# How Long Do The Amish Breastfeed?



## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

I don't know why but I've been wondering about this lately. I tried to google it and came up with nothing.

Does anyone know?


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## weebitty2 (Jun 16, 2004)

I don't think it's really a set in stone thing?

My friend Marian nursed all 5 of her kids, for anywhere from 1-4 years .. But her sister used formula.


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## UrbanPlanter (Nov 14, 2003)




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## natesmommy126 (Apr 1, 2003)

Interesting question.


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## willjenn (Aug 17, 2004)

I have wondered this myself. I can't believe they could use formula in good conscience. That seems odd to me. I mean don't they avoid technological things? Formula is produced on machinery and you would have to go buy plastic bottles to feed with wouldn't you?


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## NatureMama3 (Feb 25, 2004)

That would be interesting to know! I'm sure Penny Armstrong would know that...


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## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

Hmmm...maybe I can ask my midwife. She worked in Amish country doing births for a while. It was a really interesting experience. She told me all about it. Perhaps she found out how long they nurse.

I can't imagine them doing formula and bottles either. They do everything pretty natural.


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

My midwife had an amish apprentice a while ago, when she delivered my little sister. Next time I talk to her I'll see if she knows and I'll pass it on if you haven't already found out by then. Good question, though. Now I'm curious!


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## Meiri (Aug 31, 2002)

There are such things as glass bottles...

I'm curious too.


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *willjenn*
I have wondered this myself. I can't believe they could use formula in good conscience. That seems odd to me. I mean don't they avoid technological things? Formula is produced on machinery and you would have to go buy plastic bottles to feed with wouldn't you?

LOL...I always see Amish people getting out of cars (in the back seat) and going to Wal-Mart, so I suppose if they needed bottles, they'd get them there.

I would imagine that they'd nurse as long as possible though. I wonder if they make their own formula if needed?


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## Star (Apr 21, 2003)

Not everyone is able to breastfeed due to medical reasons, so maybe that's why some use formula? Hmm, that's the only thing I can come up with. lol


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## SarahMorgan (Nov 12, 2003)

Almost every time I go to Walmart I see Amish people with carts full of disposibles and formula.







And the babies are little most of the time. There is no way all of the Amish I have seen cant bf.


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## pixiexto (Mar 6, 2003)

I'm curious too! My midwife also worked in an Amish community for 13+yrs doing homebirths, so I'll ask her when we see her on Wednesday (if I can remember.... darn preggo brain!







)


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## natesmommy126 (Apr 1, 2003)

That's interesting. We don't have a lot of Amish in my area, but down in middle TN there is one particular community that is prodominantly Amish. I have a good friend that lives there. I'll see if she knows. I am surprised they use formula and bottles when if it isn't absolutely necessary.


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## thyme (Jul 17, 2003)

I don't think Amish = Natural Family Living.

I've seen many Amish applying chemical fertilizers and pesticides on their fields -- drawn by a horse, yes, but still spraying the crops.


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## Pynki (Aug 19, 2002)

I live about 40 minutes from the Amana Colonies in Iowa.. Many of the Amish birth in the same hospital that I have.. I have heard they love coming into the hospital for their births .. Sign up for the epi's right away.. And just love their stay with technology.. I also see them just LOADING up their carts with sposies.. So.. I know that alot of the ones we see at Walmart use sposies.. Haven't seen anyone breastfeeding, but haven't noticed carts full of formula either..

I have to agree that Amish doesn't = NFL.. I found out that most of the puppy mills in our area are Amish owned.. And the same for many dog fighting rings.. Sad..

Warm Squishy Feelings..

Dyan


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## Bethla (May 29, 2004)

I was surprised to learn there are Amish shopping at Walmart and applying chemical fertilizers to their crops. Wow!


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## Houdini (Jul 14, 2004)

So are the people seen at Walmart and such Amish or Mennonites? We have a few Amish around here, but the only place I see them is at the Farmer's Market. I see more Mennonites in stores or at the library.


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## weebitty2 (Jun 16, 2004)

My dad lives near a small Amish community in upstate NY - Stone Arabia, for anyone familiar with the area. We always saw them at RiteAid and Ames buying Pampers ..


