Yes, it's not easy. Moms might get hurt and babies might not just be into it, but nothing great is easy. All those are product of hard work. So if you want to raise a healthy baby, then you might want to raise him the most natural way possible. And it's proven that breastfeeding is far and away better than having a cow's mile fed into your babies. You choose.
That's why I put in the link, so people could see it was international. That's what is so wonderful about le leche league. Women helping women across the world. They work with professional staff as well as each other to pass on information and support. Their book, The Womanly Art Of Breastfeeding is a classic, written when it was thought strange to nurse your baby, and the founding mothers went thru a LOT of bs. back then to pave the way for the rest of us. I nursed my baby over 30 years ago and then became a leader very quickly, leading meetings, etc. To nurse their babies, women have support in every country. Click the link to find yours. Best wishes. I see other's have posted after me, so again, the link is and then choose your country from the dropdown: Log In
I have a 7 months old baby girl and she has been breastfeeding since from the first hour she was born. Even though she's taking solid food now but she still breastfeed. Of course she was taking hours to breastfeed until she was really full in the beginning and I also had blisters on my nipples but I was very patience and we both were happy. She doesn't take a long time nowadays. Not just the advantages it gives, but I love bonding with my baby that way, and breastfeeding time is always the best time of my day when there is only me and my baby teasing each other in the room
Yes, I loved that bonding aspect. It's so much more than just a way to feed a baby. About that tho, I found it so freeing, as we could just grab some diapers and go. I really enjoyed helping mothers nurse their babies. Just a few months ago at the farmer's market I ran into someone about my age, maybe a little younger and they remembered me! It was so cool, she said, my name and all, and said thank you so much for your help in nursing my baby all those years ago. I thought wow, and bless my heart, I did not remember her tho. But the knowing it was passing support on, it felt good.
Yeah, that is so true, we never forget those people that helped our babies, they will always have this special place in our heart. I am not a woman, so I don't know about bonding, but I could see that it was a special moment between my wife and my kids, tiring, but special, after all it's nature following it's course and should not be replace for anything unless for some medical reason.
I've heard that it can be difficult to breastfeed for some moms. It seems like if breastfeeding is a natural primitive thing, you wonder why it can be difficult for some babies and moms. I guess eventually when I have kids I may find out. But if I you can manage breastfeeding it's suppose to be healthier for the baby building immune system and promoting bonding.
My son is 15 months old now but there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to breastfeed. I didn't do too much research about it (my mistake) and what I did read, said that it was a natural act and that it be easy. I thought I was good to go. I was wrong. First of all, my son was born three weeks early so that set us back a little bit. He had a lot of trouble latching and we have very unhelpful nurses that could not seem to understand why we were struggling. I was finally getting the hang of things when a nurse walked into the room and demanded that we give him formula because he was losing too much weight. She had me in tears within seconds, she never took into consideration that I was a young, first time mother and just wanted to be able to do right by my son and breastfeed him. She ruined any chance we had because from that point on, I was so on edge that my son never latched again. This led us down the path of exclusive pumping. It was a tough road at first, having to pump around the clock even when my son started sleeping through the night. I always had to stay a couple bottles ahead so I wouldn't have to reach a dreaded moment of my son screaming for milk that I was still trying to pump out. It was a rough first couple months but we got through it and I went on to pump for nine months. Even after that, I had enough stashed in the freezer to get him to 11 months when we slowly switched to cow's milk. Breastfeeding has been done for centuries and it's definitely natural but easy it is not. It DOES hurt at first, despite what you might hear and sometimes it just doesn't work out. Some women have to go to formula and then others like me are still able to provide the milk, we just have to do it through a different form. I don't regret my EPing journey but next time I will be armed with the correct information and can hopefully a different experience.
Yes, I think that happens to a lot of women, they think things are natural and in fact they are, but this does not mean they are easy because they are not. It's a hard process and the more informed we are the better chances we have to do it the best possible way for our baby and for ourselves, or in my case, for my wife.
