100% juice diluted highly with water. And apple juice? Forget it until they are at least 2. Just to let you know for a fact that you do have some who stray out of these stereotypes! Enjoyed it, though. :)
The Italians I know and especially our pediatrician (who in appearance may seem to be of the 'old school' type), definetly do not fall into the stereotypes. All of the moms I know here in Siena breastfed exclusively for at least 6 months and continue to give breastmilk till the baby is 16 months old (all highly educated working moms, i must add). I have never heard of anyone being told about weaning their baby at 2-3 months old. That's just crazy. Our pediatrician is a supporter of feeding on demand as well as on child-led weaning. From the horror stories I've heard on health/pregnancy/babies in Italy, I feel very lucky to have great experience here in Siena.
I'm with Indah...I have never heard of any doctor in Italy recommending to stop BFing so soon. Early supplementing and early solid feeding yes, but stopping never. I did a search on Italian parenting sites with doctors' opinions and they all reflect the WHO recommendations. Did you actually hear a doctor say that yourself? Or is that what someone told you maybe to justify the fact that they quit brestfeeding?
It is common knowledge in italy that 'il latte della mamma' is next to miraculous and that 'il latte artificiale' is just that, artificial, hence inferior. (The English "formula" sounds very modern and scientific and 'good' on the other hand).
I breastfed my 2 kids for 45 months total, often in public and with no blanket (never seen anyone do that outside of puritan North America), even BFd my 2 year old on the beach when obviously pregnant with #2. Everyone just complimented me and I got no negative remarks from anyone, some questions, maybe surprise and some regrets (theirs), but nothing negative.
I googled breastfeeding initiation in various countries and discovered that it's around 85% in Italy, about 82% in Canada and about 68% in the US (with a goal of 75% set for 2010).
I am not sure what you mean about being stuck in 1970s....in the Anglo-Saxon US for example, in the 70s, women gave birth while being knocked out and they were told that formula was better than breastmilk, very few breastfed then. In Italy in the 70s women had natural births (no drugs at all), and were told to breast feed (though early supplementing was commonplace)....not to mention Routine Infant Circumcision which in Italy was unheard of, then and now....and we all know about Anglo Saxon countries in regards to that... talk about being stuck in the past! ;)
I was curious about what's out there on Italian sites as far weaning goes, what the general consensus is and I a quick 'svezzamento' search brought this up:
Not before 6 months
http://www.ospedalebambinogesu.it/portale/opbg.asp?iditem=1504&idon=128
5-6 months
http://www.vitadidonna.it/gravidanza_00001e.html
6 months if BF, earlier if formula
http://www.mammedomani.com/svezzamento.asp
after 6 months
http://xoomer.alice.it/tatanone/proietti8.htm
after 6 months
http://www.spaziomamme.net/svezzamento.htm
between 4 and 6 months
http://web.tiscali.it/ambupedy/dieta_4-5.htm
SO it seems that those moms who decide to introduce solids early, do it for their won reasons, much like mothers in the US who make big holes in bottle nipples for rice cereal at 2 months so baby 'will sleep through the night' YOWSA!
Ilaria - keep in mind that Caroline said "sweeping generalisations ahead" - she is not saying that all Italian or US or wherever women do things a certain way - just observing cultural trends based on her experiences in these countries. I didn't think she meant to say that all women here stop breastfeeding at whatever age - just that a lot of doctors advise it. I know my former coworker was not only given a scheduled C-section (extremely common at private hospitals here in Rome at least) but was also advised to stop breastfeeding at 2-3 months and given this drug to stop her breastmilk. Obviously, a lot of doctors don't read the WHO recommendations and there are a lot of old wives tales.
I've never heard of anyone being "knocked out" for birth past the 19th century when they used to use ether of labouring women! Where did you hear that?
Yes, I do understand what sweeping generalizations and trends mean, I was simply sharing my own experience and my own personal observations of mothering trends in two countries I have lived in (Italy for 18 years, the US for 15). The discrepancy in our observations and conclusions on the same subject piqued my interest, so I did some searches to see if what she is hearing from moms is actually what is being said/recommended/advised in Italy.
