Bottle or breast, which is best? This is the age-old debate, and a controversial topic when it comes to new mums and their little ones.
Even if by some miracle I am able to ace the overused, invasive and sometimes insulting question of “Are you nursing?”, I then have to navigate all the whirlpool of concern surrounding the number of times a day my son eats, how much he is eating and at what times. When will solid foods be introduced? What will be his first solid food? Will it be commercially available baby food or home made purees?
I can’t help feeling I am at a job interview, being grilled with questions to see if I qualify for the job at hand – and I start to feel inadequate as a mum. Why am I being questioned on how my son is nourished? Does his diet define what kind of mum I am?
Honestly, I could brush this off as a light-hearted way for people wanting to find a common ground and to connect. And sometimes this is the case. However, I feel it is really the foundation for a much larger issue that will continue throughout my son’s lifetime as people judge one another for their diet decisions.
Whether you are paleo, vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, wheat free, lactose free, carb free, if you eat meat or if you are strictly organic or anything and everything in between, collectively as a society we need to realize that a diet does not define you as a person.
As a mum, it is about my son being healthy and happy – and there is no one size fits all diet and no one diet that is superior to the next. The best diet is the one that is right for you and your little one.
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