Thanks for that testimony, as an expecting parent, me and the wife have been reading a lot about this sort of issues in order to try and be prepared for as many possible problems as we can. I'll definitely mention this when I get home, since it's a subjects that she'll be interested in looking into, thanks.
Ah, congratulations Strykstar! So you are now doing your homework, well done, I wish I had done the same it would have saved me a lot of trouble. Unfortunately I didn't, but at least I have the satisfaction of telling other people what happened to me so that they don't suffer the same. So, if your baby wants to eat, give him time, no rush, he'll do it faster when he's stronger.
Thank you Gelsemium It's definitely important to do all the homework now in order to be prepared for what's to come, since I imagine that I won't have as much time available afterwards. Telling others what happened is appreciated and you're also prepared for when you have another child
No, I already have two, so no more kids for me, I have enough work and not enough space or money. I do enjoy giving advice to other people because I don't want them to go through the pain I did, I still hate that doctor these days, but also because giving advice seems a really light task comparing to the process of raising a kid, enjoy these last months of freedom, mark my words.
You are so welcome! I am happy to pass on any knowledge I now have about breastfeeding and EPing. I don't regret my journey one bit and even came to not mind pumping toward the end. However, I wish I had gone in armed with the knowledge that I know now. I wish I had told that nurse where she could stick her formula. I sure will next time! Whatever a mother chooses to feed her baby is up to her and she shouldn't have to defend herself. I hope that your wife has success at breastfeeding but if there are obstacles, I hope she has the knowledge that there are other ways to provide that beautiful baby with breastmilk. Good for you guys for doing your homework!
Breastfeeding is a process indeed and it's not an easy one. Regarding the pump as you mentioned, my wife never really got adapted to it and she never managed to get her milk out with it. Luckily we managed without it because she had flexible time in the first months, but what if she didn't? Would our kid be so soon without milk?
Well, for one thing: formula is not the end of the world. It does not make a parent a bad parent just because they choose to supplement with formula or even use it from the very beginning. Personally, I just didn't want to use it. I would have though if it came down to that. I'd rather have a baby that's full and satisfied rather than a baby that's cranky because they aren't getting full enough on my own milk. I do believe that every mother should at least try to breastfeed if they are able. They might think its not for them but then again, they might end up loving it and do it for 2 years. There's a saying about breastfeeding that I believe in with my whole heart: "A year or a day, a drop or a bottle...every little bit counts." Just love your babies, parents. Everything else will work out.
The problem with formula is that might causes issues to the baby, some of them that we might even be unaware of. My kid was not that case because he had a bad allergic reaction to the formula and his face was covered by eczema, really heart breaking. Sure, it all depends on the reasons why you are giving your kid the formula, if it's just because you're too lazy to breastfeed I think that it does make you a bad parent.
I guess you wouldn't have much choice, in that case. There are babies that get started immediately on formula, whether it is because the mothers don't produce milk or in some cases the mother unfortunately doesn't have breasts anymore, and the babies turn out fine, but I do agree that it must be *better* for the child to be breastfed.
Like I said, I believe every mother should try to breastfeed if they are able. Then again, I know many mothers who went straight to formula but are far from bad mothers. Yet again, I know mothers who DID breastfeed but in every other aspect they are flat-out BAD. There are many factors that make a person a bad parent: abuse, belittling, neglect are all prime examples. I don't really think breastfeeding is one of them but that's just my opinion. I even say this as a mother who DID provide breastmilk for over a year. Just because I did so doesn't make me a better mother than the mom who did not do what I did.
When my wife was in the maternity (hospital where the kids are born) some women didn't want to breastfeed their kids, purely out of option, they said it was too much bother for them. I think that most of all this shows ignorance from their side, I believe that they want the better for their babies, but they believe that the formula is as good and in fact it's not.
Of course this shows ignorance! They obviously didn't take the time to research what options would be better, had family members tell them formula was better, get public assistance to buy formula so figure they might as well, etc, etc. Ignorance is definitely no excuse for never even trying. Its up to us as parents to educate ourselves on the best options for our children.
