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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

How to celebrate EBF for six months?

157 replies

FreelanceMama · 13/07/2012 21:22

Yesterday I had an email from someone congratulating me for having breastfed my baby for six months (come 25th July). I hadn't thought about it much until then but actually it's pretty mind-blowing that my little boy has eaten/drunk nothing but breastmilk for half a year. It's not always been easy but I do think I've been lucky compared to some of my friends' experiences.

It didn't occur to me to celebrate it until the email came and now I'm wondering what would be an appropriate way to do so? We'll be starting baby-led weaning soon so I'll be carrying on for the foreseeable future but I'm always up for some form of self-indulgence Smile. Especially as I'm practically teetotal and limiting caffeine while breastfeeding!

Any ideas? Either genuine or comic. So far, I've thought that my partner and baby should feed me for a day - breakfast in bed, lunch out, takeaway...

OP posts:
WidowWadman · 15/07/2012 16:46

olivestree "and in some ways found it even more amazing than childbirth- think, you have kept a whole other person alive for six whole months by feeding it with your body. A.Maze.ing. "

Whoop-di-doooh! Or maybe not, because some children just ask for some solids before reaching the magic 6 months. Well done for breastfeeding for 6 months by all means, but it doesn't have to be exclusively to be an achievement. (Also, once breastfeeding is established weaning gets remarkably more difficult than just continuing to breastfeed)

EauRouge · 15/07/2012 17:10

Higgs, that is sad that no one has recognised your achievement :( You probably know all about the WHO guidelines so 2 years+ is a massive milestone.

Is there an LLL group near you? That might be somewhere where you can get some positive reassurance, even when you know you are doing the right thing then it's nice to hear it from someone else too.

Here's a Wine for getting to 2 and a half years!

friedfrog · 15/07/2012 17:17

OP celebrate my lovely.

Motherhood is tough, something that everyone should appreciate! However you get through it is up to you. Sometimes I want to celebrate that I manage to leave the house before lunch. I think you should breakfast in bed, cafe lunch and maybe a night out just the 2 of you somewhere fancy :)

I am disgusted by the lack of support by some of the posters on here!

Frog

DancesWithSockPuppets · 15/07/2012 17:26

OP, celebrate by waking your DP up 5 times in one night and giving him a realy brutal nipple cripple. Wish I'd thought to do that.

Blackswan, you can have a medal too. Now play nicely.

GetToFalkirk · 15/07/2012 18:31

I'm kind of with Blackswan on this. Plenty of women do this just as a matter of course. Plenty of women don't EBF but are the best mum's in the world. Having a happy contented child is the main thing and it doesn't matter how they were fed on the way. The OP did come across as being a bit show-offy imho.
Well done to all mothers equally.

whatinthewhatnow · 15/07/2012 18:50

aaaargh, nobody is saying that women who don't bf aren't good mums! the OP asked how to celebrate something special to her. It happened to be BF. If it had been anything else nobody would have cared!

If she had said 'I just got a new job and I can't think how to celebrate' do you think there would have been people saying 'whoopie fucking doo, everyone's got a job, get over yourself', or 'lots of great people don't have jobs, why are you so smug?'. No, they'd all say 'well done, here's an idea'. Or, if they didn't really care, they would just move swiftly to another post.

FFS women are mental sometimes.

EauRouge · 15/07/2012 19:16

Whether or not other women do or do not exclusively BF for 6 months, it does NOT mean that it is not an achievement or that the OP shouldn't be proud that she got there Confused And it clearly DOES matter to the OP how her baby is fed, otherwise she wouldn't have posted about it.

Jeez, maybe it would be better if the NHS changed their recommendations to 'exclusive BF for 6 months but please STFU about it' Hmm

RachelWalsh · 15/07/2012 19:29

Some people are being really weird and mean-spirited.

Mombojombo · 15/07/2012 19:29

Everyone who's ever done anything that's made them proud should just shut the feck up and be thankful they've not got a bitter tasting chip on their grudge-burdened shoulders. Birthdays? Pah! Weight loss? Get over yourself! Triumphing in the face of adversity? Go suck a lemon!

Jeeeeeez. OP, you celebrate! Celebrate that your blood pressure is probably a hellalot lower than those that are rubbed the wrong way by others' pleasure.

