I found a lot of people weren’t encouraging when I started breastfeeding. It felt like I was doing something wrong.
Go feed him in the backroom, or even on the toilet floor!
Feed him for 10 minutes on each side every 4 hours – what your baby is screaming? There must be something wrong with your milk!
Thing is there is rarely (less than 1 % of the population!) anything wrong with anyone’s milk – in quantity or quality – but I hear it oh so much!
I found certain people were supportive in different ways, and here’s who I’d like to thank:
Some by supporting me and standing by my decisions – like my husband. I couldn’t have done it without him – especially the night times – and not just when they were babies but at the toddler stage he was amazing with helping them to wean at night.
Some by just telling me to get it on with it – as it was natural and normal. To do what I felt was right for me and my child.
Other Breastfeeding mothers – who made me feel less of a freak. That is friends and just other mothers who I probably will never meet – those who feed for all manner of lengths of time but decided that they too would try this breastfeeding.
To Non-breastfeeding mothers – for allowing me to have my choice even if it wasn’t yours.
To Joe Public – thank you for never actually giving me any negative feedback. You might not have decided to breastfeed yourself but you have never stopped me from doing it.
To places like Mothercare providing nursing rooms – for when I wasn’t brave enough to feed anywhere and in front of anyone – I also meet other mothers in there, nursing too.
To God/biology that made me a woman and have the ability to do this – listening to my body is one of the most encouraging things I could have heard.
Then of course there were the books – telling me the facts and research so that if I felt the need to justify what I was doing I could. And the breastfeeding counsellors. Information is power. If you do decide to stop breastfeeding before you are ready make sure that it is because it is what is best rather or convenient for you/your child – and not someone else. And actually someone just listening – letting you work it out yourself and maybe steering you in the right direction is a great help.
Then there’s the other mother’s (on and offline) – they are amazing. Listening, sharing their experiences and advice.
The staff at the hospital – who ensured I was fed 3 times a day just because I was a breastfeeding mother – even though my son is 2 and half years old now.
To my children – who have been difficult at times (constant feeding, throwing it up as soon as I’ve fed them) but have made this wonderful opportunity possible and am loving that I am one of the few lucky ones to have been able to make it this far. Especially my third son who made Tandem feeding seem so easy.
Other Posts of Interest
Baby born at 35 weeks helping us to decide not to have more children (and the fight to breastfeed him).
Things I would have done differently