Gentle Mothering

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August 25, 2005

My reply to Tulipmama's entry re:Breastfeeding

by flowermama

I'm new to blogging so be patient with me. . . . I was writing a comment in reply to Tulipmama's entry entitled Breastfeeding and Overcoming, but I'm afraid it got too long, so I hope it's okay I'm making a new blog entry instead. *blush*

The struggles I have had are pretty common ones -- thrush, trouble latching on, a short nursing strike... I'll share about some of our bumps-in-the-road experiences with breastfeeding below.

With my first baby, at first I didn't realize how often babies really need to nurse, and I mis-read her cues, etc., so I didn't offer often enough, and she got over-hungry and was so unhappy. When she got jaundice I was told by the doctor to feed my baby every two hours (and supplement with formula!), and that was more often than I had been nursing for sure. My milk supply took five days to come in. On about day six or so, I finally realized about comfort-nursing! I nursed her very often after that, and we were both more happy.

I don't remember any difficulties nursing my second baby, except I got plugged ducts around two to three times, and one time I had those chills where you can't stop shaking. *shudder* I got better, though, very quickly.

My third got thrush and had latch problems. It was discouraging. Things were a lot better at six weeks.

My fourth got thrush, but, thankfully, didn't have latch problems. When he turned four months old, he got a cold and a bad ear infection which made it difficult for him to nurse. He had a short nursing strike druing that time, and I had to pump a little and feed him some with a medicine cup.

What motivated me to keep at it? *think* Knowing that breastfeeding is God's design in for feeding babies and knowing about the important things it gives that my baby needs (such as antibodies to fight sickness), inspired me to keep at it. Also, since our troubles nursing were mostly in the newborn period, it was an encouragement to know that it commonly gets easier by week six or so. And through it all I found the support of my husband, family, and friends to be priceless.

Posted by flowermama at August 25, 2005 01:05 PM

Comments

Posted by: TulipGirl at August 26, 2005 03:10 PM

Posted by: flowermama at August 27, 2005 02:26 AM

Posted by: Carol at August 27, 2005 05:58 AM

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