Well, Real Simple magazine did indeed respond to the many letters it received on the "Breastfeeding is a Waste of Time" bit they published in August.

They back-peddled. Take a look:

By saying that no great harm will come to your child if you are unable to breast-feed, Real Simple is not implying that it is better to forgo nursing. (In fact, in the article we clearly outline the benefits.) But not all mothers are able to nurse for the 12 months recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The advice in the article is intended for those women — women who sincerely want to do the right thing but are defeated by circumstance and subsequently saddled by guilt. In no way are we suggesting that breast-feeding is a waste of time.

Um, okay. Funny, though, that the whole article was about time-wasters we could all do without. That was the gist of the piece, and breastfeeding was right in there with how you get food at the movie theatre (Wait in line to buy their snacks? Not when you can smuggle your own Twizzlers in your purse!) or what to serve with dinner (Out of red wine and serving beef? No need to go to the store -- just pour the white and forget about it!), so I don't think those of us who were appalled were mistaken in any way.

By the way, they say they published a "sampling" of the letters, but it looks pretty 50/50 to me. Funny, in my circles, I would have expected they would have received an onslaught of "You idiot!" letters and very few of the "Good for you" variety. But hey, I don't work at that magazine, so what do I know?

Thanks to Mommies at Law for the update. Good commentary over there, btw.

--Sparki

UPDATE 9/16/03: The on-line community for Mothering magazine is having a field day with this. In fact, the Real Simple website was asking for readers' best tips for saving time during the holidays, and a bunch of the Mothering group wrote in to suggest "breastfeeding" as their top tips, hee hee hee! Since then, Real Simple has changed the question to something about the most useful gift you've ever received. Boy, did they underestimate their audience.