Through the eyes of a child


For World Breastfeeding Week I was excited to host “Perspectives: Breastfeeding through Children’s Eyes Art Prject.” The original plan was to take submissions for a week and then select one to be printed on note cards, a collaboration with Paper Mama, the sales of which would go to benefit Best For Babes Foundation. We were and are all super excited. But we want more submissions.

In an effort to get more submissions, we’re going to extend the contest deadline to September 15th. We have some great submissions so far and love seeing how your little ones view breastfeeding. We are looking forward to even more. Spread the word and ask your little ones to share their artistic expressions of their perspective of breastfeeding!

To submit, send a scanned copy of a high quality photograph of your child’s piece to theleakyboob @ theleakyboob.com by September 15th with your child’s first name, age and anything they had to say about breastfeeding and their submission. You may submit as many as you’d like.

We are looking forward to all of the submissions and hope to help a good cause and I’d love to show that children seeing breastfeeding is not a sexually perverted act and is in fact a positive in not only the lives of the mothers and babies but the children exposed to such beautiful nurturing as well.

World Breastfeeding Week- TGIF!

Random, funny French ad using breastfeeding to sell their beer.
B@@bs are used to sell beer all the time these days but it sure doesn’t look like that now!

Squiggle Bug doesn’t believe in sleep any more. At 2.5 years old she has figured out how to run on pure energy. I’m jealous. I haven’t had time to really do my own blogging. Because, seriously, I have to at least attempt to sleep once in a while even if Squiggle Bug is dead-set against The Piano Man or I actually getting to sleep.

This blog carnival is intended to be open minded and thoughtful, to encourage dialogue and view breastfeeding from all different perspectives and experiences and I secretly (now not-so-secretly) hope that will be a spring board for viewing and discussing the rest of life. It’s also supposed to have funny moments. Don’t think there is much room for humor when it comes to breastfeeding? Check the blog name. Only someone that has never has sported two wet circles perfectly positioned on the chest of their top with milk that came from their own body or has never had a baby dive-bomb their chest with an open mouth or had a toddler screaming “MY BOOBIE!” could think that. Trust me, there is room for humor. There has to be. It’s a carnival hosted by The Leaky B@@b and if The Leaky B@@b can’t do humor well then, we’re screwed.

Talk about a perspective! A really kind Leaky shared this photo with me to demonstrate how she tandem feeds her twins while co-sleeping.

So I finally got something out. There are so many different perspectives I could give on breastfeeding so I shared 4. And just so you know, if you know me in real life and you bring up any of those perspectives I will deny every. single. one. Except for the Easter dress poop one, I have photographic evidence of that.

Other blogs today have a wide spectrum of perspectives, visit and let them know you’re stopping by from The Leaky B@@b checking out different perspectives on breastfeeding.

Perspectives: When “Natural” =/= “Easy”– I knew I’d love this post from the first two lines. “Hi, my name is Star, and I used to think breastfeeding was disgusting. I like to think of myself as a breastfeeding success story.” When Star isn’t chasing her toddler or nursing her infant, she works as a peer breastfeeding counselor, blogs, and spends time with her fiance. She blogs here.

The Joys of Breastfeeding Past Infancy #17
– Once again, NursingFreedom.org brings a charming and informative post to the carnival. NursingFreedom.org was cofounded by Dionna of Code Name: Mama and Paige of Baby Dust Diaries. NursingFreedom.org is dedicated to normalizing breastfeeding and advocating for breastfeeding rights. Please follow NursingFreedom.org on its Facebook page to connect with other mamas who are passionate about breastfeeding advocacy.

Postpartum OCD Part 2 of 2: The Mom Who Couldn’t Stop Logging– Postpartum depression, breastfeeding difficulties and OCD, Anne invites us to journey deeper into her experience, sharing a perspective as debilitating as it is hopeful. Dou-la-la is written by Anne, doula-in-training, birth advocate and a moderately crunchy mother.

Breastfeeding and Early Intervention– A professional that works with children birth to age three in her state’s Early Intervention program, Susan gives us her perspective working with the families in need of her program’s services. A mom of 7 children, she provides support to families with special needs children drawing on her training and her own personal experience with Early Intervention for 3 of her own children. She has enjoyed the roller coaster of different breastfeeding adventures with all of 7 of her kids and is currently nursing her youngest. Susan blogs at My Breastfeeding Journey.

Our guest post today talks about breastfeeding and one’s faith and how this influenced one mom of 3. I hope you enjoy The Way of The B@@b from Jessi, an American Taoist living in China doing her best to parent her children naturally.

There are still give-aways going on and even some more to come: Kate Hansen prints and PumpEase Prize Pack.


Amber submitted this drawing done by her 8 year old step-daughter Kate and had this to share about it.

“[This] is of a woman sitting in a chair breast feeding her child and being happy about it.

Kate was very curious about when I started breastfeeding her siblings, and asked a lot of questions about how and why. When her mother had another child this year Kate told her very matter of factly, that her new sister should have the “Boobie Juices” cause that was what is good for the baby, and not those phooey bottles.
Kate is very proud to tell people that babies should have breast milk and that our 2 kids have it making them really smart.

She is very smart herself, and she cracks me up!”

Perspectives: Breastfeeding through Children’s Eyes Art Project

Yesterday I had an idea. That idea has turned into something I’m very excited about.

