Breastfeeding is great, but like everything it takes practise. Don't expect to just plug junior in and that's it. You and the baby have to get to know each other and aquire the skill together. Babies are born to suck and feed, but it takes them time to get used to it too.
Breastfeeding can hurt - mostly in the beginning. Pain generally means that the baby isn't latched on properly - this comes with practise and doesn't take long. The pain isn't that bad and all you can think about is the baby anyway so it takes your mind off it. When you've established feeding it doesn't hurt anymore.
The hardest thing that I found was the frequency of feeding in the beginning. I thought that babies had a feed then went to sleep for a couple of hours inbetween (bottle fed babies follow this pattern). It came as a bit of a shock to find that my son wanted to breastfeed almost constantly - little and often. I became very tired as I had a six year old too and no family help. My sister-in-law told me that she felt this way too - she couldn't unplug to get anything done. She said that it wears off and they establish a pattern after a while. My health visitor told me that the lactation hormone - Prolactin - is produced in the greatest quantities at night - this means that you must feed on demand during the night in order to stimulate lactation - this is how I got so tired - I was so busy during the day with my older son then up a lot during the night. It all became too much in the end and I gave up :-(
Try to find some classes to help you find out about it before you have the baby - then you'll know what to expect. Contact the La Leche people who may run classes. Sometimes the local hospital run classes as well.
Breastfeeding makes you feel closer to the baby though and I felt like a proper mum when I was doing it. I cried when I had to give up due to the tiredness (I'd also had a c-section).
Don't worry about feeding when people are around - you just carry a light blanket and you can sort of drape it so your chest doesn't show. I don't think that people would mind and you can always find a quiet place to feed if you're embarrassed. Don't let it put you off, as breastfeeding is great - and no bottles to keep cleaning and no formula powder all over the kitchen benches! ↑ |
| i dont know whats its like THANK GOD that i dont know whats its like to breastfeed im still in middle school i wanna marry i husband that repects me and is good to me and have kids after college and after im married and have a good carreir to support my life but i have to focus on my studies more than having kids or getting married and stuff like that ↑ |
| then why the heck are you on this sight and why are you responding to questions to which you have no answer to! ↑ |
