Can I ask for some breastfeeding positives please.

[Lola247]

I am due my first baby in 5 weeks and plan to breastfeed. I think I am pretty armed with information and well aware it could be awfully painful/uncomfortable/tiring to begin with. I am doing it purely because I believe it is best thing for my baby but I am dreading it. Are there any other real positives other than the health benefits for my baby? ( that being the most important obviously)! Thanks

Oh, and - not everyone finds it hard. Honestly. You do hear about the people who struggle, and you're absolutely right to get prepared with organisations who can help point you in the right direction, but not everyone finds it difficult. I put DD1 onto my boob, she latched on and away we went. I had a teeny bit of soreness at the beginning but it was never unbearable and had gone within two weeks. Fed her to 20months, coming up to 20months with DD2 now.

Made me skinny
Travelled around Europe with just a sling and some nappies in my pocket

1. not having to remember bottles/milk when you go out.
2. don't have the faff of sterlising things
3. it's easy in the night
4. boob always comforts an upset baby
5. mines grins when he sees my boob before he latches on which always cheers me up

There is no faff making bottles up, you don’t need to take as much crap out with you when you go out, you pass on all sorts of good stuff that isn’t possible with a bottle of formula, it really was a lovely bond, you get to eat more and lose weight.

Make sure that you stay in hospital long enough to get good advice on feeding and get practice getting the baby latched on. Get the contacts for local La Leche League or NCT breastfeeding advisors or look for local breastfeeding groups so if you are struggling you can pop in for a chat and advice.

Pay attention each time they latch on to make sure they don’t end up chewing your nipple off with their gums, that is (in my experience) where a lot of the pain can come from, an incorrect latch (I found shaping my nipple like an “0” and making sure it was well shoved in for the first few weeks helped DS work out how he needed to latch properly). Don’t be afraid to ask for advice.

I think for me there was a sense of pride that I could do this. That could sound smug - it's something women have done since time began. Also for some women it's objectively difficult. But I think the fact I could feed my baby and see her grow, made me feel generally that motherhood was something I could do. (That it really wasn't that difficult.) So it didn't just get my daughter off to a good start, it got me off to a good start too. I think the soreness really only lasted a few days and nursing staff/health visitors were helpful. Times when my daughter wanted to feed a lot in the evening could be tiring - but having a supportive partner really did help.

Thank you everyone. Actually looking forward to it now!

Most important thing is to get help feeding - if you can do it properly it gives you all the positives and none of the negatives

Ideally you’d have someone with you helping you feeding for at least the first 3 days. But, obviously this isn’t possible but whilst in hospital badge them to help you every feed. When you get home it’s importsnt to ask for a breastfeeding visit on day 3/4 when your milk comes in as this changes/makes feeding hard again for a few days. Once you’ve got it you’ve got it sorted for as long as you want to feed.

Also important is to put your baby to the boob as soon after birth as possible - ideally in the first 10 mins although obviously this will depend on how the birth goes as to whether this can work or not.

It’s free
It’s on tap
Always the right temp
No sterilising
No lugging bottles out with you
You don’t have to get out of bed to feed
Tailor made to baby.
You have an excuse to sit and watch Netflix while baby feeds.

I fed my first for two years,
my second for a year (before he abruptly went of it) and my youngest for only 2 months (I slipped a disk and couldn’t hold her to feed her for two days so we gave her bottles to tide her over, but she struggled to get back into breastfeeding and I was in too much pain with my back to force it.)

So my last baby was mostly bottle fed and it was definitely more faff!

So glad to read you're a changed view. Enjoy! And remember ... all the and needs to be grabbed at the start of a feed . And the remote/ phone/ footstool.

The "milk drunk" faces when they finish a feed! Too cute for words

It's the loveliest thing I've done tbh. Very tricky to get going each time, both mine have had tongue ties but once you get it going, it's a breeze. It's an instant soother, good for their bodies, good for your body, on tap. What's not to like really?!

It does feel like a tie initially as only you can do it but it's not long before they go longer between feeds and they are detaching from you. You will miss the milky days when you look back!

My baby has quite a bad tongue tie which was found later on so unfortunately bf was cut short for us. I absolutely loved it though, the feeling you get when baby had had a good feed,.unlatches and has a dribble of your milk on then is just so rewarding.

There’s loads of positives! Firstly the bonding and closeness you feel. Having their tiny hands stroke you as they feed. The convenience, no bottles to sterilise and get up for in the middle of the night. Also makes going out and about easy, you just need wipes and nappies because you are the food supply lol! And one of the biggest is the comfort. I fed my lo until he was 13 months and any time he was upset, ill or had a little tumble, feeding him calmed him right down. I used to worry about how I’d comfort him once I stopped (it was fine though). My advice is get all the help you can while you are in hospital. I refused to leave until I was up and running and stayed 3 nights. Good luck!

It can stop your period coming back for a while (didn’t work for me though!)

BF when it works is so so much easier and less hassle. we had to mix feed with ds1 so I’ve done both.
I’m lazy and forgetful so having milk on tap is ideal!

Do get support, maybe look now if there’s a local bf support group and go along before you have baby.
Good luck and hope it goes well for you

Oooo loads! Lovely warm snuggles. Lots of sleep coz you don't have to make a bottle in the night - which wakes you up and takes ages. You can do it anywhere and don't need to bring anything with you. It's cheaper. You lose loads of weight.

