Breastfeeding

World Breastfeeding week was earlier this month, August 1-7th.

I am NOT a breastfeeding "Nazi". I am a huge supporter of breastfeeding though. I believe that it is not only the best nutrition for baby, the best thing for a mother's body, but that it is also God's own design for feeding babies!

I will start right off the bat by saying that I understand that not all women can, or choose to, breastfeed. I am not out to make you feel bad because you couldn't or wouldn't breastfeed your child/children. 

For me, it was a no brainer to breastfeed my children. I grew up around it, I have memories of my mother and aunts sitting around visiting while nursing their babies. I remember pretending to nurse my dolls when I was little. It was just normal! It was how mothers fed their babies.

When I was pregnant with my first son it did not even enter my mind to bottle feed, why would it? In my mind, bottle feeding was for those few women who were physically unable to nurse their babies, or for babies who had lost their mothers, or perhaps for women who had to work long hours. I quit working when I was pregnant and was planning to stay home, why would I consider bottle feeding? Unless of course, something went wrong.

It turns out that breastfeeding, while a nature thing, does not always come naturally. It was very difficult for me in the beginning! I produced too much milk, which made it hard for Michael to latch on, which made me super sore! By this point I started educating myself more on breastfeeding. I bought books about it, I talked with Lactation consultants, and I was even more convinced it was worth figuring out, even if it took a lot of work.

Finally I wrote a long, detailed letter to the La Leche League. (We didn't have a branch in our small community). I explained to them all of the troubles I was having and asked for help. To my joy and surprise they responded with a long letter and a large envelope of brochures explaining what they thought my problem was and how to correct it! They were right too! Over active let-down and over supply. After fighting to nurse without pain for 3 months I was able to correct these problems in just a couple of weeks after receiving this information.

After that was solved everything went very smoothly! Well, almost everything. I still received awkward stares when I nursed in public, even covered up! I got comments from friends and family asking how much longer I was going to breastfeed, wasn't he too old for that (at a year old). I even found Doctors that were uneducated about breastfeeding. When Michael had a stomach bug once the Doctor told me to stop nursing him until he was feeling better because milk can upset a child's stomach. Michael was 15 months old. The Doctor did not understand that breast milk is one of the most gentle foods on a child's belly! I ignored his advice. Michael got better rather quickly too. I actually ended up cutting out all other foods and just nursing him until he got better.

So often I was met with shock that I was "still" breastfeeding after 6 months, after a year, then "how old is he now???". I didn't usually volunteer the fact that I was nursing a 3+ year old, but it did come up sometimes. I think part of the shock when people hear that you are nursing a toddler is that people don't understand how different it is to nurse a toddler than a newborn. They think of a 3 year old attached to the breast every 3 hours around the clock! In my experience however, that is just not how it works. Once my children were 18 months or so, they were eating mostly solid foods and only nursing for comfort or to go to sleep. Sometimes 5 or 6 times a day, or sometimes only once or twice a day. By the time I weaned them, it was only once a day, and not at all other days.

I nursed Michael all through my pregnancy with Gideon, I had some soreness so I did limit how often he could nurse, only at nap time and bed time. I nursed Gideon until almost the end of my pregnancy with Jason and then made him stop, I really don't think he was ready to though, and once Jason was born I let him start nursing again. I finally weaned him at 3.5 and I am not sure he was really ready then either, but I was. Jason weaned himself when I was pregnant with Silas. After I was a few months into pregnancy Jason lost interest. He would ask once in a while, I would say no, and he would go on doing something else. It was not hard to wean him. Jason was about 2 1/4 when he weaned. I nursed Silas until he was 3. I had a feeling he would be my last baby, so part of me was not in a hurry to wean him. It seemed like it was time though. I weaned him over our vacation to California. By the time we came home, he wasn't nursing at all.

I did nurse Silas again at the end of his life. He was nearly 5 years old, but as he drew near death, in many ways he was like a baby again. I wanted so much to comfort him in his pain. One day I told him that if he wanted to nurse, it would be OK. He smiled and nodded his head that he would like to. I only nursed him 2 or 3 times in the few weeks before he passed away, but I feel it brought him some comfort. It reminded him of when he was a baby, safe in momma's arms. I am glad I made that decision and that I could comfort him in that way.

Breastfeeding as been a very fulfilling part of my life. It was a precious time to connect with my children, to give them nourishment to grow and be strong and healthy. The cancer started showing up not many months after I stopped nursing Silas. I have no proof, but I have wondered if the breastmilk actually held back the cancer in the beginning.

I think everyone should give it a shot, if it doesn't work out, at least you tried! Its good for babies and good for mommas. There are so many benefits! If you want to try and are not sure you can do it, ask for help! And keep asking until you get the answers you need to be successful. If you don't breastfeed (or are a man), be supportive of women who do breastfeed! In our society we need all the encouragement we can get.