Here are some suggestions for photographers trying to capture the reality of breastfeeding. Like a child biting a nipple. Or a mom trying to eat while breastfeeding and dropping food into the baby's hair. That's the reality.
Humor Parenting

Normalizing Breastfeeding: What Normal *Really* Looks Like

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Here are some suggestions for photographers trying to capture the reality of breastfeeding. Like a child biting a nipple. Or a mom trying to eat while breastfeeding and dropping food into the baby's hair. That's the reality.

By Cheron Yon of List List Repeat

In an effort to normalize breastfeeding, there have been pictures of mothers feeding their babies on all platforms of social media. You’ve seen them. The moms are relaxing with their perfect hair, feeding and bonding with their bundles of joy in a quiet space. The pictures are absolutely beautiful, but I don’t know about you moms out there; that’s not exactly how I remember it when I was breastfeeding my three kids.

I remember my daughter following me around, screaming, “MILK CHEST,” vigorously pumping her hands because we thought as parents, we should teach her sign language so she could tell us how hungry she was in multiple languages.

Don’t get me wrong; I love breastfeeding and all its benefits. So to aid the campaign for normalizing breastfeeding, I have some suggestions for the photographers out there for what breastfeeding really looks like.

1. A mother multi-tasking in the kitchen, holding and feeding her baby in one hand, cooking and trying to block her child’s feet from karate chopping a pan with the other hand.

2. A child breastfeeding with her lips pulled back, showing her teeth, gnawing and growling at her mom’s nipple like a rabid animal.

3. A picture of a drooling, teething baby, running his teeth back and forth across his mother’s nipple like he’s playing a harmonica.

4. A mom sitting on the toilet, breastfeeding her child because the baby was taking its sweet time eating and the mom couldn’t wait any longer to pee.

5. A mother with bloodshot eyes, half asleep with an oversized t-shirt, rolling over and popping her boob into the mouth of her hungry baby.

6. A mother and child nude in the shower. The mom’s trying to wash her lady garden while the baby tries to latch on.

7. A mother breastfeeding her child at the dinner table. She drops forkfuls of food on the baby’s head while she, herself, tries to eat.

And lastly..

8. A mom in bed in the nude, nourishing her newborn while her husband tries to take advantage of his naked wife.

Truth is, when you are breastfeeding, there are very few moments when your breasts are your own and you don’t have a hungry child with a death grip on your nipple. And of course, you wouldn’t take a single moment of it all back.

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About Cheron Yon

Cheron is a wife and mother of three, living a mostly normal existence in NC. When she’s not embarrassing her kids on the sidelines, she’s writing hilarious lists on parenthood. You can visit her at Live List Repeat. You can also follow her around the internet on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.