some wisdom..
From the amazing mama at "a little pregnant."
I love this and...I agree. The comments are great too.
A dear friend of mine is a labor & delivery nurse. After one of my despairing emails to her about feeling like an awful mom she wrote to me saying that above all, my daughter needs a happy, calm mama. It felt like such a relief to read that. Have I really let myself freak out so much about supplementing her on occasion with formula? My mom said, "Wow. Are you going to feel the same if you let her eat a frozen pizza now and then instead of homemade?" It felt so good to have lunch with friends yesterday and not dance and jitter around about whether I was going to time the feedings right around lunch. Bottle packed in the bag just in case. Ahh. I had hoped to breastfeed exclusively but that didn't happen. She nurses about 98% of the time but sometimes, she gets a bottle now.
7 comments:
I don't understand. Why is giving her a bottle making it easier to eat lunch? I missed something!
Elias supplemented for his first 2 weeks while my supply was working itself out but the thing that I learned is, the more your baby nurses, the better your supply will be. It even out within a day or two! I also believe that if you don't use a pacifier, but use the breast as a peace maker :) your supply will sky rocket!
It's really only for the first 6 months, which go by SO quickly, then you can supplement with actual food! wooo!
I'm not down on you for supplementing, whatever makes you happy, of course. But do know that if you want to exclusively breastfeed, not giving a bottle is the best way to increase supply. <3
The supply isn't a problem at all. I make lotsa milk but when my nipples felt like they were going to rip off, she got bottles of breastmilk and even a bottle of formula. She'll be getting bottled breastmilk when I go back to work.
I took along a bottle because I'm not good at breastfeeding in public yet. Maybe I will be but I'm not yet.
The breast is definitely our peacemaker, not a pacifier.
Don't worry about not breastfeeding all the time. There are plenty of other things to beat yourself up about as time goes on. Relax. Enjoy the baby! Everything will work out.
Having recently recovered from the trauma of constant boobie action, I feel ya. I couldn't even manage to pump, so I LIVED on the couch up until Mazzy was about two months old. Stepping back and letting Daddy handle some of the feedings with formula pulled me from the brink of insanity. I was down on myself for a few days, but after I realized that we were both doing better getting along and staying calm, I haven't looked back. I mean, seriously, sobbing while I fed my daughter was not the bonding experience I had in mind.
It's hard to nurse in public when they're so young. I suck at it too and I have 24 months of breastfeeding experience under my belt.
I always keep a bottle in the fridge so that I can leave the house without having to worry, sleep in, or for those time when I'm super touched out.
Nursing shirts makes it easier to nurse in public. Motherhood carries some tops too.
We supplement with formula as well. The growth spurts are a real pain.
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