Breastfeeding: Yes or No? My Experiences.
As this is a blog about parenting I thought I should probably start from the beginning (after the pregnancy itself), and go on to the feeding of our kids.
Breastfeeding: Yes or No? My Experiences.
By Anna-Marie Stewart
I breastfed all 4 of my kids by choice. I lived in Norway when the 3 eldest were born and it was the 'done thing'. If anybody bottle-fed their baby they got weird looks. When I first fell pregnant at the age of 20 or so, I would never have dreamed of breastfeeding, and throughout the pregnancy I swore I'd never do it. It was something ingrained from my first 12 years of life being in England. When they brought Chris to me, he automatically latched on and that was it, no turning back.
I breastfed him quite a long time, until Kelsey came along anyway, then I went directly to breastfeeding her. I had a couple years freedom from breastfeeding then Kyle came along, and it was only natural that I breastfed him too.
Courtney was born here in the UK, and people were really freaking out about me breastfeeding her. It was like we had to hide away whenever she needed feeding. The funniest thing ever was the health visitor though. She decided she was going to teach me how to breastfeed properly! I explained, as nicely as I could, that I'd already breastfed 3 kids and knew what I was doing, then asked her how many SHE had breastfed. Her reply? 'Oh, I haven't had children yet'!!! Needless to say, I requested a new health visitor there and then LOL.
I was lucky, I never really had a problem breastfeeding any of the kids. Apart from once. I got mastitis, an inflammation and infection in one of my breasts. It was my own fault. After I had Chris (the eldest) I'd been told not to get my hands cold as it would most likely lead to mastitis, then I went hunting in the deep-freezer for some meat for dinner. Kaboom! Next day I was in agony! It lasted a couple of weeks, had to have antibiotics and still breastfeed, and I was close to giving up the whole idea for a while cos it was SO painful. But I stuck with it, the infection went away and I ended up breastfeeding the other 3 without any problems at all.
You can safely say I learnt my lesson! If you're reading this and thinking of breastfeeding all I can say is Go For It. It's the most healthy thing you can do for your baby and it creates a fantastic bond between you and the baby. Just make sure you don't get your hands too cold ;)
===============Resource Box===========
Discover how a mom with four unruly kids avoided
a breakdown with this surprise discovery! 12-page
guide reveals 32 ways to keep your kids occupied,
happy and focused. It’s a parent’s dream come true!
http://annamarketing.com/FTS/32Ways.htm
-------------------------------------------------
This article is available for reprint in your opt-in ezine, web site or ebook. You MUST agree not to make any changes to the article and the RESOURCE BOX MUST be included. (c) 2006 Anna-Marie Stewart. All Rights Reserved
Technorati Tags:
parenting, parenting advice, parenting tips, single parenting, parenting resources
Breastfeeding: Yes or No? My Experiences.
By Anna-Marie Stewart
I breastfed all 4 of my kids by choice. I lived in Norway when the 3 eldest were born and it was the 'done thing'. If anybody bottle-fed their baby they got weird looks. When I first fell pregnant at the age of 20 or so, I would never have dreamed of breastfeeding, and throughout the pregnancy I swore I'd never do it. It was something ingrained from my first 12 years of life being in England. When they brought Chris to me, he automatically latched on and that was it, no turning back.
I breastfed him quite a long time, until Kelsey came along anyway, then I went directly to breastfeeding her. I had a couple years freedom from breastfeeding then Kyle came along, and it was only natural that I breastfed him too.
Courtney was born here in the UK, and people were really freaking out about me breastfeeding her. It was like we had to hide away whenever she needed feeding. The funniest thing ever was the health visitor though. She decided she was going to teach me how to breastfeed properly! I explained, as nicely as I could, that I'd already breastfed 3 kids and knew what I was doing, then asked her how many SHE had breastfed. Her reply? 'Oh, I haven't had children yet'!!! Needless to say, I requested a new health visitor there and then LOL.
I was lucky, I never really had a problem breastfeeding any of the kids. Apart from once. I got mastitis, an inflammation and infection in one of my breasts. It was my own fault. After I had Chris (the eldest) I'd been told not to get my hands cold as it would most likely lead to mastitis, then I went hunting in the deep-freezer for some meat for dinner. Kaboom! Next day I was in agony! It lasted a couple of weeks, had to have antibiotics and still breastfeed, and I was close to giving up the whole idea for a while cos it was SO painful. But I stuck with it, the infection went away and I ended up breastfeeding the other 3 without any problems at all.
You can safely say I learnt my lesson! If you're reading this and thinking of breastfeeding all I can say is Go For It. It's the most healthy thing you can do for your baby and it creates a fantastic bond between you and the baby. Just make sure you don't get your hands too cold ;)
===============Resource Box===========
Discover how a mom with four unruly kids avoided
a breakdown with this surprise discovery! 12-page
guide reveals 32 ways to keep your kids occupied,
happy and focused. It’s a parent’s dream come true!
http://annamarketing.com/FTS/32Ways.htm
-------------------------------------------------
This article is available for reprint in your opt-in ezine, web site or ebook. You MUST agree not to make any changes to the article and the RESOURCE BOX MUST be included. (c) 2006 Anna-Marie Stewart. All Rights Reserved
Technorati Tags:
parenting, parenting advice, parenting tips, single parenting, parenting resources
posted by
Anna at 2:54 AM
Comments:
i breastfed damien for seven months, i really didn't battle like i've seen friends and family battle. i also had a lot of help from the nurses in the hospital when damien was born.
Yeah, I have to say I'm glad I had my experiences from Norway to help me, as the nurses in hospital over here 'encouraged' breastfeeding, but seemed to assume that everybody would bottle-feed their kids. That, in turn, made them seem not too 'up to par' when it came to teaching or helping the new mums when it came to how to breastfeed. LOL, I ended up helping a few of them myself ;)
Anna
It took us four years to get pregnant because I had a hormonal problem, and it really affected my milk supply after I had my son. I breastfed him for about a month and a half and pumped as much as I could- but I was pretty sad when I had to go to formula. Especially when we found out he was allergic to milk proteins and ended up on a special formula that costs $300 a month!
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