To be completely honest I think if I could go back and do it all again with my first son I’d have possibly just stopped breastfeeding him after he’d had the colostrum. I was too tired, and too selfish and too busy doing my A-levels. I didn’t appreciate how much he needed feeding and honestly, don’t think I fed him enough. I think I breastfeed because I felt under pressure as a teen mom – with everyone waiting for me to fail at it – so I wanted to prove them wrong.
With my second child I would have not listened to the professionals. I would not have given him orange juice when they told me he was not pooing enough. I would not have put him on formula when they told me I didn’t have enough/my milk wasn’t good enough.
I would not change a thing about my breast-feeding experience with my third son. It is magical and I really feel the self weaning is going well. At *some point* this week he asked for milk and was on and off quicker than you could blink – I think he just likes to know he can if he wants.
My fourth son I would have had more confidence in myself. I would have breastfed him more and not be intimidated by being told that he wasn’t putting on enough weight and would have pushed further to find out what was the real reason behind his weight loss.
Other posts of interest
Baby born at 35 weeks helping us to decide not to have more children (and the fight to breastfeed him).