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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
MWoodside
member
BFing moms- how do you really feel about BFing?
MWoodside
member
In honor of BFing Awareness Week, I'm curious to know how new moms are feeling about their decision to BF. Also, how long to do you plan to BF?
As for me, at this point I love it & I can tell DD does, too. The first 4 weeks were rough, but I was 100% determined to continue for lots of reasons & I am glad I did. DD & I both love our cuddle time. I know it's the healthiest choice for my baby and I am glad I stuck with it.
I am worried about returning to work though. I am concerned about how my body will know to produce more as she needs more when I am pumping most of the day. I just hope it all works out b/c I want to BF her for at least a year.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
Expecting someone new 4/17/17.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: BFing moms- how do you really feel about BFing?
i could have written this.
i love it and it seems DS does too. it really is "our time". I never minded middle of the night feedings. i just love snuggling with him.
but like you said, i'm nervous about supply once i go to work.
I absolutely love it! The first couple weeks were so rough that I cried at times and wanted to quit every single day : ( I am so glad that I have stuck it out and that things are going so great for us. I just absolutely cherish the moments that we are together and I am nursing. It is an amazing thing!
I feel the same way about returning to work, I am very worried because I also want to BF for a year. Hopefully it works out!
If we are allowed to be really honest here....I have not liked it. I have done it for 11 weeks because I know it is best for my DS, but it has been a struggle. Of course the beginning it hurt (like for everyone) and then DS had surgery at 3 weeks (pyloric stenosis) and my supply went down so we struggled through that. I have to say that I am proud of myself for making it this long.....
DS does great, latches fine and eats just fine. I think my struggles with this come from my relationship with my breasts...they were huge and "saggy" even before I got pregnant. I like to say that I don't have a very good relationship with my breasts. So, combine that with a diffculty finding a supportive nursing bra....it has been rough.
I keep doing it because I feel guilty stopping. However, I think I am getting to the point of "Happy Mom=Happy Baby" and I might need to start FF. It is such an emotional decision - I will miss it and I may try to do it just at night or something when I can be comfortable in a sport bra at home....
Thanks for "listening"!!!
Of course you can be honest. I am kind of surprised the majority of people love it, even though I personally do. My girlfriend with 36F breastfeeding boobs is obsessed with Anita bras. They are kind of pricey, but she swears they are the only supportive ones she has found. Good for you for sticking with it even though it has been a challenge.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
I am glad I'm doing it, but I don't "love it". It is hard, and I knew it would be. I guess I just thought it would get easier. My son is 8 weeks and it still hurts sometimes. It is stressful getting up all night and sometimes wish my husband could help out. When he gets fussy every two hours I wonder if my milk is enough for him or if I'm doing something wrong to cause his fussiness. I do pump and my husband gives him one bottle every night but even then I have to get up to pump.
This sounds selfish and I don't mean it to. I love my son more than anything which is why I'm continuing to do it. I just wish I "loved" it like so many others.
Cole Alexander 6.9.10
My dd is 10.5 wks old & she still eats every 2 hours if she's awake. Breastmilk just goes through babies really fast b/c it's so digestible.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
I like BFing, but I don't love it. I like spending the time with LO, but sometimes it feels like a great hassle.
LO never seems satisfied and seems to eat all of the time, which is why i have to supplement with formula.
A kiss he will never forget- Disney World 2014
I am going to be totally and completely honest, I hate it. But, I am determined to continue doing it. I just keep telling myself eventually it will get easier.
I admit, I am entirely jealous of moms who can bf for 15 minutes each side and be done for the next 2 hours. DS is unpredictable. I've tried everything to get him into some kind of groove and it works for about 3 days, and he goes back to wanting to eat all. the. time. It is extremely frustrating. If I didn't feel so guilty, I would have already switched to formula.
Tonight is one of those nights. We're going on 4 hours of him eating for 15 minutes, falling asleep for ten, wake up crying wanting the boob again. I've tried giving him the pacifier and he takes it for a couple minutes but once he realizes nothing is coming out he screams.
I wanted to make it to a year, but making it to 8 weeks is a challenge. I wish I loved it more. I wish someone could tell me if I am doing this right or wrong.
I just wanted to say kudos to you for doing this as long as you have. I think the worst part of BFing is the guilt that is associated with either not enjoying it or wanting/needing to stop. I am not one to really give advice in this area since I am in a similar boat, but....all I can say is you have to do what is right for your baby, but also what is right for you. Don't feel guilty! You are a wonderful mama!!!
