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

For me my favourite thing is the bond that we have. Like everybody else says I love watching my little girl grow and get chubbier and know I did that. I was dubious and unsure at first that I would take to it but we did and I'm loving it. 14 weeks in now. I then just express some bottles so my husband can do some feeds. I would recommend an electric pump if you are going to do this, I've just loaned one and it was brilliant!

Hardest thing I ever did - pain, repeated mastitis, beyond tiredness. I aimed to get to 4 weeks so that I could beat a friend who had given up after 3 (horribly competitive, I know but it got me to a month)

Then, it got easier.

And

It's free
you can leave the house without thinking and stay out all day if you choose to.
It's really rather lovely
500 calories a day
It's full of goodness for the baby

Try and do a month - and then you'll be glad you persevered.

I really struggled with it with DC1. We were both anxious and it didn't help that my boobs which are massive even when I'm not pregnant almost smothered her poor little head. It took about 6 weeks for us to really get the hang of it. After that it was a joy, no worries about being out and about or sterilisingnor having to go down to a cold kitchen at 4am. With subsequent DC it was easy and I had the comfort of knowing that even when I screwed up as a parent in other ways at least I had given them the healthiest possible start in life.

As a skill I would rank it with learning to ski or to drive in terms of difficulty but infinitely worth it in the end.

It feels good
You sit down
You're important
You feel useful
You know you're useful
If you forget to sit down with a drink, (I got thirsty the moment I let down) get someone to get you one cos you're too important and busy now, and you want to keep baby settled.
If your breasts feel tender, then straight away have a hot bath and massage them. Then you can carry on enjoying this feel good feeling

Please ignore the 'helpful' people who tell you if it hurts you're doing it wrong. Those first few days after your milk comes in, its agony. But it does get better and easier. I'm currently breastfeeding number 4. Positives are its free, no bottle prep or clean up, body returns to normal quicker, you can eat what you like (hello cake for breakfast), and it nearly always stops your baby crying.

Lovely thread OP . Hope it's helped you !
I had no idea what to expect with DC1 but after the first few days we got the hang of it. I think it was one of the unexpected joys of the baby stage for me - absolutely loved it for many of the reasons others have said . I feel proud to this day of sustaining my two DC with breastmilk until weaning. Fed them both until about a year - even when I returned to work .
Of course everyone's experiences are different and it doesn't work out for everyone but it really is worth persevering at first as you reap so many benefits from it - as does your baby .
Good luck OP

Watch out if you breastfeed your little one in bed. It made me feel so relaxed once that (to my shame) I fell asleep. Easy done

I co slept with my babies from day one.

As long as you follow the safety advice it's a good thing to do.

My first baby was small and we lived in a big draughty house. First day back from hospital I tried to settle him in his crib. He felt cold to the touch, no matter how many covers I used- he was crying.
That lasted 30 minutes.
I had never even heard of co sleeping, but instinctively took him to bed and we snuggled up like warm puppies, sleeping and feeding well.
My Health Visitor encourages breastfeeding mothers to sleep with their babies.

Good if it works for you but I was terrified of rolling over and suffocating her (small baby too)

You know you always have an easy way of comforting the baby. I never worry about taking mine on a flight because breastfeeding will always calm him down.

Oh i absolutely loved BF. The bonding time is so special, just you and your baby snuggled up close, skin to skin.
I never had to worry about bottles and formula and sterilising everything... sounds like an absolute headache to me.
I enjoyed being able to BF on demand, not having to worry about a routine or over feeding on formula. The convenience of just being able to feed as and when they're hungry without access to water etc. Having to get up at night etc.
No dummies!!

It was a little painful at times as they can suck so hard, but persevere if it's something you want to do, it really is so easy in the end. If you're having problems, get help/try a different position/try a shield/swap sides. I lasted a year with each, and only stopped bedtime feeds then as I went back to work. Good luck, enjoy it!

Mix fed my DD. There were positives and negatives about both. Since your asking about positives though...

The absolutely best thing about BF for me was looking down and seeing that beautiful little face. I love that I can help soothe her when she is sick or hurting. I love that I could just roll over, half asleep, plop my boob out and then fall back asleep. The snuggling, cuddly, bonding time with nothing but skin to skin is wonderful.

I really struggled to BF in the beginning and when my DD was hungry, she was hungry NOW. So I would BF her while the bottle was being made. I felt so guilty for bottle feeding, but really I shouldn't have. I was so adament that I was going to BF and only BF, but in the end I did what was right for me and DD.

Now she is still BFing and the best thing about that is trapping her into being quiet and still for 10 minutes! "Boobie" is very tempting to her. We use it when we have to make an important phone call and she won't be quiet

I never struggled bf either of my two. Let down was toe curlingly painful but never had painful nipples, mastitis or similar. Although it's obviously difficult for lots of people it isn't for everyone!

I cant think of a single negative other than it stressed me out when returning to work because she was so dependant on me for milk.

I think id have been stressed out anyway and in the end my milk monster learnt to drink from a cup pretty swiftly!