"I didn't think she meant to say that all women here stop breastfeeding at whatever age - just that a lot of doctors advise it." I understand what she meant. However, in my life as an Italian I have never heard that advice to anyone in my circle of friends and I couldn't find an Italian doctor or an Italian site for moms that recommended stopping breastfeeding/starting solids at 16 weeks, I'm not saying it's not true, just wondering if maybe it's just moms justifying their choices by saying 'the dr. told me so'.
Honestly, I think all Western countries are more alike in parenting trends than they are different. "Generally" Europeans will let their kids have pacifiers/be in strollers/have a bottle longer than their North American counterparts, who are Nazis when it comes to milestones (sleeping through the night seems to be a biggie, yet having a lovey is totally normal even in college LOL), but the breastmilk-is-best-but-formula-is-just-fine-solids-at-4/5-months-is-great attitude is common to all industrialized countries nowadays. Overall, I think the differences are minimal.
My mother in law was totally out for my husband's birth (in 1971 in New Orleans), she has no recollection of his birth (vaginal)or the hours right after, from what I hear it was not uncommon at the time. My husband did not have an oz. of breastmilk because formula was deemed better, since it was made in a lab. My MIL bandaged her breasts to make her milk go away.
In 1971 in the US, only 24% of women initiated breastfeeding
(http://www.ajph.org/cgi/reprint/93/12/2000.pdf) and today's percentage is still unbelievably low. :(
This is a scream!
Hello from the USA
What a pretty blog. On the topic of breast feeding, I just found out that even adopting Momma's can do that. We are in the middle of an adoption and the subject came up. thought you might enjoy that!
Also such a georgeous place to live and raise children. Wow, we will have to check out Europe one day!
Thanks for sharing.
Ivy
Lol ! quite true indeed.
Wow, I just checked back here. We have been in Paris for the past week. Ilaria, I am wondering if this is a North/South thing because, honestly, here in Rome four months really does seem to be the standard for starting formula. Is it possible that the northerners are more "progressive"?
My bigger surprise though, is how loyal people are to pediatricians and how much trust they put in them. Trusting your doctor is a big thing here.
Oh, and I agree that the whole stuffing-baby-with-a-bottle-of- flour-at-age-2-months-so-that-he- will-sleep-through-the-night is the ultimate gross anglo-saxon habit (for lack of a better description).
Re pain relief for birth: I get the impression that epidurals are not that common here, even now.
Caroline - yes, I think it's the influence of the Catholic church. Until recently epidurals were not covered by the SSN and were not very commonly available. I think the idea is that women must suffer in childbirth. But the lack of epidurals didn't mean that women were encouraged to have a natural birth - many women I know who've had children here have horror stories about being made to give birth lying down with feet in stirrups, there are no birthing pools etc and women must labour in a room full of other people - and the C-section rate here hovers at around 35%. In some parts of the south virtually everyone has a C-section.
And you could be right about the north vs south thing. I've heard that in the north the hospitals are (generally) much cleaner, less chaotic and more efficient.
It's true and better give babby with original milk from breast..It's more hygenic
As an American mom who is "still" breastfeeding her 9 month old daughter, I have often wondered what the norm is in other countries. I ahve visited beautiful Italy, but alas I was newly married with no little ones and I didn't really notice nursing mamas one way or the other.
You are right on the money about one thing...I think it's tough to keep up nursing here in the U.S. once you return to work and have to pump. Because pumping really sucks! I pump 4 times a day at my 8-5 job but I am determined to keep it up as long as I can.
I just discovered your blog and am LOVING it. I secretly harbor fantasies of moving my family to Europe but that dream seems so far out of reach when I can't even find the time to have drinks with friends. I linked to this post on my blog here: http://rpmmom.typepad.com/wanderlust/2007/12/cultural-differ.html
Post a Comment