Breastfeeding in Nature

by Tung Hsiyi
LLL Hualien Group

"For me, breastfeeding is a very primal and natural form of maternal love and mother-child interaction. Our family often enjoy quality time together outdoors, and I love that natural feeling!"

I am Tung Hsiyi. When I was a child, my mother worked as a full-time housewife until I was eleven years old and my brother was nine years old. At that time, our family’s finances changed and my brother and I were getting older, so my mother started working. Being a housewife, mother and wife, was not easy and was difficult for my mother. To be honest, I found it hard to imagine myself getting married and having children. However, she often told us stories, picked us up and dropped us off from school, and even brought us meals. These are beautiful memories. I also remember when I was in lower elementary school how the most popular choice was to be a teacher in the future, but I wanted to be a housewife!

In college, I studied social work, but my first job after graduation was not in social work. This led me to reflect and explore throughout my social work career. Finally, in 2006, I started work in child protection, working with families experiencing domestic violence, including parents and their children. I also began to explore parent-child relationships. At that time, there was not much training. A group of us explored and discovered object relationships and attachment relationships. From 2009 onwards, we took some related courses and read related books. Later, I switched to foster care, which gave me opportunities to see and learn what a new family might face and how they might respond when a child leaves their original family. In addition to how the child adapts. We used attachment relationships as a foundation, yet there are many different changes that might occur. How to raise a child? What is the parent-child relationship and interactions like under attachment relationships? I had a lot of curiosity, and the teachers mentioned that early childhood (0-6 years of age) is a golden period of life. My daughter was born in June 2015. I resolutely decided to take two years of maternity leave (the maximum in Taiwan is two years), in order to experience firsthand what the parenting knowledge I had learned over the years truly meant. My own mother also encouraged me to be a housewife!

The hospital where I gave birth the year my daughter was born promoted breastfeeding. Several of my friends with childbirth experience suggested that I breastfeed my daughter until she was one or two years old. Two of them said that their children really loved breastfeeding, expressing and that it was one of their most cherished childhood memories! That year, the promotion of breastfeeding was very straightforward, so I was not bothered too much by the options of breastfeeding or bottle feeding. The postpartum care center had books on attachment parenting and I read some of the introductory chapters. With my maternity leave, I went straight to breastfeeding my daughter. Later, my daughter refused a bottle, so we continued breastfeeding. That year, what I learned about breastfeeding can be said in just one sentence – breastfeed whenever the child wants to nurse! When she was around two years old, I started talking with her about weaning, but she really enjoyed breastfeeding and did not want to give it up! After she turned two, when we went out, we were often looking for a nursing room. Sometimes we would even breastfeed while walking. She could completely hide inside my clothes and enjoy breastfeeding! I just went along with her wishes. After I started working, my husband took six months of paternity leave, with my encouragement, so I could rush home at noon to breastfeed her. This continued until her first year of kindergarten. She was not willing to wean until she was four years old!

My son was born in September 2021, and he was also exclusively breastfed. During that time, my daughter occasionally breastfed together to reminisce about the good memory and soothe the jealousy for the new baby coming…. My son is almost five now, and he still occasionally breastfeed before bedtime to comfort himself when he encounters setbacks in life or looking for solace.
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For me, breastfeeding is a very primal and natural form of maternal love and mother-child interaction. Our family often enjoy quality time together outdoors, and I love that natural feeling! 

As my children grow older, I'm slowly realizing the impact of this kind of companionship on children. Compared to the children I've encountered in my previous work, they have many more needs and requirements being met! My daughter is entering her puberty phase, and I see that our past intimacy has withstood many storms and arguments; we can always quickly feel each other's care and love! The peacefulness with which my son falls asleep while being breastfed also gives me a sense of fulfillment and love! I firmly believe that it will be a beautiful memory in their lives, or at least for me! I love the satisfied look on their faces when I breastfeed them. Although it's not easy, it's a wonderful memory of being a mother in my life!​
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