What do you love about bfing? (a postive thread for all those struggling at the moment)

[BumperliciousNeedsToSleep]

Something Thomcat just said on another thread made me think of my DD bfing. She said she gives her DD a taggie to stop her feeling exposed after snuggling and bfing. It made think of my DD when she falls asleep at the breast, face smooshed right in so you can't imagine that she can breathe, it's so cute.

And when she feeds and comes of and has a quick "chat" with me or whoever else is around, then goes back. The way she throws herself at the breast when she is very hungry.

What do you love about breastfeeding? I just wanted to start a thread so that all the mums struggling to do it at the moment have something nice to look forward to.

Sadly yes. She also unhooks my bra cups if she gets the change.

Her latest ahem talent is grabbing hold of my hair, which is quite long, to drag me down to her level so she can poke me in the boob and yell 'booby mummy'. (That's my name - Booby Mummy' ).

She came to see me in the hospital last week (first night she'd ever spent apart from me - I was hospitalised with dehydration because I'm very pregnant and was sick) and she ran in, jumped on the bed and announced 'I want booby' very loudly to the midwives.

ha ha LOL !!! I get my t shirt yanked down very forcefully...

Suspect we may be putting all the newbie bfeeding mums off though

Gosh no, newbie mums - keep going - eventually you get to the point where you achieve boob continence where the right doesn't leak while your baby is feeding off the left one!

Also the t-shirt yanking thing, small fry compared to the rolling off the nappy mat, taking the poo with them and smearing it on the walls before you can grab a cloth or anything

Let's face it babies grow into (sometimes) annoying toddlers but at least if you breastfeed them they will be intelligent enough to understand you asking them to modify their behaviour (they'll still ignore you though).

I love the way DD2's eyes roll back in her head when she reaches the milk.
The way she 'pumps' with her hand to get more out.
The way she can now manouvre boob and her head to latch herself on and then just sort of relaxes into it.
Being able to go out to the shops when I have run out of milk (or DD1 has poured it on the floor) and take her with me without worrying about whether she needs feeding as I can do it on the go.
With DD1 she used to put one palm on the side of my face and feed like that, just patting me gently.

I love when they get all frustrated looking for your nipple mouth open and rooting them they find it and they are so happy.

I love when they are full and falling asleep and the nipple drops from their mouth but they wake up and get all flustered but find it again and have to have a quick few sucks.

I love looking at a chubby 5 month old baby full of health and thinking "I did that my body has kept this baby alive for all these months"

And of course all the convenience things like never having to remember to buy milk/make bottles up etc

Ooh, sweetkitty, I second that too!
I love when they are full and falling asleep and the nipple drops from their mouth but they wake up and get all flustered but find it again and have to have a quick few sucks.
That's so funny, and when I try and remove her she will let it out of her mouth a teeny bit and then have to start feeding again even though she had blatantly finished

The way they slurp and gulp and obv enjoy feeding

the milky smile when they fall asleep in the middle

I love the way ds is so impatient he tries to latch on through my bra as I'm trying to undo the clips!
And yes, when he pulls himself off to grin up at me
And no, toddler behaviour doesn't put me off, it sounds sooo cute (but I bet is annoying as well!). DS sometimes strokes my boob when he is feeding too, which is very sweet

Oh yes SK - definitely the 'I did that' thing. Not in a smug way, just a lovely warm amazed way. Very special.

how easy it is

There are so msny things to love, even though they're repeating what others have said:

• the fact that me, my boobs and my milk are the cure for everything except wind and teething (so far)

• the fact that I can go where I like when I like, as I carry my food and sleep inducing hormones with me at all times, and they never run out

• the milk drunk look when he pulls off asleep with his lips all scrunched up - complete satisfaction!

• grinning like an idiot when I turn him on his side (called the grinny pig in this house) to feed, and trying to latch on through several layers of clothing

• the look of complete adoration as they gaze up over your boob at you

I could probably go on. I love breastfeeding!

I love tha early months when it means i have to feed and can't do dinner/bath/bedtime etc.
I love the fact that i am doing the absolute best thing i can for my babies.
I love the way they roll their eyes as they feed.
I love the way my toddler asks for boobie and how it's the one thing she can't get from anyone else.
I love feeding her at nearly 2 yrs despite being told by nearly everyone i know that she's too old now.