I never intended to breastfeed for long but best move i ever made (see all other posts for reasons) and i loveeeed it for the cuddles

I think my favourite part of BF is when DD falls asleep whilst feeding and one of her little hands is gently stroking my side and the other warm little hand is gently laid on top of the boob she's feeding from. I just look down and am completely in awe of the little person we created. It was the same with with DS too :)

Lost my baby weight with no effort. During the night they can breastfeed lying down - you can fall back asleep while they're feeding.

It takes a while to get used to and you might get sore nipples but I breastfed my three and it’s just so easy and convenient. No mixing, no sterilisation of bottles, no running out of formula, being able to go out all day without having to guess how many bottles you may need. It’s human milk for baby humans and it did make me feel proud to know I had provided so well for them when they were tiny.

Ps it does get so much easier real fast and subsequent babies are a breeze.

It just fixes everything, whatever is wrong with or upsetting baby. Hungry, scared, tired, needs comfort, over-stimulated. All fixed by boob.
Wherever you are you have clean, warm milk in abundance. I've fed on the farm, in a field, on every mode of transport you can think of, walking down the street, etc, etc. I heard a baby howling in the bus the other day. His mum was trying to settle him with a (presumably cold) bottle if formula with no success. No such problems with breastfeeding. It's always ready to drink at the perfect comforting temperature.
When my baby needs a feed at 3am she can just snuggle in next to me in bed. I don't need to get up and mess about with bottles and formula.

I absolutely hated the thought of breast feeding but thought I'd try and if it didn't work, I'd give up. It took over a week for my milk to come in, so the first few days were a bit stressful. But after that I never experienced any pain or discomfort from it, and it was a total surprise to me that I actually loved breast feeding and instead of thinking it is a bit gross, I found it was totally natural. I was lucky as had no sore nipples and when I thought I might have a blocked duct a couple of times, I just got my baby to suck it out so prevented anything more sinister like mastitis. It's so amazing to see them grow from your milk and when they feed they make the cutest sounds of contentment and there little hands reach out for you. The first time they look up at you and smile whilst feeding is so special too. I also caught two colds whilst bfing and despite being basically inseparable from my baby, she didn't catch either cold, which I think was because she got the antibodies from me. Its so easy to feed wherever you are and at night it's soothing for both of you. You can also eat more cake as you're burning more calories! Obviously it's not so easy for everyone, but trust me, a bit of persistence to start with, will really give you a unique way to bond with your baby.

A lot cheaper
No sterilising
No making up bottles in middle of night
No standing with screaming baby while kettle cools
Don't have to get out of bed
Comforts baby when upset/screaming
Helps you to lose pregnancy weight
You can eat A LOT
Ready made excuse for P/PIL who think it is their 'right' as GP to have baby overnight/for a period of time

When it was hard (and I'm not going to lie it can be really hard) I always remembered why I was doing it. Even when he was feeding every 2 hours days and night which happened a lot I didn't regret BF him.

If I was pregnant and completely oblivious to BF again I wish that people had told me:

-- It can hurt and sometimes it just does - it doesn't have to mean there is tongue tie/reflux/overactive letdown/low supply. It stopped hurting for me around 4 weeks. For some people it doesn't hurt at all.

-- Cluster feeding at the beginning is like nothing else and causes sleep deprivation like you wouldn't believe - but like everything with a baby it comes in waves. There are better weeks and worse weeks depending on leaps and growth spurts etc.

At 9 months I've just night weaned him (fairly uneventfully) and he feeds 3/4 times a day. Before night weaning he was feeding 3/4 times a night so it was more of a habit than actually being hungry.

I am breastfeeding DD, who is 4 days old today. First feed was in Recovery after CS and everything has been great since. DD is my rainbow baby so anxious about every little thing ! This has been to most positive experience ever. It's helped us bond and has just come so naturally to us both. MWs on hand to help in hospital - we did so we'll that we were allowed home after 24hrs. Just try to relax and enjoy it

for me it was the consistency thing - your milk adapts according to hot weather, bugs your body has picked up on so you can release antibodies in your milk etc. The sleeping and feeding thing didn't work for me (small boobs and anxious that he'd choke) but I did feed him in a sling walking round when he was startled awake and we were in the middle of a forest. It is much quicker than trying to will the kettle to boil.

DS also got a stomach bug when he started nursery at 9 months. Breast milk is the best thing to help hydrate and battle the bug; it does mean the milk supply has to come home from work though.

You tend not to get the constipation issue that some fomula feed babies can have - read about parents giving FF babies a little sugar in water to drink to help releave this.

I was always grateful that they were always there. If I got stuck out/wanted to stay longer/got stuck in awful traffic or something, I would still be able to feed DC without having to worry about not having enough formula, clean bottles and hot water.

I also found it good to be able to get baby back off of people when I felt I'd had enough of seeing them passed around. 'Oh, I think they are ready for a feed'.

I have noticed that mine cried considerably less being BF than they did when they changed to FF. I don't know if that's the same for everyone though.