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## mum2sarah (Apr 23, 2003)

ROFL! No offense, guys but you've been seriously misled if you think that just because a mother is Amish she breastfeeds as long as possible. My midwife attends primarily Amish mothers. She told me most of them nurse for a few weeks and then say give the typical oh, I didn't have enough milk, excuses. She told me this when she was talking about an Amish woman who has a baby about every year and I was surprised because I figured they'd be spaced further due to LAM. She said, oh, no, that this was typical of the Amish in the area.

Amish certainly does not automatically mean natural family living. After all, anyone heard of rumspringa? If you're curious, do a google search on "devil's playground."


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## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

FTR I never said Amish = NFL. I just said they tend to do things more naturally. Also, no one said a mother would breastfeed as long as possible just because she's Amish. That's why I was wondering.

I thought it was a good question since traditionally they're supposed to do things naturally but then also they have to hide their bodies. I know when my midwife was doing births in Amish Country for years she had to be covered down to her ankles. They all had homebirths there. I just kind of wonder how (religion wise) they regard breasts and breastfeeding.

I did think Amish communities were very strict and am surprised to find out that they shop at Wal-Mart and give birth in the hospital with an Epidural. That blows my mind. I thought they were never supposed to go to hospitals or see doctors.









I guess the 90's changed everyone eh? :LOL


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## a~...Mamacitaa~... (Sep 18, 2004)

ok i goggled it, way crazy, if i were amish i probably wouldn't go back.


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## mother_sunshine (Nov 25, 2001)

Interesting question MamaAllNatural. Being in Hawaii, I don't believe we have any Amish here, so this is interesting to hear about others' experiences.

I think I'd like to start a thread on how long all cultures in general (not just Amish) breastfeed.








:


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## natesmommy126 (Apr 1, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Pynki*
I found out that most of the puppy mills in our area are Amish owned.. And the same for many dog fighting rings.. Sad..

Warm Squishy Feelings..

Dyan









That is terrible!! I despise puppy mills, but that's a whole 'nother thread.







:


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## 2tadpoles (Aug 8, 2004)

I agree with the poster who suggested that those you see shopping at Wal-Mart are Mennonites rather than Amish. They look similar but hold different beliefs about modern conveniences.


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## Butter (Oct 6, 2004)

You have to remember there are different types of Amish (and Mennonite). There are conservative Amish who still only cloth diaper, extended nurse, birth out of hospital unless there is a medical need to be in the hospital, use natural medicine, don't use pesticides, etc. There are middle of the road Amish who do some of those, and don't do some of those. Then there are liberal Amish who use disposables, formula, hispital birth with epis, etc. Likewise, there is a range of Mennonites as well. There are liberal Amish that are more liberal than conservative Mennonites (with the exception of using electricity and driving cars). Where I used to live the Amish were very conservative. They use cars only when absolutely necessary (like to go to the health food store - seeing an Amish person in a place like Wal-Mart or Target is extremely rare). The majority of them have their babies with the midwife who delivered Mr. Man (she does only out of hospital births). The majority nurse a minimum of two years. There is definitely no one answer to how long do the Amish nurse. It totally depends on where their particular group is on the conservative to liberal spectrum. It also depends a lot on what their particular religious leader allows.


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## MamaAllNatural (Mar 10, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *2tadpoles*
I agree with the poster who suggested that those you see shopping at Wal-Mart are Mennonites rather than Amish. They look similar but hold different beliefs about modern conveniences.

This is what I was thinking too.


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## AllyRae (Dec 10, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Houdini*
So are the people seen at Walmart and such Amish or Mennonites? We have a few Amish around here, but the only place I see them is at the Farmer's Market. I see more Mennonites in stores or at the library.


Well, I actually knew the ones I saw at Wal-Mart, and they are very much Amish...I've been to their farm.


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Each congregation has it's own specific rules, so it no doubt varies widely. I recently read an ethnography on the Amish, but the author didn't go into a lot of ethopediatric details. There has been a trend away from folk medicine in recent years, though.


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## Pynki (Aug 19, 2002)

The ones around here are Amish.. We see them getting out of large vans being driven by your average looking Joe.. The men are wearing the black wide brim hats we see.. We used to go to many estate auctions while pg with ds1 and shortly after he was born.. (ohh.. I love auctions.. i wish we still had money to go!!! ) We saw the Amish there.. They are Amish.. Not Menonite.. We would see these same Amish at Wal-Mart.. The info I have about the Epi's are from a L & D nurse and IBCLC at the hospital I have birthed at..

