Why You Should Breastfeed, and How to Stick With It
These days, most expectant mothers know that breastfeeding is best. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, the US Department of Health, heck – even the formula companies – say so. Why? The reasons are endless. Your breastmilk is designed perfectly for your baby. It has all the nutrients your baby needs. Studies show that breastfed babies are smarter and healthier adults. Breastfeeding is better for you. It helps your uterus contract back down to size after your baby is born, it helps you lose the baby weight, and even more importantly, reduces your risk of breast cancer. Breastfeeding is truly a wonder.
Yet even with all this encouragement, only a small percentage of American mothers breastfeed their babies past the first few months. I was one of these moms; I breastfed my daughter Brianna only six months – and part-time, at that. Much of the time, she drank organic formula. Having been there, done that – I can tell you why.
At the top of the list was SLEEP. I needed it. And breastfeeding interfered with it. With formula, my husband could get up and feed her instead of me. I also felt, from a feminist “we-should-share-all-duties” level, that we should take equal responsibility for feeding the baby we both created. Another reason: I did not have the patience to stay put so often in the day while my baby nuzzled my nipples. And finally, the most practical reason of all – I went back to work. After a few months of pumping twice a day, combined with increased formula use, my milk supply dwindled, and I called it quits.
Fast forward two years to the birth of my second daughter, Elea. Elea, I am very proud to say, is exclusively breastfed (EBF) – eight months, and going strong. I have become a virtual cheerleader for breastfeeding. I proudly nurse Elea wherever, whenever, brazenly hiking down my shirt and popping my breast out to feed my hungry baby.
Why the drastic change? I had more motivation this time around. I was a stay-at-home mom now, so I knew I wouldn’t have to pump, which was a grind. I realized that EBF was actually possible and doable. In the waning days of my pregnancy with Elea, I set my mind that I would give EBF a go. With the help of my dearest midwife, Davi, I got off to a good start. When my nipples were cracked a few days in, she called a lactation consultant over to my house who diagnosed a latch problem, and gave me tools to fix it. I decided I needed additional mother-to-mother support, and started attending the local La Leche League meetings. The LLL leaders – and the amazing mom members – had answers to all my breastfeeding questions. I felt joy at the camaraderie of like-thinking people.
By pure instinct, I solved the most dogged of reasons not to exclusively breastfeed. I got sleep simply by sharing my bed with my baby. No longer did I have to get up out of bed, pad down the hall, pick up my baby from the crib, and sit in a rocker to nurse – thus being fully awake for the half-hour feeding. Instead, little Elea slept right next to me, and when she woke for a feeding, I simply rolled over to my side, helped her latch, and then lay in a twilight sleep while she ate. When she was done, we both rolled back to our backs, and back into deep slumber.
Due to the success of co-sleeping, I didn’t feel the desperate need to have my husband “share” the responsibilities. In fact, as the months passed, I realized I didn’t want to share.
I love breastfeeding Elea. When I nurse her, it’s like mutual adoration. When she latches on to my nipple, her little eyes roll up in pure bliss. She snuggles in to the warmth of my breast and is content just to be there, close to her mom, having her needs met. I watch her as she nurses, I kiss her soft little head, I feel her velvet skin, I watch her little cheeks go up and down as she eats, and I just fill up with love inside. I feel eternally grateful for her, for the gift of being a mother, for my healthy body that was able to grow a little person inside and that is now able to provide as much milk as she can possibly drink.
If you are pregnant, and, like I was, not entirely sure you want to breastfeed or that you will be able to do it, I would surely encourage you to give it a try. Look inside yourself and find a “why” that will motivate you to do it: Your health? Your baby’s health? It’s free? Because your mom did it? Because you have breasts that have milk in them? Take your pick. And in case you need more, here’s three more of my favorite “whys:”
You would want to be breastfed if you were a baby. Seriously. Put on your imagination hat. Imagine you are a newborn. You spend months and months warm, nourished, loved, inside your mother. You are born – a scary passage into bright lights, loud sounds, cold air. You are scared, and overwhelmed and helpless. You cannot see well, you have a body but can barely move. All you know is that you want that warm comfort back. You want to be close again to your momma – the source of heat, the source of love. If you are this newborn – wouldn’t you want to snuggle up to a soft breast, hearing your mother’s heartbeat, almost as close to her as you were before? Of course!
