one thing that always gets overlooked as a benefit of breatfeeding, is the boast it can give to a mums self esteem

[pregnantbabyelephant]

for me i only started bf dd for her health benefits only, didnt care if there was any benefit to my own health

found it alot harder than imagined it ever could be, but now nearly 6 months on i feel a great sense of well being due to bf dd

if i had of know how great it would make me feel, i think i would of found it an incentive to keep going if anyone knows what i mean?

so to all new mums out there struggling
hang on in there
seek and accept all the help and support you can find

ITS SO WORTH IT [WINK]

SORRY BOOST

-WRIGGLY BABY TO BLAME [GRIN]

Yes Pregnant.
I tihnk the lovely feelings are physical (release of all those 'feelgood' hormones) and psychological (seeing your baby enjoying and thriving on your milk).

Yes it's true that that is overlooked.

I remember feeling really proud of myself after having managed to struggle through.

It's a well-kept secret. Partly because any expression of pride in any aspect of parenting is automatically labelled smug and women don't want to be seen as smug so they shut up.

It's great when someone is admiring your chubby, beautiful 5 month old and you think "thats all my own work"

Oh yes definitely! I genuinely loved bfing dd, whch some friends found very odd ('isn't it boring?' etc etc)

In some book I have (poss Libby Purves) t gives a list of 'entirely selfish' reasons to breastfeed, one of which is that it makes you feel good. Also its one of those things that nobody (well, nobody sane ) can fault - its so much the right thing to do, even when you feel like everything else you are doing is all bloody wrong!

If, like me, you have had difficulties and nearly jacked it in,(got great support from bf counsellor in the end and on here), then you succeed and are still bf at 10 months then that is the best feeling. I believe this empowerment can transform your mothering as you feel so capable and strong suddenly and realise that you can overcome difficulties. It really is the most wonderful feeling to have triumphed over adversity.

the release of those hormones during bfing are lovely - like drinking a glass of wine without the hangover (I get a hangover from just one glass)

I couldn't agree more, I'm 8 months on and have no intension of stopping. I just met a friend today with his new baby dd and his gf was saying how she didn't want to bf because then her dp and family couldn't bond with the baby. I had to hold my tongue and I did feel quite smug knowing that I have made my dd what she is and she's bonded with me, my dh and my family without bottles.

It does feel great and yes I am a smug lady, but I deserve to be, all the hard work I put in at the beginning is paying off.

I understand some woman simply can't bf and heart goes out to them, I consider myself very lucky.

I love the fact that I BF all my children as I feel like I am getting everything else wrong. They grew really well and put lots of weight on and I did that!

Im smug, i'm smug, smug, smug dammit!
I'm so glad there is a smug thread for bf mums. Bfeeding is not easy. In a world where everything is commercialised I am proud to be able to be in control of nourishing my baby naturally. I couldn't bfeed dd1 and i never really got over it until I was able to bfeed again- the satisfaction is immense. I don't care if people think extended bfeeding is selfish, or that 'i'm only doing it for myself'. love the milky cuddles, being able to soothe her myself after a long day, and the fact that I can consume lots of chocolate and still feel slim!

oh yes eating loats of choclate and not putting on weight is a great benefit