Not long before I had my own kids I babysat for a friend. The baby went from content to rabidly hungry in a millisecond, I went to make up the bottle, got flustered, knocked the bloody thing on the floor, had to find a new clean bottle and reboil the kettle and scoop out all over again while the baby screamed louder and louder and I thought "if this was my baby and I breastfed I could have just lifted my top ages ago", because hearing a hungry baby scream while I faffed stressed the shit out of me. I always remembered that when I was getting fed up of breastfeeding my two. Plus it is one less thing to have to organise.

Oh yeah, another positive, no periods!!!!

That's true for most people anyway, as is the benefit of natural contraception; although I'd double up on that if I were you - just to be safe.

Oh lying down feeding at night definitely! You can lie there and doze the whole time.

Also breastfeeding can be painful at first, and I had a few issues with tongue tie and latch, but it doesn't last long and then suddenly one day you realise that you're feeding, and it's easy, and pain free. Such a good feeling.

Good luck x

The first few weeks are undeniably tough but it very quickly become so much easier than bottles. I weaned my daughter onto formula at 10 months and listening to her cry as I waited for the kettle to boil was so rubbish!

My toppest top tip though is to buy hydrogel breast pads (amazon definitely have them) They saved my first few weeks of breastfeeding and helped me carry on. Please look into them, they're miracles!

I loved it

I went into it hoping it would work but prepared to bottle feed it it didn’t. The first 48h or so he just sucked away. Then it started to get a but tricky and he wasn’t as happy and one side didn’t seem to be working well. My amazing midwife worked with us on latch and massaged to side that had become a bit blocked and from then on it was a breeze.
Some times I wished I could hand him over to someone else with a bottle and just sleep in peace but mostly it was fantastic. The hours and hours of cuddling on the sofa.

If it goes well, enjoy it, it it becomes too stressful for you move in and enjoy every lovely new born minute. The whole thing is amazing, bottle boob whatever 😍

For me:

• Didn't have to get out of bed at night, in fact often just rolled over, pulled boob out and was asleep again within two minutes!
• Could go out anywhere without having to lug bottles/equipment and possibly having to come home early due to running out of supplies.
• Got to spend what must add up to months of my life watching TV, films, browsing online and reading. I got through so many novels I'd always wanted to read!
• Didn't have to politely turn down relatives demanding to babysit or haved baby overnight when too young. Always had excuse to take baby back off MIL people who tried to snaffle babies off me for too long (Oh, he's fussing, must be hungry - hands baby back to me)
• No periods for 2 years (DC1) and over 4 years (DC2). Okay, bit BF there but I'm so pissed off they've returned!
• Weight dropped off me. Never been so skinny since about age 12 than I was when my babies were 6m old each.
• Much quicker and easier to latch them on when out in public and they start screaming than having to get stuff out and prepare it etc. I always wore a vest top that I pulled down and another top over it that I pulled up, so only my nipple was exposed for a millisecond and that was easily covered by the baby's head. No one noticed I was feeding them most of the time.
• Hours of snuggles every day. Bliss.
• V satisfying seeing your baby rapidly quadruple in size and knowing you did that all by yourself.
• Some BF babies don't seem to need winding much or at all. It never occurred to me to wind DS1 and he never had colic, wind or possetted after feeds. DS2 needed a bit. My friends bottle fed babies all seemed to need hours of jiggling and patting after each feed?

For me it was that it was free (apart from breast pads and Lansinoh cream), no faffing about with sterilisation and it being available as needed with no prep. Plus I enjoyed it as compulsory ‘sitting down and watching telly) time.

It was painful for the first few weeks though. The first 2 mins of each feed on one side was murder, and tolerated through gritted teeth. But then it suddenly got better.

Having said all that, if it’s not working for you, please don’t feel bad about switching to formula. There is no point upsetting yourself when there’s a perfectly acceptable alternative. My mum never tires of saying (slightly defensively) “well, you were all formula fed and you’re all fine.” [grins]

I have to say, I read all the breastfeeding information and went to the NHS class and it all scared me so much, I thought it was going to be really painful and I wouldn't be able to do it. admittedly, I have great support from my mum and Nan who have really helped me, but I have had no pain and no sore nipples and I'm 6 weeks in. just get yourself some great support. the bond with your baby is absolutely amazing. good luck xxx

It's free.

It's incredibly convenient (when DS started needing actual food I was very put out by having to carry snacks I'd never had to bother).

If you want to, you can continue beyond a year whereas bottles are supposed to be bad for teeth then.

It's a kind of amazing feeling when your baby grows and it's because of you.

It's really easy when it's working, as you don't have to hold a bottle, so long as you're both comfy you can watch TV or read, chat on the phone, stir a pot, or eat, as you have a free hand.

On the downside, the first 6-8 weeks can be terrible. My DS cluster fed, barely slept more than 2 hours and I was the sole feeder so I didn't get loads of sleep either. At eight weeks it all got much much easier.

As pp have said, weight loss and no periods, plus being able to do long distance travel with just a change of clothes and a few nappies.
We haven't really had any problems and baby is nice and fat thriving. I'll keep going as long as everyone is happy and healthy.