Breastfeeding – a purposeful choice and satisfaction, or a painful journey?
Why do I breastfeed?
I think I got it from my mother's milk. Seriously. My mom always emphasized that she breastfed for a long time, that breast milk is very important, and that it's important to fight for it. For the baby.
Quite simply, the importance of breastfeeding was instilled in my mind. I never wondered whether I wanted to breastfeed or not. It was just natural.
I was lucky that none of my children had any problems with eating. So I breastfed my children. Consciously for longer – my first and second children until they were one and a half years old. I'm still breastfeeding my third child and we'll see how long it lasts.
Is breastfeeding an ordeal?
Breastfeeding has many advantages. It is extremely convenient. I have milk with me, always at the right temperature and in a container that I don't have to sterilize or prepare specially. Breastfeeding is cheap. Milk production depends only on the nursing woman being properly hydrated and nourished. Breastfeeding is an intimate, bonding moment that helps build closeness between mother and child.
On the other hand, however, the beginnings of breastfeeding are not the easiest. And yes, they can be called an ordeal. If only because it hurts. Before the nipples get used to breastfeeding, they hurt a lot and can be bitten and injured.
Inflammation that can develop in the breast is painful. Only a woman who has gone through this will understand the tears that accompany it.
It is difficult to maintain an unbreakable bond with your child for several months.
It is also a path of denying yourself certain things: certain medications, intense sports, or alcohol.
Some girls impose severe restrictions on their diets. Unfortunately, sometimes the child is allergic to what we eat. And sometimes this is due to the belief that something “causes bloating,” is too spicy, etc., and must be eliminated from the diet. My triple experience shows that this is not true. As a person who does not eat meat in my diet, I eat a lot of legumes, which are typically bloating. And nothing has ever happened to my children (even newborns). However, this is my observation with my children. It may be different with yours.
Does all this give me satisfaction?
Maybe a little, just a little. Especially when I calculated that I gave my children a total of about 1,143 liters of milk. Over a thousand liters of milk. Not bad for one person.
But on a day-to-day basis, I don't get any satisfaction from it. I just treat it as a normal way of feeding a baby. I'm glad that my children are healthy, and maybe somewhere, far off in the future, I hope that it will have a positive effect on their development. Nevertheless, I don't make myself out to be a hero.
Breastfeeding is a normal thing.
I'm very curious – what does your milk journey look like? Maybe you'll be tempted to calculate how much milk you've given your children. Be sure to let us know in the comments below.