To Breastfeed Or Not To Breastfeed? The Secrets Of Breastfeeding That You Wont Find In Books.

Before you have a child, the thought of breastfeeding probably fills any prospective

mother with a sense of worry, or dare I say it disgust or disapproval. Women that breastfeed seem to be almost untouchable in the sense that they portray the image of being the ultimate earth mother! It looks so straightforward, and the baby seems to be so content. But to get to this point, many mothers will probably tell you that it was hard work, challenging and at times they just wanted to give up and go out and buy a tub of powder, but a voice in their heads kept saying keep going, dont be a failure. It will work out just give it a bit of time.

There are a number of choices for feeding a baby, and choosing to breastfeed a new baby is not an easy decision to make for many women, even though there are many publicised advantages to breastfeeding, for both mother and baby: for those that are conscious of spending budget, breastfeeding is free. Its readily available at any time of the day, and its handy in the sense that you dont have to worry about sterilising bottles, warming them up or making sure you have enough bottles to last whilst you visit your granny 10 miles away and get stuck in traffic on the way home! It also has many health benefits including shifting early immunity against common illnesses.So what gives me the right to tell you about feeding a baby, or more importantly how to feed YOUR baby, well Im a mother to three girls aged five, almost three and fourteen months. Ive breastfed all my children, but Ive had three completely different experiences. I certainly havent found it an easy skill to attain, with a number of challenges to overcome. But I can say this, it has been very rewarding, (also uncomfortable and painful at times) but knowing that I have been able to give my children the best start made the tearful moments worthwhile.The first 10 days of my babys lives were the hardest when it came to breastfeeding. I could never get them to latch on correctly. Not because I have large breasts (quite the opposite in fact!) but as the midwife pointed out, all three girls had rather small rose bud mouths which did not lend well to breastfeeding. If anyone ever tells you that breastfeeding is easy, I doubt they did it. Very few women take to it from day one. Babies have to be educated in the same way a puppy needs to be house trained so to speak! Positioning the baby in your arms is key, getting the babys head in the right position is paramount and then inserting your nipple at the right time is indeed a challenge in itself! But getting all factors right at the same time, well what can I say? Its a minefield!!! I, like so many women have suffered sore, cracked and bleeding nipples resulting in a reluctance to feed. I remember dreading the sound of my hungry baby and would flinch when their tiny little mouths came too close, however I can happily and proudly say I persevered. Its funny but all three children got it on day 10. It all clicked in to place and the rest they say is history!My first baby was combination fed from day one. This means that I breastfed and topped up with bottles which were sometimes expressed milk and sometimes formula. She was quite a hungry baby and I dont think I produced enough milk to keep her going. I continued combination feeding until she was weaned at six months, when I went back to employment at nine months I expressed my milk for the following day then I gave her the last feed at night which I continued to do until she was 12 months.My second baby was breastfed exclusively until 14 weeks when I discovered a large painful lump in my breast which turned out to be a nasty abscess. It burst one evening whilst I was feeding her which was not a nice experience for either of us, and the consultant at the hospital advised to give up breastfeeding completely otherwise it would not heal up. This was heart wrenching and emotional to say the least. I wasnt ready to give up feeding, and my husband said I was being stubborn and naive to even think about carrying on, however I compromised and gave up feeding on the left side. At that point I introduced formula to top up each normal breastfeed. Six weeks later when the abscess had completely cleared up, I resumed feeding on both sides. I continued until 12 months, just as I did with my first child.My final child has been a lot easier and straightforward (that is after the initial first 10 painful days!). I have breastfed exclusively for 12 months (although she was weaned at six months and breastfeeding went down to 3-4 times a day). The only bad experience Ive had is that shes been a bit of a biter, so training her not to use her new weapons since six months has been interesting. But incredibly worth it.by: Fernando Tlatelpa

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