Knit A Baby Hat, Encourage Breastfeeding

As many of you know, I used to knit and design baby hats. Many were sold or given away and I no longer have the inventory I once did. I do have the pictures, however.

A lot of you also know that I am nursing Julian, who is now almost 20 months old. Obviously, he isn't attached to my breast as he was when he was an infant. In fact, there are days when he hardly nurses at all.

So, you can imagine my joy when I read the most recent entry on the Yarn Harlot's blog. In a nutshell (and I have no idea why I am summarizing this as I assume you would all be avid Harlot readers. What are you doing reading my blog if you aren't reading hers?), a friend of hers is knitting baby hats as gifts for low income families (who are on WIC) to encourage them to consider breastfeeding. I can't really say anything more articulately than she has with regards to how the culture in which we live is not as supportive as it should be. However, some of the people who commented to her blog bemoaned the fact that WIC gives out free formula. Personally, I do not consider this to be a disconnect on the part of the WIC program. Ideally, women should breastfeed, but if they cannot (or choose not to) they should be feeding their babies formula. Formula is expensive, more expensive than cows' milk, and the last thing anyone wants is for women to decide that formula is too expensive for their baby. But breastmilk is free (if you don't count the calories mom eats to make the BM--I am not counting the nursing bras, pads, pumps, etc and those are accessories which can aid the breastfeeding experience but are not essential to the process) and I do feel that, on paper at least, the WIC program is doing what it can to promote breastfeeding.

Anyway, I am planning to make a few hats and encourage everyone to do the same. But before that, I have to make a few things for the new baby in our family. Olivia Pauline was born on the afternoon of June 27. And while I am at it, I probably should make a few items for her big sister, Abigail, as well.