Making the decision to breastfeed my son seemed like the easiest one in the world. My breasts make milk and he was designed to drink it, so I wasn't going to do it any other way than nature intended. Who knew that nature insisted on testing my resolve?
The first three weeks I breastfed, it was hard. I'm not going to lie. I was very lucky that my son came out of the womb with an incredible ability to latch and suck. Unfortunately, he sucked like a powerful vacuum and was still learning to get a proper latch with his tiny mouth. He would be so hungry he'd attack my nipple and just start sucking away. This caused a few cracks, and before I knew it, it was painful to breastfeed. He'd latch on and I wanted to scream. I remember thinking: am I going to be able to do this? Followed by, who cares? I am not giving up!
I called La Leche League and had a woman come help me. She didn't give me much more than the lactation consultant at the hospital. But, she did have helpful information, and she did help refresh my resolve. At first, she had me trying to correct his latch. I tried this for a few days, but soon it began to add more frustration than help. I'd try to correct, but he was starving. He was getting enough milk, so it wasn't creating a nutritional problem. Finally, I went with my mommy intuition and started just letting him do it his way. One thing I did teach him was "big mouth." Whenever he'd come towards the nipple, I'd say "big mouth" when he got his mouth wide enough and then give him the nipple. Soon enough, I could say "big mouth" and he's open his mouth wider.
Around three weeks, things just got better. I'm not sure if his latch got better or his mouth just got bigger, but it started working. We'd made it through. And I'm forever grateful that we did. It's not the easiest process in the world, but I still think it's the best decision we can make for our children. There are so many reasons to love breastfeeding and to fight for it. And once you win the battle, I think you'll find that, in the long run, breastfeeding is easier.
There are no bottles: no sterilizing, cleaning, drying, or having to remember. Speaking from the exclusively breast-feeding standpoint...I never really have to think about it. I don't have to find a bottle, make sure it's warm, make sure it's clean or sterile, or remember to bring it with me. I know that as long as my son and I are together, I have exactly what he needs and I can give it to him in the time it takes to open my shirt (or occasionally throw a cover over myself).
I'm making the healthiest choice for my child. Babies were designed to drink breastmilk. In fact, their little tummies are not strong enough for anything else. Their digestive systems are specifically designed to process just the breastmilk by absorbing proteins directly into the bloodstream. For the first six months, any other proteins introduced will be absorbed in the same way rather than broken down as they should be...leading to digestive trouble and possibly allergies (this is why it's best to wait six months before introducing solids). Babies exclusively breastfed (no formula, no solids) for the first 15 weeks have been shown to have significantly fewer respiratory problems in childhood. Breastfeeding protects your child with immunities. The more immunities, the less he gets sick. Breastfeeding also leeds to lower incidences of asthma, obesity, diabetes from childhood into adulthood. If you are working...think about how many less days you'd have to take off if your child didn't get sick.
Breastfeeding heightens the mother-child bond. Gazing into your child's eyes while he feeds is an amazing feeling. Sometimes my little guy stops and just smiles at me. It's the greatest feeling in the world.
Breastfeeding is good for me too. Not only does it help a woman's health...it just feels good. The act of breastfeeding releases endorphins which help combat depression, sleep deprivation, and all those other wonderful post-pregnancy realities. Pregnancy can have a devastating effect on the body...causing women to be more likely to get cancer, diabetes, depression, and other health issues. Nature designed breastfeeding to repair the damage done.
It's cheaper!! Formula is expensive. Bottles are expensive. Bottle warmers are expensive. Even pumping adds a cost (you still need bottles, a pump, and storage). So, just breastfeeding is always cheaper. Granted, for women who have to work, you do have the expenditure of pumping...but it's still significantly less than formula! Every time you take baby straight to breast, you save money and time.
No periods and lower likelihood of getting pregnant again. This may not work entirely for all women, but breastfeeding generally prevents your cycle from returning. Add in a progesterone pill and you are period and pregnancy free for a long while.
Ok, so breastfeeding is amazing, but it's not without some pitfalls (isn't everything?). Yes, progesterone and pregnancy hormones cause water and weight retention in many women. But...that usually all goes away when you stop and women who breastfeed usually lose more weight faster than women who don't. Sometimes you have to change your diet in the early days. But, parenting is about sacrifice, isn't it? And there's always the possibility that your child gives up the bottle if you don't feed him pumped milk from a bottle often enough (which mine did!!). But if being able to get away is that important to you, then just make sure you do at least one regular bottle of pumped milk a day. And yes, you become much more tethered to your child...but how amazing it is for a secure attachment. You might also have to deal with thrush or mastitis...but those too can be fixed.
At the end of the day, it's about doing what's best for our kiddos, right? My hope for the world and mothers everywhere is that everyone comes to love breastfeeding the way I do.
Do you?
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