There has been so much talk these days on Breastfeeding. Positive talk and negative. When I hear the negative I just think that people just aren't educated on the topic.
Breastfeeding is natural! Nutritious! The healthy choice! Easily digested for babies, full of antibodies to help protect against illnesses, builds a strong bond with your baby, moms burn calories too! Just look up all the benefits!
I admit that I was I was not educated on breastfeeding. When I was younger I thought no way would I breastfeed... I just didn't understand it really. No one ever talked about the health benefits of it, and the amazing bonding experience with your child. They never taught us about it in school, our parents never educated us on it either. I'm glad I changed when I became pregnant and educated on the health of my baby and myself.
I'm also so glad to see Breastfeeding talk all over the media and social media sites. Positive and the negative. Getting everyone to understand and learn about it! It's a good thing! always was, always will be!
Breastfeeding isn't as easy as one might think, it is hard for some of us.
Put the baby to the breast and he will suck and milk will flow right!? Nope not that easy. So when mom's try and don't have a successful outcome it's stressful and some moms just can't get enough milk and have to resort to formula. Ok too! The most important thing is that our babies are eating, healthy and happy. Formula feeding isn't that easy either, it's expensive, lots of bottle washing, may make the baby gassy having to try many different brands.
My first couple weeks of Breastfeeding was tough. My baby wasn't latching that well, I wasn't sure if he was eating enough. He cried a lot, I topped up feedings with formula too. I was exhausted and felt like giving up. The great thing about where we live is that we have a free service, a hotline you can call for information about Breastfeeding and a trained nurse helps you. You can even go in and they will show you what to do. I did both. It really really helped. I also had so much support from blogger/twitter moms and RL friends. A support group is a must! (and you will, I repeat will have negative people telling you your baby is starving because you are breastfeeding haha, no he is not. He feeds more often because breastmilk is easily digested which is soo healthy for his little body, also teaching him healthy eating habbits)
Even though I read up on Breastfeeding before baby K came along there were sooo many things I didn't know!!
I didn't know what growth spurts were until I had a baby feeding every hour for 24 hours! ha!
I didn't know what a clogged duct was until I was in sooo much pain from it. Ouch!
I didn't know what over supply was until my breasts were in pain and my little guy wasn't eating that much haha. I had to pump and freeze supply which wasn't a bad thing.
I remember the best advice I had from a friend was to try it for 6 weeks and if by then it wasn't working out then decide what to do. By the 6th week it was all good! I had the hang of it. The toughest was the first 2 weeks. And of course still had little issues here and there but nothing to do with latching or supply.
I remember thinking I would only breastfeed for 3 months... Then it came and went, and thought 6 months I would wean, well we are at 9 months and still at it ;)
So if you feel down and think you may not be able to breastfeed for long, just take it day by day!
Dressing for Breastfeeding wasn't a big deal for me. I bought 5 Breastfeeding tops and tanks and button down shirts or easy to lift or pull down tops or dresses. It's easy really!
A must for me is a nursing bra, I love them.
If you are a little uncomfortable with breastfeeding in public, just get a cool looking nursing cover. Also great to hide distractions from the baby so he can eat in peace. I have a nursing cover so I breastfeed everywhere and anywhere. Depending on where I am, like home or family or friends house I don't use the cover of course.
I was shy at first but that quickly went away.
I just needed my baby and a bag of diapers and wipes and me and we are ready to go out. No bottles no warmers no nothing. If you know me, I hate too many moving parts haha so Breastfeeding was great for me. We just came back from a trip, and Breastfeeding was soo convenient. I breastfed in the plane, the bus. Kept baby calm and happy.
We are now on month 9 and I'm soo happy I made it this far.
I have 2 months to wean as I'll be going back to work in October. Weaning is not easy! Especially when I love Breastfeeding my baby too!
Kristian is eating 3 meals a day and nursing in between. So I've been trying to cut back. I'll start with day time weaning. I do not want to go cold turkey. And I love the benefits my baby gets from my breast milk too. So I want to first start with the hours I will be at work. So weaning from 8am -6pm is my first goal I'll start with. And go from there! Again, getting support from other moms is a good thing... I go to twitter for this and I have an amazing group of moms that give me advice.
Many moms breastfeed well over 12 months. Like I said before, I thought I would breastfeed for only 3 months. So I can't say when we will officially be weaned and I'm totally happy with my decisions so far. Both baby and I love our time together when he nurses.
So that's my little take on Breastfeeding, what's yours!?
