I saw a lady breast feeding a baby in a public area the other day. It was an act that seemed purely normal for women have been breast feeding for thousands of years.

As I see the debate over breast feeding, I recount my wife Gwynelle breast feeding our youngest children over three decades ago. Sherman II was a premature baby, so Gwynelle’s late mother Lucille Wilder helped her in getting him to feed. Mother Wilder had raised 11 children, so she had the golden touch in getting babies to do as she wished.

After Gwynelle went back to work she would visit the babysitter’s house to breast feed Sherman II on her lunch breaks.

When Sammye Elizabeth II was born she had adverse reactions to the various baby formulas. Finally, the doctor told Gwynelle something like, “Cow’s milk is for calves and mother’s milk is for babies.” Gwynelle shifted her focus to totally breast feeding, and then Sammye’s adverse reactions disappeared.

We liked to take trips, so Gwynelle breast feeding meant we did not need to make bottles and heat them. I must admit that when a baby cried in the middle of the night all I could do was to bring it to Gwynelle for feeding.

I also must admit that I miss the great joy we shared as a family watching Sherman II and Sammye Elizabeth II grow from infants into toddlers. I think a mother might miss a special bonding with her child if she is able body to nurture it and ignores this special time to share herself in breast feeding it.