Children see and understand more than we give them credit for. They are also more accepting, curious but uninhibited in their quest for understanding. I love that about kids. It can also be a little bit maddening but when I take the time to really see and try to experience the world from my children’s perspective I am overwhelmed at the simple beauty they take time to appreciate but I often rush by.


As adults, we love to wax poetic on the things that are important to us. So much so that we can go on and on and on about our favorite topics and we won’t be happy until we’re sure we’ve shared it with everyone in the world. Not only shared it, but have them agreeing with us, telling us we are absolutely right. Children also love to talk about their passions but they move on quickly, finding other ways to connect with their passions including creative play and art.


This week we are taking a look at some of the many different perspectives on breastfeeding and one that we want to hold high is breastfeeding from the perspective of children. Using art, any medium, any form, children of all ages are invited to send in their art work expressing how they see breastfeeding, what they think of breastfeeding, and how breastfeeding makes them feel. It can be abstract or literal, a painting or a sculpture, comic strip or a dance. Take a picture (or video if it is a dance or song) and send it to theleakyboob {@} theleakyboob {DOT} com. Visual art will be entered into a contest as we search for a child’s artwork to be breastfeeding note cards. The winner will receive a set of their note cards and additional cards will be available for sale through The Leaky B@@b and Paper Mama to benefit Best For Babes.

children on breastfeedingWe want to see any and all artistic expressions of breastfeeding your child creates but here are the guidelines and some tips for an entry to be considered for the contest.

  • Colorful images work best and are most eye catching.
  • If possible, scan the original artwork on a scanner. If that isn’t possible, take as high a quality photo you can with natural lighting, no shadows, and crop to eliminate distractions in the background.
  • Bigger may be better as it is easier to scale an image down than to make it bigger and we want to be able to see your child’s work well.
  • Only visual art, not performance art, can be considered for the contest but please don’t let that stop you from sending in a poem, dance, or song your child creates about breastfeeding.
  • Multiple submissions by the same artist and family are welcomed.
  • The deadline is August 9th for a submission to be considered for the contest but we will gladly enjoy seeing your child’s art any time.

Waldorf crayon drawing breastfeedingI look forward to seeing the world of breastfeeding from your children’s perspective.

World Breastfeeding Week- Perspectives: Breastfeeding from Every Angle


So it turns out, World Breastfeeding Week is a family affair in our house. It’s kind of funny, really, we go from a vague “oh, it’s world breastfeeding week” last year to “let’s host a blog carnival and all get involved” this year. Strange and fun. The Piano Man is working on the new website trying to learn code, design and all sorts of new things on the techie side of things. I’m reading and reviewing submissions for the “Perspectives: Breastfeeding from Every Angle” blog carnival and squeezing in time to write my own as well as content for the website, Earth Baby is at the archaic PC writing a guest post for TLB carnival, The Storyteller has ducked behind the piano creating her first every comic strip just for World Breastfeeding Week, Lolie is filling pages and pages with her colorful perspective on breastfeeding, Squiggle Bug settled in for an early bed time and Smunchie has had her b@@bie snacks a couple of times over. I looked up from NAKing (nursing at the keyboard-ing) to see my family all engrossed in preparations for World Breastfeeding Week, filled with an unexpected contentment that they all so willingly embrace the mission of The Leaky B@@b.

And it gave me a great idea. A great, wonderful, delightful idea.

The Leaky B@@b blog carnival is “Perspectives: Breastfeeding from Every Angle” and I’m delighted to say that we have some fascinating perspectives to share with you this week. Everything from personal stories to professional education, historical attitudes and feminist opinions, the delightfully easy experience to the challenging heartbreak of disappointment. And then some. I’m breathless with excitement about the treasures in store this next week which will go very well with my current sleepless state.

To add to all that though is my great, wonderful, delightful, best-ever World Breastfeeding Week idea.

I asked Earth Baby, The Storyteller and Lolie if they’d like to contribute anything for World Breastfeeding Week. They surprised me by enthusiastically diving in to their various projects. Lolie asked me for some ideas and guidance in creating pages of rainbow drenched depections of breastfeeding. After giving her a few pointers and creating one of my own I sat back as she filled page after page. I had to cut her off to send her to bed but I love the radiant images she made.

Inspired by Lolie, we are adding at the last minute a new component to our celebrations of World Breastfeeding Week:

Perspectives: Breastfeeding through Children’s Eyes Art Project.

Anything pretty much goes. With as little guidance as possible, invite your child to create something about breastfeeding, take a picture or scan the original and send it to us at theleakyboob@theleakyboob.com. We will feature each and every single submission we receive as part of our celebration for WBW. Experiment with different mediums, paint, crayons, pencils, clay, playdough, sticks, bee’s wax, you name it. Please let it be your child’s work, if you’d like to send something of your own creation in, I welcome that too but not for the Children’s Art Project. When sending in a submission for the Perspectives: Breastfeeding through Children’s Eyes Art Project, please include the child’s first name (last is not required), age and the medium as well as a title if there is one. Any and all submissions may be used on The Leaky B@@b blog and website at any time, all rights released.

I can’t wait to see the creations we get. After all, of all the perspectives out there we breastfeed for our children, it is their perspective that may just be the most important.


ETA: Paper Mama is going to partner with us to pick one selection from the submissions to create note cards with a set going to the creator of the original artwork. Further sets will be available for purchase to benefit Best For Babes!