Sounds like 6 week growth spurt. It will pass! It lasted 7 full days for us. Try gently waking him up or undressing him to keep him eating longer.
DD is a lazy eater. She eats for like 30-40 min each time. I also envy the 15 min power eating babies sometimes.
DD1 born 5/24/10.
Missed M/C at 14 wks Feb 2012.
DD2 born 5/14/13.
Missed M/C at 9 wks July 2015.
I am going through some of the same things you are, it is so frustrating.
You are not alone!
A kiss he will never forget- Disney World 2014
I'm sitting somewhere in the middle right now. I used to love it and DD would smile at me while feeding and it was just relaxing to do. Then around 4 weeks, I started getting so tired and something happened with DD and she very rarely smiles at me while eating now. And I'm sore while I'm feeding her, not my breasts but my back is killing me! I wish I could get back to where I enjoy it, because I can't help but feel that that's the reason DD isn't smiling during it and enjoying it now, but I'm exhausted and sore, and don't know how to get back to that point.
Oh geeze, sorry this is so whiny.
I would think it was a growth spurt, but we just went through the same thing a week ago for 3 days. He went back to normal until yesterday. I don't know if it's possible for him to be re-growth spurting, but that would make me feel MUCH better to know there is an end to this.
I haven't tried keeping him awake, but maybe I should try. I guess I just assume if he falls asleep, he's done.
I am glad to know I'm not alone though : )
I neither love it nor hate it. I know it is whats best for my babies, so I do it. I hardly ever get to leave the house because it is so difficult to feed twins when I'm out.
They also seem to eat every 1.5-2 hours which really ties me down. I do tandum nurse and they are power eaters and are done in between ten to fifteen minutes most of the time.
I plan to breastfeed for a year. I hope to never have to suppliment, but am afaid that when I go back to work I won't be able to keep up. I will have at least gotten them to three months EBF.
I love it and am glad I made a decision to do it (or at least to attempt to) early in my pregnancy and to let DH know how important it was to me. I am lucky that DD latched on really well and hasn't had a problem feeding. I am in Oregon which is super pro breastfeeding and I was breastfed until I was 2 years old, so needless to say, I have a lot of support around me if I need it.
I plan on BFing for one year. I will be going back to work when she is three months old, but will only be going in to the office three days per week and will be home with her the other four. I have started pumping and DH has started trying to give her a bottle of BM but we have only been successful twice, so we will be purchasing different bottles/nipples to try with her this weekend.
The only difficult thing for me is the modesty thing - I posted about it yesterday. I think I will just have to get over it. A friend bought me a hooter hider and I have used that twice and DD seemed to do okay with it, but one time she seemed like she got too hot, so we will see how things go!
I'm just glad to see that so many people said it gets easier.
DS is only 15 days old and BFing for me is a real struggle. It hurt SO BADLY at first...my nipples actually bled even though the nurses said he was latching correctly and everything. Now it doesn't hurt as bad. I have giant boobs which makes positioning DS a little difficult, and if he's groggy or tired it's a battle. Sometimes he nurses for what seems like forever and just gets lethargic so I think he's done and then he's hungry again a half hour later. Oh, when he went through his cluster feeding phase, I thought it would kill me!
I have loved being a mommy to a newborn and have felt absolutely blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby who makes motherhood so easy on me. Breastfeeding has been my only complaint. I always knew it was best and was always 100% on board, I just never knew it was so dang difficult! Prospective end date? Who knows...right now I'm just taking it day by day. I'm pretty stubborn though and I really want it to work, so I think I will last a good long while yet.
I was warned that it would be hurt for a couple of weeks and, sure enough, it did! No warnings or books would've prepared me for it. Because LO tested on the borderline for jaundice, we stayed at the hospital 2 extra days. LO wasn't latching on well and we even had to supplement with formula. I felt so incompetent. We found that the extra time in the hospital was valuable. The nurses were VERY helpful with tips and encouragement. By the time we came home we fed LO just breastmilk.
DH even mentioned that feeding is going so much better than when we first started.
I enjoy BF, but I'm not sure I love it. I enjoy our time together, but I also feel guilty for thinking that it's so time-consuming that I could be ding something else.
