We recently reached our 10 month breastfeeding milestone and as a Medela mum I wanted to take some time to write about the subject. I made the decision to breastfeed early in my pregnancy we all hear over & over again, breast is best and I believe at least trying to give this to your baby is important.
This got me thinking of all the things that make breastfeeding one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done, not the physical act of breastfeeding but everything that comes with it. Their really is no right or wrong to how you feed your baby but theirs always going to be somebody to judge you, somebody to call you out on every decision you make as a parent and someone to tell you that your choices are wrong.
With that in mind I’m going to share what I personally have found to be the pros and cons to my decision. My choice to breastfeed and the numerous moments when I’ve thought life would be so much easier if I used formula and also the moments when I’ve thought it would be harder if I had. Because with anything related to parenting no matter what choice you make theirs always going to be bad times!
Pro Boob
- No prep work required, latch & go baby! I LOVE how easy it is to feed my baby when he starts to scream his head off.
- No sterilising bottles (unless expressing, so we do have some sterilising to do, just not as much)
- No warming bottles or waiting for them to cool, Mummy milk is always the perfect temperature.
- A very intimate bond every time you feed your baby, that’s not to say you can’t achieve this whilst giving a bottle but I do feel extra close to T when I feed him.
- Great nutrition for your little bundle.
- Burning extra calories, you would not believe how much cake and chocolate I have consumed in the last 10 months. SO MUCH CAKE!
- Not having to get out of bed for night feeds. Pair breastfeeding with the Snüz bedside crib and you’ve got a match made in new-mum heaven.
- No Periods… none, zero, ziltch. I’ve forgotten what at tampon looks like.
No Boob!
- One boob bigger than the other! – Before having a baby I was admittedly small chested, now I don’t know what I am because it changes with every feed.
- Not being able to share the night feeds, I spent the first two weeks of T’s life awake from 10pm-6am alone whilst he cluster fed… Dark times saved only by Netflix and Dr Pepper!
- In order to have a night off you must stay home for days (feels like years) expressing like a human cow. Moooo. However I’m fortunate enough to have the use of my fab Medela electric pump making it a million times easier!
- You must hope your baby will take a bottle to allow this evening off to take place, but you can’t introduce it too early or this may cause nipple confusion! See, so many things to consider…
- You might have a small human with new razor sharp teeth bite you, it will hurt and you’ll have to stop yourself from shouting all sorts of profanities!
- If you’re sick you still have to be the one feeding and caring for
the baby, unless you planned said sick day and expressed in advance. - Having to open to the door to the postman with a newborn human attached to you, yes that really happened. I was mortified.
I could go on and on with more pros an cons to my chosen method of feeding and what’s worked for us so far, these are just a few of the reasons why it can be both a rewarding and strenuous journey.
To the lady who told me how lucky I am because breastfeeding had worked for me, whilst you went on a date night with your partner at the drop of a hat I stayed home for 3 days expressing so I could attend a funeral without having to take my baby. To the Lady who stared at me whilst I fed my baby in a café, my baby needs to eat too and I ALWAYS cover up, would you rather I let him scream or stay home incase he too is hungry? And to anyone who thinks breastfeeding is easy, it’s not. It can be both restricting and isolating and I’ve had multiple occasions where I’ve questioned my decision to breastfeed.
The debate of breastfed versus bottle fed babies is ongoing, and it shouldn’t be. I like to think that a baby who has a full tummy and a smile on their face is what’s best, a baby who is cared for and loved is what matters. I’ve said it many times, breastfeeding isn’t easy and it’s not something everyone can do for numerous reasons and not always by choice, it may have been relatively easy for myself, aside from the initial pain and the odd time I’ve been bitten, bad times. But before having my baby I had no idea how our journey would go. I was more than prepared to have to come and start making up bottles. We do what we can, and that’s what’s matters.
I spent more time worried about breastfeeding than I did the thought of labour, surely theirs something wrong there?
If you’re planning to breastfeed or having any troubles on your journey make sure you pop along to the Medela UK Facebook page where they hold a weekly Q&A with their lactation consultant, this has been so helpful for me!
It might have been hard and their may have been times I felt restricted having to fit everything around feeding, but once weaning began and the feeds became less frequent I actually started to miss it all! The day Taylor chooses to stop breastfeeding is probably going to be harder for me than the challenges of having done it in the first place.
I’m so thankful Taylor and I have come this far and damn proud, 10 months on and we’re like pro’s. What was I worried about?