Here’s the second “why.” It’s good for you spiritually. As a breastfeeding mother, you get numerous times a day to sit down, relax, and just adore the child you created. You watch her, you touch her, you feel grateful, you feel heart-opening love. All these emotions are good for your soul! It feels good inside to nurse if you do it consciously.
Here’s the third: It’s so darned easy! After you get the initial bugs out as baby (and her mouth) gets bigger, there is nothing as easy as breastfeeding. Any time, any place, you have a meal for your baby. There’s nothing to buy, there’s nothing to mix, nothing to run out of. Baby wants milk? Pull shirt up (or down, as the case may be!) and voila! Instant satisfaction.
Whatever your motivation, keep it in mind in the first few weeks after your baby is born. Breastfeeding is not innate; it is a learned art form. It takes most moms six weeks before it becomes natural and easy. Here are some other ideas to make sure you achieve success.
1. Get help! Do not, I repeat, do not breastfeed without support. Your first few weeks, you WILL have problems, questions, panic attacks that your baby is not getting enough, and you need someone who’s been there to help you through it. Call La Leche League’s (LLL) new 24 hour support line: 1-877-4-LA LECHE.
Or look on the internet to find your local La Leche League chapter and call the leader with your questions. Go to meetings to meet other moms – some who are new like you and have the same questions, others who have breastfed for many years, successfully, and can answer any question you might have. The LLL leaders in my local chapter will watch a mother breastfeed her baby and will give free lactation support. If you can’t find a LLL, you can also hire a lactation consultant. Many hospitals have them on staff. There are also LC’s listed in the phone book. Finally, make sure to find health care providers that support breastfeeding. Many, many mothers quit breastfeeding upon the advice of ill-informed pediatricians or other physicians. You don’t need to quit breastfeeding if you have mastitis, you don’t automatically have to quit if you are on prescription drugs for an illness, and you don’t need to quit if you are pregnant (unless you are high-risk). Yet doctors advise women to quit for these reasons all the time. To find a breastfeeding-friendly physician, ask the ladies at your local LLL chapter or search online.
2. Get informed! Buy a good book about breastfeeding and use it as a resource. A few places to start: LLL’s The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. Dr. William Sears’ The Breastfeeding Book. Dr. Jack Newman’s - The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers. Also, for a great online resource, go to www.kellymom.com. I have had every question under the sun answered by that site.
3. Sleep with your baby. If you have your baby in a separate room, and every time she wakes up, you have to wake up, you’re not going to get much sleep. Babies wake up a lot – that’s just what they do. By bringing your baby to your bed, you will both get better sleep. And if you are getting sleep, you won’t be tempted to feed your baby formula to help her sleep longer or better. Co-sleeping also makes sense if you have to (or want to!) go back to work after your baby is born. Getting sleep means it will be easier to get up in the morning and go to work.
4. Forget formula-rules. If you have fed your baby formula, you learn that a newborn can swallow maybe two ounces, an infant four to six, or more. If you’re going to have success at breastfeeding, you must realize that breastfeeding is a whole other ball game. You’ve got to forget the formula feeding rules. Breastfeeding rules are easy: baby is hungry, feed baby til baby is full. When baby is hungry again, repeat process.
Many mothers who are familiar with formula feeding pump their milk, see that they only get an ounce or two, and panic that they don’t have enough. They then feed their babies formula to make up the difference. Don’t do this!! Breastfed babies eat more often than formula-fed babies. Your formula fed baby might eat six ounces once every four hours (just an example) – a breastfed baby will eat three ounces every two hours. You’ve got to stop pumping, stop measuring, and just feed your baby from your breast when she’s hungry. Your body will make as much milk as she needs. It’s amazing that way!
With motivation, information and a good support network, you are well on your way to a beautiful breastfeeding relationship. Your child will be a baby, so small and beautiful, so dependent on you, for the blink of an eye. Breastfeeding your baby gives you the opportunity, every day, to enjoy those precious moments.