The I Support You Project aims to unite formula-feeding and breastfeeding parents by encouraging open dialogue, respect and understanding about infant feeding choice. Parenting is hard enough without having to defend our choices. If you are feeding your child with love, then I Support You stands with you.
I Support You was created by an unlikely team of friends. Suzanne Barston is the creator and leader of the Fearless Formula Feeder community. She is the author of Bottled Up: How The Way We Feed Babies Has Come To Define Motherhood, And Why It Shouldn’t. Jamie Grumet is the writer behind I Am Not The Babysitter, and the mother behind the infamous Time Magazine cover story on attachment parenting and extended breastfeeding (Are You Mom Enough?). Kim Simon is a featured contributor on the Huffington Post, whose essays on breastfeeding and formula-feeding have struck a chord with moms in the trenches of the infant feeding battle. In 2013, the three of us came together to launch I Support You, and our message of encouragement and support went viral.
Lisa Belkin and The Huffington Post teamed with us to launch the very first I Support You campaign. Our national coverage also included:
As Suzanne Barston writes on the I Support You website:
The best way to counteract hate is by drowning it in a sea of change. The tide is rising, and we can float above the negativity and fear; push down the us-versus-them bullshit and let it sink to the bottom, where it belongs; lure it to its death with a siren song of I support you, sung far and wide.
This year, we are taking the #ISupportYou message off the web and into the streets. It’s easy to argue with strangers in a virtual setting, but what could happen if we took our frustrations, resentments, insecurities and competitions and channeled them into creating real, positive change?
Please join the ISY community as we volunteer our time and energy to help other mothers deal with the emotional, financial, and practical challenges of infant feeding. From helping moms in the NICU, to leading breastfeeding support groups, to organizing formula drives to bridge the gap felt by low-income families, we’ll be asking you to show your support in tangible ways.
Will you join us? To learn more about I Support You, please visit our website. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.