“Have you ever had to think “outside the box” when it comes to breastfeeding? Do you think there are certain breastfeeding “rules” that are meant to be broken? Do you fit in the typical nursing mom mold? Share your thoughts here!”
I guess I do break the rules. I’m not exactly sure what the rules are though to be honest.
Eating properly. Erm I don’t tend to make time for myself – it’s probably one of my biggest downfalls. I always make sure I have breakfast though. When considering whether I ate properly “enough” to feed my baby I decided that it worked in third world countries ok. Now I know it hasn’t harmed my boys.
Listening to the professionals. Just because someone works in a medical capacity does not mean they know everything about health. Listening to what feels natural and what my children want is more like the rule I’d follow (and a bit of reading around). I was told my baby didn’t put on “enough” weight because I didn’t produce enough milk – then when there was clearly enough pumped off I was told it was the quality of my milk. Turned out my son had a nasty infection.
Don’t drink alcohol. Are you kidding me? I mean I do not feed them whilst I’m drinking but not drinking at all – and self-weaning just does not mix!
When to stop. I guess most people have long stopped feeding their children by now (most of those even at the breastfeeding support group stopped by around 13 months old). I just know I read lots and just decided that self-weaning was right for us.
I’m sure there’s many more but as I haven’t cared for them then I’m not sure what they are.
I agree with the alcohol. I wait for the evening when my son is asleep and I know he won’t nurse for another 4-5 hours. Then I have a beer from time to time. It is just too hard, especially when planning to feed longer than a year. I am convinced, if timed right it doesn’t hurt. ( I am not saying this too loud though, because it is too much of a no no for many ;))
I think they are more tolerant at that age too if a very tiniest bit were to be not gone from our bodies – I wouldn’t have done it when he was very small, and I don’t co-sleep when I’ve had a drink either.
Great share! 🙂 I love it.
Heheh, the aclohol bit made me giggle. Imagine being teetotal until self-weaning! I must admit, I don’t really worry about alcohol all hat much now, I often have half a bottle of wine in the evening knowing that my son might well wake for a feed around 1am. Drinking does leave me with less patience for the night wakings though, but that’s a different story!