I'm also worried about how much milk I can produce once I return to work.
Ditto all this, I'm only going back to work part-time though so I'm hoping that will help...
I love BF just as much as I thought I would, even though like you said the first 4 weeks were very hard. Now it's just so special, and it doesn't hurt that it's free and convenient either.
I absolutely do love bf'ing O, I think it's convenient to feed him, no preparing bottles, etc. O doesn't look at me much while he's eating, but I think we still do bond while he eats.
That said, we had a really rough start. DS was a lazy eater, had a crappy latch (too shallow), and it hurt like heck. I felt like such a failure as a woman and a mom. I swear, people make you think it's totally beautiful and second nature. But it's not! I didn't start enjoying it until maybe 8 weeks.
And even though O has doubled his birth weight already (!!!), I still stress out a lot. He's a super efficient eater- if we make it to 10 minutes it's a big deal! But I worry that because he's so quick and I have a lot of milk and a forceful letdown, he's not getting enough hind milk. Even when things are going right it's still a challenge!
I have really mixed feelings about breastfeeding. After 10 weeks of EBF and dealing with incredible pain, I decided to switch to BFing in the mornings and evenings, and FFing during the day. We saw three LCs about DD's latch and they all said it was fine, but the pain in my nipples never went away. I couldn't wear a bra without getting clogged ducts, we went through two bouts of bad thrush. It just seemed like a neverending series of painful event after painful event. I started to resent DD when she was hungry. I also felt really 'tied down' by BFing. I couldn't go anywhere with DD because it took her over 40 minutes to feed and I would cry though most feeds because it was so painful so it was kind of hard to do that in public.
The decision to FF during the day has saved my life. I feel like now I'm in the sun whereas before I was in the shade.
Now I LOVE my BFing time with DD because it doesn't hurt as much, and I can get out during the day and (for me) bringing a bottle is way easier than dealing with BFing in public.
It was a really hard decision though, and DH wasn't totally supportive (he wanted me to BF for at least six months). But, at the end of the day, I'm SO much happier and I can tell that DD is a lot more relaxed as well.
Eleanor Noelle - 18/05/12 Claire Elisabeth - 16/-5/10
I'm very up and down about BFing. DS has never really had latch issues so that's nice and I enjoy it a lot more than I ever thought I would (I loathed it when I BFed DS1), but mentally I struggle with it. I don't even know if I can describe how I feel about it when I'm down, but "trapped" would sum it up.
We started supplementing with formula a week or so ago and I'm so torn about that, but I'm also trying to not let it get to me. I've been back to work for a couple of weeks now and it's hard for me to keep up with pumping so I keep up with his demand (I work from home but give DS bottles of BM at night). He eats a TON.
Anyway, I definitely don't love it, but it is convenient and I love not having to spend money on formula. Plus I know myself and I know I'll kill myself with guilt if I quit, even though rationally I know I shouldn't.
Alex (11/14/06) and Nate (5/25/10)
"Want what you have, do what you can, be who you are." - Rev. Forrest Church
I BF'ed for 6 weeks (DS was in the NICU for 4 weeks so I pumped during that time). I really believe it's the best thing for babies, and I was really distraught/stressed when it wasn't working out. My supply was terrible and DS never learned to suck hard enough b/c he was on a ventilator
Even though I'm FF'ing, I realize it's the best thing for us given our situation. I completely support BFing though and hopefully I will be able to successfully BF future kids!
I'm loving it. The first week or two my nipples were cracked and bleeding, but since then it's been smooth sailing. I've been blessed that LO latched on well right away and I've had a good supply.
I pump every morning after my first feeding and will use that if we are out and about for the day. I find it easier than NIP sometimes and want to get her used to a bottle for when I go back to work.
With DD1 I BF for almost 5 months until I started drying up b/c I wasn't pumping as often as I should've been at work. I know now how quickly that can happen. I hope to BF for at least 6 months, and possibly 1 year. I have about 300 oz in the freezer and hope to get another couple hundred before I go back in a month. Between that stash and what I pump at work, I hope I can make it for awhile.
I'm loving it. The first week or two my nipples were cracked and bleeding, but since then it's been smooth sailing. I've been blessed that LO latched on well right away and I've had a good supply.
I pump every morning after my first feeding and will use that if we are out and about for the day. I find it easier than NIP sometimes and want to get her used to a bottle for when I go back to work.
