6 Facts You Don’t Want To Miss About Breastfeeding
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I bumped into a friend – a nursing mother of a six-month-old baby this morning. She told how appalled she was at losing hundreds and hundreds of hair each day. I asked her whether she was nursing her baby to which she said ‘yes’. It was pretty obvious as to how a healthy woman could have terrible hair fall every day. It is just one of the many challenges new moms face apart from losing your body nutrients, becoming weaker, and losing stamina. The challenge then is to stay well nourished, but you barely find time to do that for yourself. Here’s the first instance of a sacrificial mom. Then there’s more:
1. You will be in a house arrest
Being outside your house will be a once-in-a-blue-moon thing. You will much be so restricted to the walls of your home as a nursing mother that you might start getting vexed. All you know is your baby and yourself. There is nothing more to that. If yours happens to be one of those babies who just loves to latch on and on, then you have no escape. Soon you want to break free and get some fresh air.
2. You want to move on to pumping, but you don’t always like it
You will want to get into the pumping mode so that you can have more mobility. Even if you want to go out, you can always ask a member of the family to feed your baby through the pumped bottles. But here comes another challenge. You don’t want to introduce the feeding bottle so early on. You don’t want your baby to get confused between the bottle nipple and your nipples. Plus there will be issues with your baby not drawing adequate milk which could affect its weight gain. Therefore, you give into exclusive nursing for the initial months, which could prolong to many more weeks or months. You become the sole food source for your baby until you think your baby has got the hang of identifying a bottle.
3. Coming to terms with pumping
Once you start pumping, you begin to have mixed feelings about feeding your baby through a bottle, although it’s your milk. Where’s the coziness of mom – you fear if this is what your baby will think. But you also begin to rejoice at the freedom that pumping can give you. So, there is always a dilemma there. Should I pump out or no? Should I get a breast pump in the first place? If yes, whether it should be single or double, manual or electric? As a little tip here, electric ones are easy. But no matter what you do, you will always be in a dual mind around the breast pump. Plus, the ease of nursing a baby is always there when you want to hang out a bit.
4. What if you are just one of those who can’t breastfeed
It is saddening for a mother, but there are those who have failed at this or had issues with breastfeeding such as developing cracked or red nipples, having a thrush, or having engorgement because your baby sleeps in for long. Moreover, there are a few babies that could have lactose intolerance and therefore will need formula milk. If you do happen to be one of those mothers who has been unsuccessful at breastfeeding, don’t be disheartened. You can take recourse to formula milk, and you could still be a fantastic mom.
5. Your child won’t want it, but you may decide when your baby should wean
Not until the first six months, that is to say. Your baby will also not want to quit taking your feed ever. But you may decide when she can start weaning given your other responsibilities. Doctors recommend breastfeeding for a good two years, even after your baby has begun eating solid foods between the fourth and the sixth months. You may dislike not nursing any longer, but you will have to stop breastfeeding your child at some point in time.
6. You may face criticism on your breastfeeding
Breastfeeding in public might raise eyebrows. Nursing an infant might raise questions as to how old your baby is. You may receive an unwelcome opinion from different people. You may also expect a lot of unnecessary questions about your nursing pattern. Most of the reactions would come out of curiosities or personal experiences of people. But regardless of what they say, you know what is the best for your baby and you.
Breastfeeding is the best feeding, but it comes with challenges. So simply be prepared to accept it all along.
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