Rubirosa · 15/07/2012 19:38

Congratulations! If I had ebf'd to 6 months I would be bloody proudof myself too.

YankNCock · 15/07/2012 19:48

Higgs, it takes a strong person to keep going in the face of those close to you being so daft about extended breastfeeding. Well done you!

OP, well done, congratulations, enjoy treating yourself.

coldcomfortHeart · 15/07/2012 19:59

Mombojombo I just snorted out loud at your post!

mummysmellsofsick · 15/07/2012 20:16

Wow how did this all turn so controversial?! Well done OP, being the sole source of food for a LO for 6 months is not easy, that's why so many people don't or can't manage it for many reasons. You do deserve to celebrate. I don't see why that should offend anyone else who has also done their very best for their DCs, whatever form of feeding they did.

otchayaniye · 15/07/2012 20:18

well done op, but beware narcissism. this isn't about you or your (boaksome) amazing mum and dad friends. i get the gist of blackswan's post although she was mean spirited.

and i've never heard about the coffee thing and understood booze was fine in moderation. couldn't have got though five years feeding without it.

and when you've fed as long as i have people send you emails taking the piss out of you, not congratulating you!

messtins · 15/07/2012 20:21

Well done - it is an achievement, it is special and no doubt you've had to overcome some obstacles over those 6 months, and you've done a wonderful thing for your baby so ignore anyone who is trying to piss on your bonfire. I think you deserve a treat and personally I'd go for something along the lines of a massage/new haircut/pampering session.

Original poster
FreelanceMama · 15/07/2012 20:25

I can see why my original post could be read as a bit showy-offy. I was hoping to avoid that. Noted for future.

At the same time the midwife's email made me think, yes, this is something worth acknowledging.

But it makes me sad that we can't say 'Hey, I just did something I didn't know I could and feel really pleased about it' to people who have an insight into what that something means without it being interpreted as 'and so I think I'm better than you' or some kind of political statement. Perhaps that's naive of me given the subject matter in this case.

Among my group of NCT Mums I love how much we celebrate our parenting achievements, however small, regardless of whether it's something we will be able to celebrate ourselves (or would want to). That kind of support really helps me get through the week without thinking 'what did I achieve lately?' other than not drop my baby!.

Again, maybe breastfeeding is not the topic to do it in.

OP posts:
messtins · 15/07/2012 20:27

The percentage of mums exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months is

otchayaniye · 15/07/2012 21:13

this navel gazing and gauche, yawnsome celebrating is one big reason i'm so glad i had my first child abroad, where there's no nct!

but good luck op in breastfeeding and not allowing your child to spontaneously combust!

Original poster
FreelanceMama · 15/07/2012 21:14

otchayaniye I'm only limiting the caffeine and alcohol because I'm donating milk at the moment and that's one of the things they ask you to do. But they only take milk up to the time the baby is 6 months old and then, thank God, I can hit the espressos again.

OP posts:
SeventhEverything · 15/07/2012 21:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

otchayaniye · 15/07/2012 21:16

why on earth do you need to be so goal oriented? it's a relationship with a human not a competition, a race, or something from which you derive exogenous recognition.

i mean, i have no pram or pushchair for either child and fed/walked/napped both for years and yes, i loved doing it. but can you imagine if i posted saying 'congratulate me for not owning a pram for years'?

like my neighbours, you'd just say i was a loony behind my back!

otchayaniye · 15/07/2012 21:17

well, good on you for donating, that's a really fine thing you're doing.

tiktok · 15/07/2012 21:19

otcha, what's NCT got to do with it?

tiktok · 15/07/2012 21:23

The OP does not say 'congratulate me'. She's saying 'how can I celebrate this?'

If you had come on here and said 'not having a pushchair or pram was important to me, and I have managed to transport myself and my kids without one for x months, and I feel we are closer/have saved money/whatever as a result, how can I celebrate?' people might have asked questions but I dont think anyone would have been nasty about it - apart from odd, mean-spirited and joyless individuals which is mostly what's happened here :)

MoaningMingeWhingesAgain · 15/07/2012 21:23

Good grief I am stunned at the spite on this thread.

I saw the title and had frivolous jokey thoughts like, well a bottle of rum and a few lines of coke are probably out...

Well done OP. I thanked the people who helped me with breastfeeding and there is nothing wrong with feeling proud.

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