World Breastfeeding Week – 5 things I love about breastfeeding and 5 I hate!

BREASTFEEDING! Seems like we either love it or hate it or anything in between given the day, hour or temperaments of our children. For me..today…breastfeeding is great…but it is not always as easy as people make it seem. We wonder….how do I know if my baby is getting enough breastmilk? And what about attachment? And breastfeeding positions? And how often do I feed my breastfed baby? Is my baby gaining enough weight? Is my baby too fat? What do I do about cracked nipples?These can be issues we all struggle with…

I have breastfed three children with varying degrees of success & am still feeding my daughter.  My first son had huge difficulties with attachment, dropping below his birth weight at 7 weeks…I then expressed milk for him until 5 months. With my other two I have breastfed exclusively with few problems and mostly find it fairly convenient…but not at 3 in the morning lol!  Although it is a lot easier than bottle feeding at that hour. 🙂

One mother I read about said….

At 10 months with my third I’m rapidly getting to the stage of not enjoying feeding very much at all. he has 11 teeth (including 3 molars), chews me like I’m a teething toy, refuses to feed for more than a couple of minutes at a time unless it’s after midnight, in which case he refuses to feed for less than half an hour.

We’re at the all-kinds-of-messed-up stage, and I’m very close to done. I’ll persist until 12 months (something of a personal milestone) but I’m very much over it. “Dangle” on Kidspot Social Forum

And I would have to agree that sometimes I also feel that I am VERY MUCH over it, but other times I love the connectedness of it all and the convenience.  So I have decided to post my top 5 faves and hates about breastfeeding.

Faves

1. It is totally convenient, portable and ready whenever baby is…a plus in the wee hours of the morning.

2. It is really lovely to snuggle with baby and think about all the women who have done this since time began (ok so that sounds a bit soppy but I am sleep deprived…and I find those thoughts reassuring when I get up for the third time after an hour and a half of sleep – lol)

3. It is FREE! and ready to use.

4. Lots of benefits for baby including a better immune system.  YOUR milk is INDIVIDUALLY tailored to YOUR baby. Although donated breast milk for example is still FAR FAR superior to breast milk substitutes (ie formula), your own breast milk is quite literally PERFECT for your baby. It contains immunities to all the nasties that you come into contact with, hence all the nasties your baby is likely to come into contact with.

5. Loads of benefits for mum too, including weight loss.

Hates

1. It can be really inconvenient! Baby has to go everywhere with me ….or I have to be back with whoever is caring for her inside 3 hours so she can feed.  DD not interested in bottle (and who could blame her….but my boys were ok with it).

2. Your nipples get bitten when teeth come in….ouch, ouch, ouch!

3. It can be time consuming….’specially when they are building up supply ready for growth spurt.

4. People who are rude about breastfeeding in public – let’s face it women have been feeding babies this way since time began so it should be acceptable 🙂

5. I am really over having to choose clothes I can breastfeed discreetly in!

What do you love and hate about breastfeeding?  Please add your comment below.

Blessings

Larissa

If you are having heaps of problems but really want to continue with breastfeeding, the Australian Breastfeeding Association is a fantastic resource, both online and locally. There is a local group in most areas.

You may also like to check out my earlier post – Breastfeeding Blues

• Posted in: baby ♦ Breastfeeding ♦ Food ♦ Healthy Eating
• Tagged: Australian Breastfeeding Association, Babies, baby, Baby bottle, breastfeeding, cracked nipples, family, home, Human breast milk, Infant, Milk, motherhood, parenting, sore nipples, weight gain for breastfed babies