Although the way she has to have both boobs out so she can fiddle with one as she drinks and change from side to side is getting a little bit tricky!

I'm bfing at the moment, and typing one-handed, so first of all I'd say I love being sble to feed my 3m son and read a book/watch films on the laptop/mumsnet at the same time! I never thought I'd get so blase, back in the first weeks, even though my mother promised me I'd become a master at holding a book with one hand...!

I love the avid, crafty look on his face when he comes off for a second and fumbles about to get back on.

I am in love with the way he comes off, sound asleep, with a 'pop', and immediately purses his lips and sticks his chin in the air! Every time he does it I remember that I meant to take a photo.

I love the (very) audible glug glug he makes when I let down.

I like the little grunts he makes when he's really hungry while we're getting into position.

I really love the way it's become easier and easier without my really noticing, so that one day you wake up and realise that a certain problem has been ironed out. It gets so much easier!

Oh the new-born milk drunk look! My DS doesn't seem to get that anymore and is very distractable at 6 months. He loves to have a good feel of whatever book I am reading and he also loves to ping my bra strap making me feel like a female Bobby Ball! Strangely I don't find this annoying at all although the popping off for a chat thing is alarming in company. Sometimes when he is sleeping he purses his lips and makes feeding noises - feeding in his dreams, so cute!

the way he pulls off, gives me a big milky smile and puts himself back on again :-)

also saves all the faffing around with sterilising bottles and worrying how many ounzes to out in...

I love the way that when she is in the mood for a feed she nestles into my boob and sucks her thumb patiently until the nipple is out.

I love that when she wants more milk to come out she makes a very loud humming/sucking noise whilst she sucks which seems somehow to bring on a second let down!

I love the fact that after seven months both of us can sleep all night but I can still feed her all day.

I love the way that she replicates the feeding experience when she sleeps, lying on her side and burying her face in one of my t shirts and making sucking faces.

I also (selfishly) love the way that it forces me to relax at least eight times a day, something I didn't use to be able to do very easily before she came along...

I love the way he mouths for the nipple with a questioning look on his face, as if to say, "where has it gone, is it coming now?" - Of course then he starts screaming, but its still lovely!!

In the early days being able to bf to comfort him rather than pacing the floor with a screaming baby.

Being able to go out for the day/weekend without having to worry about having to take any food for ds3(15 weeks)

Eating way too much chocolate and not piling on weight.

And all of the other lovely reasons above.

I loved the contented, satisfied look ds had as he fell off the breast.

I love the way mine have had this adoring 'stroke' of the boob when they got to 4 or more months old.

I love the way I can use it as a painkiller- after jabs just pop baby on the boob for instant comfort (DD's paediatrician actually told me to do this as apparently breastmilk has endorphins in it).

When the babes were sick with one of those awful D&V bugs I love the fact they still wanted to BF and how much it helped them then (so didn't have to rely on that awful tasting dioralyte!)

I love the fact that if DD cosleeps with us at all she'll just nosy over and find the boob and I wake to find her sucking happily away in whatever position she likes.

I will definitely miss BFing when DD stops.

I love the little tremor that I call DS' starter motor, which re-starts his sucking again after he stops for a few seconds.

I love that despite the pain and problems with establishing bfing, it still feels so totally worth it.

DS's little hands gently resting on the boob, cuddling it.

The way he gradually closes his eyes, and raises his eyebrows in a look of utter bliss as the feed progresses.

The sound of his snuffly breathing as he nurses.

The way he does a maggie from the Simpsons dummy suck when I test to see if he's finished, and although he is really, he's not quite ready.

What I call his 'turtle head' look as he pulls off the nipple, stretches his head and arms right back, eyes closed, eyebrows raised, his bottom lip tucked in, and top lip pursed.

The wonderful feeling of closeness every time he has a feed.

Most of mine are here already, but I would like to add:

the first time DS saw my face during a feed, and sort of connected me and milk, his eyes wandered up and then bam! he stared and did a comedy double take and then grinned and the nipple fell out.

it was priceless

and endearing