During my first pregnancy,I was away from my family-across the country actually-and I never really considered feeding my baby in any way than by breastfeeding.
Of course,I remember reading how not all mothers can nurse,and of course seeing that bottle feeding was the most common thing mothers do.
When I was a little girl,I nursed my baby dolls....I don't recall doing this in front of anyone-maybe because I was the youngest child,so I hadn't seen breastfeeding too much.
I had seen a few mothers at our church nursing their babies and I thought it was so loving and.....well,motherly.
When my first child was born,I started nursing within an hour or so after his birth.
When he showed little interest in nursing and I was unable to see the lactation consultant,my nurses suggested I just give him a little formula......and I did.
I kept nursing though-although I did supplement once a day or so with formula.
It was a pretty rough start.....for 3-4 months!
I had cracked and bleeding nipples,I suffered engorgement,battled mastitis and clogged milk ducts-I was a mess!
My baby was a terribly fussy one about eating-but I pressed on,supplementing on occasion.
He nursed until he was about 11 mos,when my job schedule made it very difficult to continue nursing.
With my second child,there was some soreness in the beginning,but we sailed right through....until I became pregnant when he was 6 months old.
Within a month,he started getting really fussy at feeding time and we gradually started supplementing with formula.
By the time he was 9 months old,he had completely weaned himself.
My third child...wow,now THAT was a breeze!
He took right to nursing like he'd done it a million times and I had zero pain ever.
He nursed exclusively and we never introduced solids until he was about 7 1/2 months old.
When he was about 13 months old,he started getting really fussy and distracted during nursing sessions.
I kept trying to offer him the breast,but he wanted nothing to do with it....I was heartbroken since we'd had such an amazing nursing relationship,but at least he was old enough to be on a toddler diet.
Within a few weeks I discovered I was once again pregnant.
Baby number 4.
Born in the water,he came right to my chest and we began nursing within minutes....and he kept nursing and nursing.Finally my milk came in around 36 hours!
We have struggled with oversupply of milk,nipple soreness and most recently: Questionable weight gain.
I noticed after we left the doctors (when they said he hadn't gained enough) that I hadn't been feeling the 'let-down' at the beginning of each feeding.
I decided to start taking Fenugreek capsules and they worked-I have been feeling the tingly flow of milk!
I am hoping we can nurse for a LONG time! I've always wanted to breastfeed for at least 18 mos (12 months is achievable,but my goal is longer) and I'm researching and trying my best to learn how we can reach that goal.
I will continue to pump milk for him if he doesn't want to nurse-I have for Payton when he was sick since having Jacobi.
Some people might think that's weird...Well,I've got a question for those people:
You'll drink from a cows dirty,nasty udder-but human milk is gross?
While on the subject of 'drinking from another' ...
A mother said that GIVEN the opportunity to need it she would rather give her baby formula than let another woman breastfeed (or provide breast milk for) her baby.
Her reasoning was that she doesn't know if the woman eats organic,therefore apparently that woman's breast milk-human milk for human babies-isn't good enough.
What do people think formula is made from?? Organic Cow milk??
Let alone,cows milk is no match for babies delicate tummies...or adults if you want to know the truth.
Now,before everyone gets all offended and starts saying how judgemental I am sounding,think about it:
Do you really know what is in formula or the process it goes through to be made?
How much research did you do before choosing which brand of formula to feed your baby?
And another thing:
*If formula feeding was something you felt you had to do for one reason or another,don't feel bad! You did what you felt you needed to do and sometimes that's just how things go.
*In our country there just isn't enough support for breastfeeding.
*We are conditioned to believe that breasts are for sex-so asking for help can be embarrassing
*Chances are most of the women you know didn't breastfeed for long if at all.
*Formula companies have money (and loads of it) to promote their product and mislead the even the best of us to think that formula is an equally beneficial substitution for breast milk.
*Who stands to benefit from promoting breastfeeding?There certainly seems to be no financial gain for anyone other than the parents of the infant-no need to purchase the formula.
Breast milk is normal.It's natural.It's perfect. And it's unable to ever be duplicated.
Demand to know what you are feeding your baby.
Formula has probably made great strides in becoming more compatible for babies needs,but I feel we need to do better.There will always be some babies who aren't able to receive their own mothers breast milk and what they receive needs to be as beneficial as possible.
I would also be more than grateful to have another woman nurse-or provide breast milk for my baby,given the situation where I was unable to nurse.
Of course I would be most comfortable if I knew the woman (at least somewhat) and also only if my infant was still needing to receive breast milk and not solids.
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