10 Ugly Facts About Breastfeeding
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Not until you become a mother yourself that you start appreciating the amazing process called breastfeeding. I would call it nature’s marvel that gifts women to nourish their young ones. Breastfeeding also deepens the bond between a mother and her child, so I guess it’s great! Despite this, here are few things that I think many women find hard about it and at times think, ‘Breastfeeding sucks.”
1. Breastfeeding May Take Time To Initiate In Some
This is true for both the mother and the child. In some cases, the baby doesn’t figure out how to suckle on mother’s breasts. While in other cases, no matter how natural an urge it may be, some women are just not able to breastfeed their babies by not being able to hold them in the correct position or know how to sit or keep the baby latched on.
2. That Runny Thing
Once the flow starts getting copious with subsequent feeds, you don’t want to rest until you empty out your breasts. Sometimes you feel them leaking. The milk drips out, and unless you have absorbant pads, it could be pretty disturbing, that is to say when your child is asleep and not going to suckle now or when you are at work or a public place.
3. Blocked Ducts
This is the painful one. Blocked ducts or mastitis can be quite irritating. You wonder whether you should really have breasts now!
4. Privacy Is A Common Problem
Thanks to the baby changing rooms where moms can have a place to sit and feed their baby comfortably. But you can’t expect the provision everywhere. Not on a bus, not on a train, not at a bus-stop, not at a book-store. And you never know when your child might want to suckle. What if the hunger-pangs strike again? Some give glances. To those who don’t, thanks for not giving that look, but hey, I don’t like to be in your focus even subtly.
5. You Feel Like A Cow
How many times have I thought this! Gosh! But the more your child is on your feed, the more he resists bottle feed. He will want to suckle even when not hungry. It becomes sort of a plaything. Sort of a snack that he wants to nibble into when he needs to be comforted or when he needs to sleep. You just have to bare your chest on demand. At times, it can get exhausting. But you still do for your child. (Honestly, you also love it when your baby is on you.)
6. That Sudden Bite
As your baby starts teething, and if you are still breastfeeding him, it is likely that he will even gorge his teeth into you! You will want to scream. If he falls asleep with your breast between his jaws, you will feel like you are in the grip of an adamant shark.
7. The Breast Size
Sure, your breast size must have gone up. You will hate all the brassieres that no longer fit you well enough. The more the sizes you try, the more confused you are left. Somehow, there is no that perfect fit. Somehow there is a sag. Somehow you feel like they are huge enough to be obscenely a porn star (which you, of course, will detest as a mother). Somehow you get a bit conscious of the size.
8. Having Sore Nipples
You will have episodes of these too. Your gynecologist will be willing to listen to you.
9. Dressing Up Becomes An Issue
Should you wear tight-fitting clothes that accentuate your torso? There are mom-friendly clothes that you might want to explore. But the key is to take pride in your breasts the way they are now.
10. Not Giving Up On Breastfeeding
This is the worst of all the things. Medical sciences now recommend you breastfeed your child until it is two. But you might risk your baby getting addicted to your feed in comparison to reverting to bottle feed or try other foods. So you must figure out when it’s the most appropriate to stop breastfeeding your child once for all.
Breastfeeding defines the bond of a mother and child. But here are some of the truths that might put some women at discomfort.
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