Your Breastfeeding experience

Hayley1608

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
1,080
Reaction score
0
Hi Ladies :)

So we are hoping to start TTC soon :D I know its a bit early to be thinking ahead but I am thinking about trying to breastfeed, I didn't with S and part of me wishes I had tried.

My reasons for not breastfeeding first time round probably seem a little silly to all of you, I know its supposed to feel like the most natural thing in the world, but i felt a bit uncomfortable about it. I wish I had tried and would like to if we are lucky enough to have another baby.

I don't have any friends that have breastfed. I was just wondering if you ladies would mind sharing your experiences of breastfeeding?

Thank you :)
 
It's hard at times, painful at times, tiring at times and frustrating at times - but I absolutely love it!!!!
It's so fulfilling and enjoyable, I love knowing I am giving my baby everything he needs. Looking at his chubby face and knowing that he is growing big and strong because of me is amazing.
Deffo give it a go hun, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain xx
 
I would really love those feelings, In my head I would love to do it, I think of giving him or her the best start and the best milk for them! I think its the thought of them actually being on my boob that sort of puts me off. I'm sorry if it sounds rediculous. I think it will be goof to get other opinions and here other experiences because I think it might change the way I feel about the actual act of breastfeeding as I would really love to do it!
 
It doesn't sound stupid, that's just how you feel.
If you give it a go and it's not for you then no harm done but if you don't try you'll never know. That's the way I look at it anyway.
I get very strong feelings when I'm bf and I kinda think that takes over from any feelings of doubt or worry you may have.
Just grab all the support you can in the beginning when you are both learning how to feed.
Bf is a journey with lots of ups and downs but its the best thing I've ever done xx
 
I guess nobody really knows what it will be like until you have experienced it so I will definately give it a go if we are lucky enough to have another beauty :)
 
It used to freak me out too, and although I'm expressing not bf I did bf for the first two weeks. The feelings you get when doing it are amazing, it made me bond so well with Cathy almost from the get-go, and even now I'm still proud that all she needs is me and I'm doing it all myself :) xx
 
one of the best things I did was attend a local baby cafe antenatally, it gave me somewhere safe to go when T was 4 days old, to get advice, and I trained from there as a peer supporter, one of the Mums I met there is now Godmum to T, and we socialise with a few of the other mums too, it was somewhere that I could aim for each week so gave me little goals and I fed my Son until we had both had enough at 11 months (more down to work than choice if I am perfectly honest) I am proud to say that my son has never had formula. We have a super relationship... and I hope that I can do it all again... in fact if I don't get as far with #2 I think I will be more upset than I would have been with T knowing that I can do it if that makes sense
Good luck :dust:
 
Thanks for sharing Sally :)

I was thinking of just expressing last time as I wanted S to have all the goodness of my milk but the thought of feeding her myself was what put me off. I guess it has its pros and cons like everything, What concerned me last time was that due to Savannahs size (9lb14oz) I had to have a c section, I worried about everything getting on top of me and thought that expressing every bottle would make it so much harder.

It is likely that I will have to have a section again if the next baby grows to the size that s did (I am hoping to have a natural birth but we will see what happens) so I think i will really do my reasearch into expressing in case I try feeding him/her myself and discover that it's not for me.
 
Last edited:
I would really recommend a baby cafe, or similar, that is where I got my confidence from x
 
Wow 11 months! That's great Rowesb!

The baby cafe sounds great! I'm not sure that we have anything like that locally but then I guess you don't know until you look! I know that there are local breastfeeding groups which I've heard are a great support.
 
Expressing is kind of a pain because you pretty much do every feed twice, once when expressing and once when giving him/her the bottle. It's also probably going to lead (in my opinion) to stopping before the recommended 6 months because you're more likely to dry up, I find that sometimes I don't get time to Express whereas if I was bf, I would have no choice but to feed her when she was hungry. It's not for everyone and who knows if I'll go the full year (or 6 months even) but we'll see. Good luck whatever you decide hun :) xx
 
It does sound extremely demanding, You seem to be doing a great job!

Thanks very much :)
 
I loved it! The first couple of weeks were hard, I was knackered and sore and all the rest of it but breast feeding is wonderful. I stopped at 16 weeks because my boy has a dairy allergy and despite me cutting dairy from my diet he couldn't tolerate my milk and had to be put on medicated formula . I was devastated about having to stop and I cried for days! I'm grateful that I got to do it for 4 months and will certainly 100% do it again if/when I have another x
 
That must have been hard :( I would be really proud if I managed to do four months!

Another thing that worries me is that I wont know how much they are taking, With S we knew what was normal for her and what was not enough, How do you know when they have had enough?! Do they just sort of stop? It worries me that I wouldn't know.
 
Yep, they unlatch themselves. You offer the other breast once they decide they've finished from the first one (well that's what I did anyway). People always used to ask me how much he ate and all I could reply with was "as much as he wants" lol they get their drink from the fore-milk early on in the feed and the fattier, more nutritious stuff from the hind milk later on in the feed :)
 
Wow, I think that would worry me a little as I got so used to checking how much S had drank and then I would know that she is likely to want feeding again soon, I guess it is a little more of a guessing game with breastfeeding? Although I imagine the more experience you have doing it, the more you will learn :)
 
I find with bf you don't worry about numbers and ounces, when they are satisfied they are done, when they cry they want more - simple! x
 
It's actually a lot easier with bf and I found I was really in tune with her iykwim. Plus you don't have to worry about not having stuff with you if you're out or running out of anything, your boobies just make more! Xx
 
Wow 11 months! That's great Rowesb!

The baby cafe sounds great! I'm not sure that we have anything like that locally but then I guess you don't know until you look! I know that there are local breastfeeding groups which I've heard are a great support.

Google baby cafe, it will bring you up the main website, but any group registered with them will be on the group pages, otherwise the MW and HV should know where there are, or try a search/plea on netmums x
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
473,572
Messages
4,654,624
Members
110,012
Latest member
lauramayne90
Back
Top