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

You can eat at the same time! I had lunch out many a time while feeding baby and once she was latched on I had a hand free. Also the easiest way to calm a stroppy toddler if you go on that long.
Upset with a cold - boob
Just had jabs - boob
can't settle at night - boob
fussy from teething - boob

You just won't get that kind of comfort from a bottle. I was lucky to have no problem feeding she took to it straightaway (problem was getting her to stop but that's a whole other thread)

I used it to get out of social occasions. Sitting there, bored - "Oh, baby's tired and hungry, can I go and lie down in your spare room to feed him?"

"Oh, gosh, I fell asleep as well!"

Oh, and if/when baby gets conjunctivitis - quick scoosh of breast milk on it and it’s sorted!

I was literally talking to a friend last week about how proud I am that we’re both still bf ing our babies. It was hard in the beginning, but it’s really easy and wonderful 6montgs down the line. Good luck!

I'm 6 months into breastfeeding now and this really is the best time I've had so far. Lots of cuddles with a baby who will not cuddle anyone else as he wants to play / explore, saving loads of money on formula, not worrying about equipment and sterilising...I think it's all been said. Definitely worth it if you can persevere at the start since it is hard work to begin with. A word of warning - you will not necessarily drop your baby weight; I still have mine and am planning on slimming world in January. But hopefully you will be one of the lucky ones who does! Good luck with it all.

I found that one of my physical responses to breastfeeding was massively reduced levels of anxiety. I managed to recover, completely and permanently, from a debilitating dog phobia.

And although the first couple of months of breastfeeding were pretty grim, from that point onwards it was really lovely, physically and emotionally.

And breastfed baby poo actually smells nice.

And it was pretty convenient on days out.

Also, if your baby is sick, breastfeedingeding is the best thing ever. And actually, if you are such, it's a hell of a lot easier than formula feeding, unless you have someone else to look after the baby.

Great for bonding and overnight you don’t have to get up! I’m nursing DC2 (1 week old) in bed. We travel a lot and it is so convenient compared to worrying about bottles, water etc to make formula on flights or long car journeys.

Lots of benefits both for baby and for you. Number one for me is the bonding, when the baby first arrives I find it helps form a strong bond.

Assuming you have no issues with supply and feeding, it's literally there and on tap, whenever you need it. No getting out of bed in the night with a screaming baby, you literally just pick them up and that's it. You don't need to think about amounts etc, Mother Nature works all that out, you can't actually over feed a breastfed baby (or so I was told by the midwife). The boob is my go-to solves everything if it isn't any of the other obvious things wrong, wet, cold, wind etc.

It's free, there's not really much required in terms of equipment apart from a nursing bra and some pads (you might buy a pump obviously).

It tends to keep your periods away which is nice too.

The weight loss whilst dining like a king and doing no exercise is amazing, I was back in a size 8 within 4 months both times and never stopped eating. (Note this could be my sheer luck though)

I also found that in those first weeks/months when people can be a bit over keen about holding/having your baby, you can easily get the baby back with "he/she needs feeding".

I breastfed our first child until 13 months, it wasn't all plain sailing, it was hard at times. It was agony at first and she had problems with weight gain. I stuck at it out of stubbornness I think, I'm glad I did though. I'm 5 month in feeding our second baby, the experience has been completely different. I've never had any pain (apart from mastitus for 2 days) and he's gained weight so well. I've loved it this time, except he won't have a bottle so I haven't had anytime away from him.

What I would say is try not to pin too much on it working though, it's great if it works but if it doesn't for you, don't feel bad. Your baby will do just as well on formula, a happy well fed baby is what you want at the end of the day . Good luck with everything.

It’s SO easy (if you can do it) once you get the hang of it and get over the initial fear of doing it in public. No sterilising, no worries about running out of formula, clean bottles. You barely need to take anything when you go out. Wonderful bonding. No waiting for milk to cool down while baby howls - bm is pretty much always ready.
I also got back to my pre-pregnancy weight (and I gained over half of my original body weight!!) without trying and whilst eating all the biscuits and cake and pizza in the world. I loved breastfeeding!

PPs have said what I’d have said. It’s convenient and cuddly and loads of other great benefits for you and baby.

Only real points I can add are:

1. Get some breast shells to protect your nipples from chafing for the first week or so. That’s not what breast shells (see pic) are marketed for, but that’s what I found them most useful for. Painful feeding at first was due to sore nipples and as I couldn’t walk around the house topless thanks to a stream of visitors, breast shells were the next best thing!

1. Get a copy of Kate Evans’ The Food Of Love - very funny and practical look at breastfeeding. Easy to read thanks to lots of cartoons and humour but also immensely helpful and useful. It kept me breastfeeding when I thought it was all going wrong - it wasn’t, I just hadn’t heard of cluster feeding until I read the book and went to a breast feeding support group at my local children’s centre (now closed, thanks Tories and Austerity ) which leads me to...

