January 2016 Moms
stephanienjer
member
Breastfeeding is hard, and Jamie Oliver can suck it.
stephanienjer
member
Did you guys hear about this? Jamie Oliver has taken it upon himself to mansplain that women need to breastfeed more. Here's his quote: “It’s easy, it’s more convenient, it’s more nutritious, it’s better, it’s free.”
Easy? EASY? EASY?
I have a few choice words for Mr. Oliver, and none of them are allowed on here.
I don't know if any of you are struggling, but don't let the die-hards brainwash you. It's freaking hard. Like--the hardest thing I've ever done.
We are so force-fed hype about breastfeeding that we can't see the forest for the trees.
I'm so glad I tried to breastfeed--and stuck it out as long as I could. Here's the thing, though. Every situation is different. With mine? My LO had an undiagnosed tongue tie for several weeks. The first few days home she lost a pound and a half, because she was getting nothing from me. We ended up in the hospital with a dangerously dehydrated baby. All because I doubted myself, and my own instincts. I had been told over and over not to introduce a bottle for the first month--from our lactation consultant. Our doctor took one look at our daughter and insisted that we bottle feed until we figured out what the problem was. The issue was, though, that I could pump for an hour straight, and couldn't even get a half-ounce. That's an hour I can't spend with my daughter, or my husband, or my three stepsons. My daughter never did latch properly (again, our LC only had one method, and wasn't helpful.) 5 1/2 weeks in, I was still only getting a pittance and pumping for ridiculous amounts of time. Probably half of my waking time was being strapped to a pump. I had to return to work the next week, and I was sobbing on the couch--how was I supposed to do all this pumping when I was spending 8 hours away from my baby? Also, I just hated it. We were still trying to latch, and she was getting angry, I was bleeding. I. Just. Hated. It. Honestly, my LO and I were bonding better with that bottle than we were with her screaming at me in frustration, and me crying because I couldn't give her what she needed.
What am I getting at here? If you're breastfeeding, and it's glorious, good for you. But if you've tried everything, and are discouraged, and you want to quit--that's ok, too. Don't let anyone shame you into doing something that makes both you and LO miserable. I had so much guilt, guys. My husband finally asked if she was being nourished enough by formula, and if I felt bonded to her when bottle feeding. When I said yes, he then said that it was OK if I wanted to quit. (He would have supported me forever, and yes, I don't need his permission, but it felt nice to hear it.) When I expressed concern about the cost of formula, he told me that the cost of my being stressed and guilty all the time far outweighed the monetary cost.
I've said this in other post, but I'm saying it again.
What you find that works for you, is RIGHT for you and LO. No matter what the "experts" say.
Easy? EASY? EASY?
I have a few choice words for Mr. Oliver, and none of them are allowed on here.
I don't know if any of you are struggling, but don't let the die-hards brainwash you. It's freaking hard. Like--the hardest thing I've ever done.
We are so force-fed hype about breastfeeding that we can't see the forest for the trees.
I'm so glad I tried to breastfeed--and stuck it out as long as I could. Here's the thing, though. Every situation is different. With mine? My LO had an undiagnosed tongue tie for several weeks. The first few days home she lost a pound and a half, because she was getting nothing from me. We ended up in the hospital with a dangerously dehydrated baby. All because I doubted myself, and my own instincts. I had been told over and over not to introduce a bottle for the first month--from our lactation consultant. Our doctor took one look at our daughter and insisted that we bottle feed until we figured out what the problem was. The issue was, though, that I could pump for an hour straight, and couldn't even get a half-ounce. That's an hour I can't spend with my daughter, or my husband, or my three stepsons. My daughter never did latch properly (again, our LC only had one method, and wasn't helpful.) 5 1/2 weeks in, I was still only getting a pittance and pumping for ridiculous amounts of time. Probably half of my waking time was being strapped to a pump. I had to return to work the next week, and I was sobbing on the couch--how was I supposed to do all this pumping when I was spending 8 hours away from my baby? Also, I just hated it. We were still trying to latch, and she was getting angry, I was bleeding. I. Just. Hated. It. Honestly, my LO and I were bonding better with that bottle than we were with her screaming at me in frustration, and me crying because I couldn't give her what she needed.
What am I getting at here? If you're breastfeeding, and it's glorious, good for you. But if you've tried everything, and are discouraged, and you want to quit--that's ok, too. Don't let anyone shame you into doing something that makes both you and LO miserable. I had so much guilt, guys. My husband finally asked if she was being nourished enough by formula, and if I felt bonded to her when bottle feeding. When I said yes, he then said that it was OK if I wanted to quit. (He would have supported me forever, and yes, I don't need his permission, but it felt nice to hear it.) When I expressed concern about the cost of formula, he told me that the cost of my being stressed and guilty all the time far outweighed the monetary cost.
I've said this in other post, but I'm saying it again.
What you find that works for you, is RIGHT for you and LO. No matter what the "experts" say.
Re: Breastfeeding is hard, and Jamie Oliver can suck it.
I am still breastfeeding (mainly exclusively pumping) and "easy and convenient" is not the word I would use. I leak constantly and need to be wearing breastpads 24/7. I feel like all of my clothes, my couch and more are covered in breastmilk. It makes me feel disgusted with myself. My boobs hurt (from pumping and let down). I feel chained to a pump (or washing and sterilizing pump parts). I feel guilty when the baby actually sleeps and I oversleep the time I should pump lest I hurt supply. I'm done at 6 months. And I know according to experts my baby will never graduate from Harvard or lead a fulfilled life unless I exclusively breastfeed for at least year. But then again I'm still on maternity leave, maybe the "easy, convenient" part happens when I go back to work?
Why can't our culture just lift moms up? We're all doing our best and that's what is best for baby.
Easy?!?!?! That pisses me off. I'm in a great place with breastfeeding now, but I spent weeks crying and in horrible pain (bleeding, chapped, plugged ducts, and had thrush) while trying different things to make it work. Breastfeeding is HARD.
Sorry for the novel, apparently I needed to rant.
And hats off to women who push through and continue to breastfeed because it's SO hard.
I would like to add you ladies that pump and feed your babies are my heroes because I breastfeed and dread pumping. I truly don't think I could EP.
Secondly moms that breast and formula feed their babies are also my heroes because this mom thing is hard and we're all awesome. We literally grew a human. Still so crazy to me lol
Married DH: 2013
DD: Dec 2015
BFP 8/14/17 --> Due 4/27/2018
We had a problem about 5 weeks in, where our LO was having MAJOR stomach issues, and we had just begun paced feeds. I put a line out to see if the two could be related, mentioning that the doctor had suggested Gripe Water, and that we had been using it.
No answers to my actual question. Just aggressive links about how horrible you were if you were supplementing anything at all--even doctor directed. I think that was the point where I threw my hands up and said I was done.
I made it to 6 weeks, and I'm impressed with that.