I think with everything in every culture.. It probably depends on the individual.. The Amish I see are buying sposies, and fabric.. I don't go snooping through others carts, but when they are full of sposies and Fabric with little else.. It's hard to miss..:LOL

Warm Squishy Feelings..

Dyan


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## loving-my-babies (Apr 2, 2004)

INTERESTING QUESTION!!

I also thought they EBF for years.. :LOL that's funny how we have perceptions that end up being far from the truth!


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## LisainCalifornia (May 29, 2002)

I have a friend who was raised in a very conservative Amish community (she no longer lives there or considers hersef Amish) and she said that many of the Amish women did not breastfeed, because their fears of being exposed (their breasts) over rode their desire to breastfeed. There is such a stigma attached there to nudity--and it is especially essential for a woman to keep covered. As you can imagine, this would make breastfeeding very difficult, as you can only cover so much--and as the babe gets older they often "pop off" and expose the mother's breast.


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## loving-my-babies (Apr 2, 2004)

Lisa.. did she say what they fed the babies? can they buy formula or do they just feed them cow's milk?


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## chersolly (Aug 29, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *weebitty2*
My dad lives near a small Amish community in upstate NY - Stone Arabia, for anyone familiar with the area. We always saw them at RiteAid and Ames buying Pampers ..

Ha! My grandpa lives in the same area and I was just coming to post almost the same thing. The Ames closed down, so now they have to ride to Price Chopper, where they clear the formula shelves using WIC. Someone told me they sell the formula on ebay....


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## loving-my-babies (Apr 2, 2004)

do the Amish have one religion? what is their religion?


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## Bellasmom (Mar 13, 2004)

Amish *is* the religion. A Christian denomination, like Lutheran/Catholic/Baptist/etc. - but not as organized with a hierarchy of theological rules, etc.(I don't think - I may be wrong). But it varies widely from area to area.


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## chow46 (Aug 21, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chersolly*
The Ames closed down, so now they have to ride to Price Chopper, where they clear the formula shelves using WIC. Someone told me they sell the formula on ebay....









Hmm...this surprises me! We have a small Amish community pretty close to us along with a pretty large Menno population. The mennonite women I talked to explained that the Amish really believe in seperation of church and state and that they don't recieve any government help. I guessed that would mean they didn't accept WIC. But, like a pp said, there are different *levels* of belief, depending on the community.


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## chow46 (Aug 21, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loving-my-babies*
do the Amish have one religion? what is their religion?

The Amish are anabaptists, a branch of christianity. Each community has a certain set of unspoken rules, called the ordnung (sp?) and they can range with level of strictness. They use a German translation of the Bible and I had thought that they took the Bible's direction quite literally. Often, communities will isolate themselves somewhat to avoid becoming "wordly" ie-they don't go to school past 8th grade and so on.


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## Butter (Oct 6, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chow46*
The mennonite women I talked to explained that the Amish really believe in seperation of church and state and that they don't recieve any government help. I guessed that would mean they didn't accept WIC. But, like a pp said, there are different *levels* of belief, depending on the community.

There definitely are different levels! The Amish where I grew up would NEVER accept WIC. It is charity. They (that group) do not accept charity. In fact, when I was in nursing school we each spent one evening with the nursing administrator at the hospital. As I was paging through this huge book of policies I noticed the "Self-Pay (Amish)" policy. I asked about it and she explained that anyone who is self-pay gets an automatic 50% discount of all hospital fees. I asked why it had Amish in parentheses and she said it is because they added in something in the self-pay policy specifically for Amish patients. They never put the actual amount of the charges minus the 50% discount when dealing with an Amish patient because they will insist on paying the whole amount prior to the discount. They see it as charity and they (our group specifically) do not accept any charity.

My mom and aunt are friendly with some Amish women. My mom because she works at a health food store 1 1/2 days a week and my aunt because she makes friends with everyone lol Anyway, they confirmed that the Amish women here always nurse for a couple of years.


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## LisainCalifornia (May 29, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *loving-my-babies*
Lisa.. did she say what they fed the babies? can they buy formula or do they just feed them cow's milk?

She said that they used to make their own formula out of powdered milk back then....but now I imagine that they would be more inclined to just buy formula.