With DD1 I BF for almost 5 months until I started drying up b/c I wasn't pumping as often as I should've been at work. I know now how quickly that can happen. I hope to BF for at least 6 months, and possibly 1 year. I have about 300 oz in the freezer and hope to get another couple hundred before I go back in a month. Between that stash and what I pump at work, I hope I can make it for awhile.
I like it ok, but I'm not as in love with it as others. Maybe later on, when LO is older, I'll feel more of the bonding... as of now, I feel like a cow.
On a sidenote, it's going really well. No pain, & her latch is great. Also, I'm fortunate enough to have plenty of milk for LO, but I'm not experiencing any painful engorgement or leaking.
Mixed feelings here.
I've been lucky to have absolutely zero problems physically so far other than a couple of days of engorgement right after my milk came in--no sore nips or anything. And LO has a fantastic latch, can nurse quickly now, etc. And it made me lose all of my baby weight extremely quickly. So that is all good.
But at first I hated it even though it was going so well. It took me a few weeks to REALLY bond with DD and during that time I just felt like she saw me as a food source rather than a mother. She ate so frequently during the daytime that it made me feel a little "trapped." Once I really got into the groove of motherhood (at around six weeks--that smile does wonders!) I started to enjoy it more and to realize I would miss it at some point. I found myself trying to commit to memory the little noise she makes when she gets going ("hyilp!") and the way her little face looks when she stares up at me during feedings (I admit I've even taken a picture of her on my boob).
Now I like nursing even better because I started pumping yesterday and holy crap, what a hassle that is. DD took the bottle right away so there are no problems with that, but I hate pumping with a passion. I'm really, really dreading my return to work in a month.
Right now, I'm in the "dislike" category. I know how selfish this is going to sound, but whatever: I feel like this whole thing is cosmically unfair. We women have to deal with all the crappy end of pregnancy stuff, then labor, then, just when you want to be resting, you have to be up every 2 hours to feed a baby. I think it stinks.
BUT, I bf DS#1 for 15 months and I think it was somewhere in the 8 week mark that I started to really like it. I know that's coming, so I'm sticking it out. I'm planning to BF DS#2 for at leat 15 months, hopefully closer to 18 months or 2 years or whenever he self-weans. I just need to get over this initial hump...
Zachary Ryan - 1/13/08 - 6lbs 15oz, 20.5 inches
Lilia Rose - 5/11/10 - 8lbs 6oz, 21 inches
This. Except for I don't love the massive breasts that I have right now. I was big to begin with, and now I'm huge. But really, I love that I'm giving my baby the healthiest start possible. I also am fine with NIP, so I can take her anywhere, and feed her as soon as she gets hungry. I hope to nurse for a minimum of 6 months, but maybe a year or more. We'll see how it goes when I go back to work at 5 months and pump throughout the day.
I really wish I loved it. I don't even like it. I think it's the hardest thing about being a mommy right now. I know it's best for my baby though so I'm determined to stick it out for 6 months. We're already 1/3 of the way there...
I've had sore nipples, cracks and bleeding, poor latch even after seeing a LC (mainly because I have a fast let down and DS likes to use his tongue to slow it down), and most recently, I've battled Raynaud's. You can't really do much for Raynaud's other than hot compresses and some B6 and magnesium supplements, so I've just had to push through shooting pains in my nipples. I literally cringe every time I have to feed DS. I really just wish I didn't have to deal with the Raynaud's anymore because I think by now I would have passed the initial hump and would be enjoying it like most of you.
Right now, the major benefits are for my baby, but I do like that I am still losing weight faster than I would be otherwise. I can deal with the 40G size boobs if it means the weight comes off faster!
Hmmm.... I like it but I don't love it! I enjoy the bonding time and knowing that there is something I can give my DD that no one else can. I Love that she Loves to BF... she always has had a GREAT latch and she is a great eater. She has gained weight like a dream ( she was only 5lbs 11' at birth and now she is 10lbs). I like that it is free and that it is the BEST food I can give her.
I think the reason why I don't LOVE it is because I am still shy to do it in Public and in the evenings she wants to eat like every hour. I think she preps her body for the 8 hours she will be sleeping straight so I can't really complain but I would just like to enjoy a nice relaxing dinner!
Ok.... no more complaining for me!
edit: I am going to try for at least 6 months but I am starting to pump and hopefully she will also take a bottle!