Breastfeeding A CHOICE!!!! Not a rule (The Breastfeeding Debate)

Member Name: xnatalie81x

Product:	The Breastfeeding Debate
Date:	01/02/09 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Free, Quick, Easy, Convenient, Nicer poos lol

Disadvantages: Lack of sleep, Feeding more regularly

I have three children and have breastfed them all. My first child i had not even thought about what i would do. It was not a planned pregnancy and he was 2 weeks early, but in hospital totally unprepared i really had no choice but to try it or let baby starve! (they didn't provide milk) - luckily the girl in the bed opposite was having her second child and was breastfeeding as she had the first and gave me some advice.

I really expected it to be natural and feel natural but it didn't - and it hurt. I tried lots of creams but found lansinoh to be the best for reducing the soreness and with hindsight realise i didn't have my son positioned right! So get advice from bf counsellors/national childbirth trust advisers and midwives. I struggled on and constantly questioned myself. Every cry i was convinced my baby was hungry and i couldn't feed him. However he continued gaining weight and my confidence in myself grew and grew! He decided enough was enough at 5mths so i never experienced the pain of being overfull. He weaned himself off.

I did suffer mastitis although it was not bad and with antibiotics cleared quickly.

With my second child, a daughter, she was born at 10lbs!!!! I was petrified i would never be able to feed her enough but i had a health visitor who was a breastfeeding expert and she showed me how to express to build my confidence in her having plenty of milk, and to increase my flow to meet her ever expanding apetite. I successfully breastfed her to 11months and i felt the bond we shared really helped my post-natal depression.

I was still bf when i fell pregnant with ds2 and many HV had an opinion on this. How bad it could be for me blah blah. I continued feeding her and was 18weeks pregnant when i stopped. My milk came in immeidately after 3rd child's birth and it was a doddle - i was an expert by now. No soreness with either 2 youngest as positioning was correct and had expressing down to an art form so could express and have a night off if needed.

Breastfeeding is fantastic - it is free, convenient (think i'm out shopping need to feed into topshop changing room - dinner ready :) ) - you become so good at feeding people approach you to say how cute the baby is and you have to point out you are actually feeding lol - it also helps you lose weight and contracts the uterus so you get your shape back more quickly and easily. Breastfeeding has been proven to reduce the risks of some cancers and illnesses in later life for mum too, Oh and it is good for baby too ;)

I do think there is a lot of pressure on parents to breastfeed and personally i would say give it a go, if it doesn't work fine! But if the idea of trying it is so bad then do what feels right for you, or talk to someone - it may be that your fears are not so different to what all women experience!

ALWAYS REMEMBER A HAPPY MUMMY = A HAPPY BABY!!!!!!! If you are stressed and tense then your baby will feel stressed and tense so the most important thing is to do what is right for YOU (and dad of course ; )

Summary: It is YOUR choice no one else's!! and HAPPY MUM = HAPPY BABY