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## brandy111803 (Apr 14, 2004)

I think you do have to make sure you are seeing Amish or Mennonites out at the stores, in cars, etc. My parents now live in OK and there are Mennonites there and they are more into the tech age than the Amish are. I would bet that you see them and not the Amish.

And it would be interesting to know if they have "wet nurses" for those that simply CAN'T nurse. I'll bet those numbers are pretty small though, esp since they aren't convinced that formula makes life easier (through the TV, mag ad's, etc). Hmmm.....


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## ldsapmom (Apr 8, 2002)

It is important to note, too, that not all "bonneted" women are Mennonite or Amish. There are also Dunkards, or German Baptists (also anabaptist, but not as strict). We shared a duplex with a Dunkard family and they did everything we did (cars, computers, technology), but they adhered to a strict dress code, and no tv (but radio). The husband and wife were both nurses at the local hospital. They do not wear wedding rings, so wealthier ones have very nice _watches_.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

Definately a big range. My mom cared for some Amish when we were in Sarasota, and we had Beachy Amish friends, and it was quite common for them to bottle feed, and even give thier babies stuff like tomato sauce and watery jello in bottles.







: I think it has a lot to do with culture, and there is a great variety in culture even among the Amish and Mennonites.


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## OneCatholicMommy (Jan 21, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chersolly*
Ha! My grandpa lives in the same area and I was just coming to post almost the same thing. The Ames closed down, so now they have to ride to Price Chopper, where they clear the formula shelves using WIC. Someone told me they sell the formula on ebay....


Wow! That surprises me because I thought Amish shunned all government aid programs!


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## Ravin (Mar 19, 2002)

Not to mention computers...


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## weebitty2 (Jun 16, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *chersolly*
Ha! My grandpa lives in the same area and I was just coming to post almost the same thing. The Ames closed down, so now they have to ride to Price Chopper, where they clear the formula shelves using WIC. Someone told me they sell the formula on ebay....

:LOL dad says he sees them all the time at rite-aid since it started accepting WIC (it's right at the corner for the turn-off where ames was, across from the gas station and mc donalds)


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## kofduke (Dec 24, 2002)

I was shocked to see an Amish man at a Farmer's market a few weeks ago feeding a babe a bottle of formula.


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## cappuccinosmom (Dec 28, 2003)

I have to wonder about WIC. Amish won't take SS (but they do pay *all* other taxes except SS). I'd be very suprised if they took WIC. Sounds to me like urban legends. And the selling formula on eBay has *got* to be a tall tale, becuase Amish would get excommunicated for using the Internet. Even some Mennonite groups have split up over allowing members to use computers for accounting/business purposes, and I know a family who left thier Mennonite church because they wanted to use email (no internet) for thier business and the church wouldn't let them.


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## wasabi (Oct 12, 2004)

Hmm I went to grad school with a Mennonite. Her family was not "in the community" meaning they didn't live in an enclave but her DH's family did. They both attended a Mennonite university (Bethel) and I know they used computers at the university. The DH's family had electricity and cars and technology. They just lived apart from the rest of us, dressed modestly and were very anti-war. I never heard about them being specifically anti-tech and it seems odd that a Mennonite university would use technology that would be cause for excommunication. I know my friend for instance wrote encyclopedia entries for Mennonites that were online.


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## mahogny (Oct 16, 2003)

I also have to wonder about the Amish using WIC. There's no governing body of Amish, so each community has their own rules of religion, but Amish as a whole are uniquely excluded from paying social security tax as they do not receive social security payments, so I would very surprised if they're even ELIGIBLE for WIC on similar grounds.

I live in OK, and where I went to college was very near a Mennonite community. I worked in a grocery store during college, and the Mennonites drove their cars to the store, bough all kinds of groceries, and used technology. I befriended a family of Mennonites who were regulars at the store, and I found the differences between Amish and Mennonites fascinating. This particular family had older children, so I never witnessed them purchasing dipes or formula, but the oldest girl, she had to be about 17 or so, was in school to become a paramedic - definitely a technological field. They dressed in their traditional dress, but seemed very open to technology in all its forms.

Here's more info about Amish

http://www.religioustolerance.org/amish.htm


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## meowee (Jul 8, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cappuccinosmom*
And the selling formula on eBay has *got* to be a tall tale, becuase Amish would get excommunicated for using the Internet. Even some Mennonite groups have split up over allowing members to use.

They could give it to someone else to sell for them.


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