1. Find out now where your nearest breast feeding support groups are and what days / times they have sessions. Get down there with baby even if all is going brilliantly. It is a great place to sit and feed and have a chat to others. I found the newborn stage with DD1 a lovely shock after a busy job. My local support group not only helped with breastfeeding issues but was a valuable source of company and care when I needed it.

Forgot to add the pics - breast shells and Kate Evans’ book

maybe others have said this, but generally people talk about the negatives of anything rather than the positives, so you tend to hear much more about the difficulties people have with bf, than when it goes well.
Think of it like any other bodily process- it's what your body is designed to do, and if there are problems, get help to over come them. It can be hard to establish bf but it really is incredibly easy and convenient once established.
There are health benefits for mother as well as baby, and I tend to think these are downplayed as 'we don't want people to feel pressurised'
I bf for about 6 years (including twins) and couldnot have managed any other way really
surround yourself with women who have done it and learn from them
and remember that most of the world's babies, throughout history have thrived on breastmilk!

Breastfeeding for me has been a breeze the 2nd time around! It doesn't hurt me. I haven't had to use lanolin other than the first week.

I only had a slightly uncomfortable latch on the right side but a quick visit with the health visitor sorted that out. It was just a matter of using a different hold on the right that I do on the left.

First time I only didn't manage because DS1 was poorly, so I've no idea if it would've been easy too.

Best points:

1. No faffing sterilising/making up bottles and wondering if they were still good to use.

This was a real pain with DS1, hated all the washing up and crying waiting for a bottle to cook while baby was screaming. Just whip out the boob and baby is happy!

1. Saving a fortune!

1. Losing weight I was back in pre-pregnancy jeans 5 weeks pp and I put on over 2 stone in pregnancy. Still losing weight now.

1. Other people are VERY accommodating. I dropped my phone under my table at costa while feeding DS2 last week. I left it, thinking I'd just grab it when baby was finished. Kind man picked up my phone for me and saw my drink was empty, offered to get me another! I paid for it of course!

I find the few people who do notice you breastfeeding in public are much more accepting than social media would have you believe. Majority don't even notice!

Best advice:

Don't pressure yourself

Get help if you need it

Don't stand for or be put off by judgemental/flippant HCPs

Fed is best

I’m no lentil weaver but get quite emotional thinking back to the breastfeeding days. The hormonal surge of prolactin and oxytocin made me feel so calm and in love.

I loved that it was the one thing that only I could do for my babies, even when I went back to work full time.

The 'she needs feeding' trick has helped me avoid handing her over to people I'd rather not many a time!

This is a terrible thing to say but... going to my local BF group has been a much better way to meet people than baby groups etc, as the people there are educated and not 16 have a similar outlook to me. (I know that sounds judgemental and there are plenty of wonderful young mums and intelligent people who haven't done book-learning but I don't always relate to them on a personal level)

stands back out of firing line

Not having to deal with formula is a big plus for me. Eldest was mix fed from birth and I can still remember the smell of formula, I really really hated it. I love that milky smell when baby finishes feeding but hated it after a bottle feed

I am weird with smells though

So much easier than faffing with bottles. Cheaper. Health for you. Helps with weight loss. The rush of love you get is like nothing else. It really is like the best drug in the world. I never felt it after birth until my baby finally learnt to b/f at one week. I was so immensely glad I persevered through that awful week when it eventually happened. I honestly don’t think I would have bonded with her half as well if I hadn’t done it. Maybe don’t leave hospital until baby has latched if you can in your area? We were in a week anyway because she was preterm. But honestly many many people feed with no problems so don’t waste time worrying about it until you need to.

I would add that I generally find mumsnet quite anti Breast feeding so it’s nice to see all the positive stories. The fact that a thread where a lady said she was proud of having managed it with her 3rd had to be shut down says it all really!

Madbee I agree. All my closest friends I met at breastfeeding group!

Pops - yes that was ridiculous that was shut down. Next they’ll be shutting down the baby announcement threads for fear of upsetting those ttc.

BF babies nappies are 100000% better than formula fed babies nappies in my experience

It’s amazing for when your travelling. Flying was a dream with my DD when she was BF, no bottles, special containers etc for milk.

Also - for you, it’s proven that BF helps protect against breast/ovarian cancers. Always a positive!

For me, I’ve PCOS and I’m convinced that as I was BF the month I stopped it allowed me to conceive without any assistance as my hormones would have been in balance from Bf IYSWIM.. amazing stuff!

Pop24 I find the same. Very anti BF and if you suggest it should be tried or that it went well for you, you’ll get shouted down. Given MN is one of the most popular UK sites for parents, I wonder what this impression does to new mothers.

I found breastfeeding very easy.

From the moment my first child was born.
He latched on easily, fed well, by day 7 had gained 8 oz in weight.

I have breastfed for a total of 7 years ( not just one baby!!) and have been lucky to have zero problems.
No sore nipples, no mastitis, no thrush.

It has been a breeze, and probably saved me thousands ( and my sanity)