Why I continue to breastfeed
Breastfeeding was never a calling for me like it is for some other people. It wasn’t somthing I’ve looked forward to my whole life or my whole pregnancy. However, the decision to start breastfeeding is an easy one - it’s the continuing to breastfeed that’s the hard part. When I was pregnant, I learned that it was the healthiest and cheapest way to feed your baby and that it was recommended to breastfeed for one year with the first 6 months being exclusive by the AAP. I had known several people who had small children whom they had breastfed for exactly one year, and I even knew a few people who worked outside the home and pumped. All these people were very normal, politically middle of the road, professional women - just like me. Easy enough, right? They did it - I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. No promises - no committments - I’ll give it a try.
So, Noah was born. . . and it is a miracle that I got through that first week. In the hospital, he was fine, but the minute we got home, he stopped latching on and screamed and screamed and screamed. He would suck for a few seconds and then start screaming. From all of the people I had known, I had never heard that there could be problems. On Monday, we called our pediatrician for help - and all she said was that we needed to see a lactation consultant immediately, she gave us a phone number for one, and told us that if we decided to supplement, to use a medicine dropper and not to not give him any bottles. So we called the lactation consultant (The Pump Station in Santa Monica) and got their next availalbe appointment which was in two days. The next morning, they called us and said they had a cancellation and asked if we could make it there in 45 minutes. The place was 30 to 45 minutes away, but low and behold, we made it. After observing us for 5 minutes, Wendy diagnosed that I had a slow letdown and a very impatient baby and taught us the miracle of a few drops of a 5% glucose solution on the nipple.
And then things changed. We went from screaming baby, to a baby who wanted to nurse every 45 minutes to an hour for 45 minutes to an hour at a time. Yes, you read that right. Noah was nursing 24 hours a day. There was a heat wave in Los Angeles, we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment where the only AC unit was in our bedroom, so I sat in our bedroom breastfeeding all day long. I remember days when Tom would come feed me because I couldn’t take a break. Of course after the first several days of screaming, this was sort of welcome.
For the first 10 or 12 weeks of life, Noah just nursed A LOT. I thought I was gonna go back to work when he was 6 or 8 weeks old because people told me I’d get bored at home. Well 6 or 8 weeks into it my baby just wasn’t ready for me to go back to work so I extended my maternity leave for the full FMLA time of 12 weeks. When Noah was about 4 weeks old, my pediatrican recommended that I get a pump and that if I was going to pump at work, I should get an electic double pump like a Medela Pump-In-Style. My mother-in-law happenned to be visiting during that appointment so as our baby gift she gave us the money to buy a nice pump.
When Noah was around 8 weeks old, I was worried that, once I went back to work, he would have to be supplemented since he wanted to eat so frequently. I called a LaLeche League Leader who put me totally ease - she said not to worry, this is completely normal, and that he would be a completely different baby in another 4 weeks. And boy was she right. At this time, I also started educating myself and finding support at message boards like Breastfeeding.com.
Once I went back to work and started pumping, I always seemed to have just enough for the next day. It worked out. I kept going to the message boards to find support. By about 6 months old, Noah would only take a bottle when I was away from him and absolutely wouldn’t take a bottle if I was home, especially in the middle of the night. Then around 9 or 10 months, he completely stopped taking a bottle.
When he turned a year, he was so attached to breastfeeding, I didn’t understand how people could just wean their child. I really believe that breastfeeding through his second year kept him really healthy especially since he was in full-time daycare at this point. By this time, I had done enough research to know that there are plenty of people who breastfeed past a certain point, that the predicted natural weaning age is sometime between the age of 2.5 and 7, and that breastmilk continues to be a good thing for the child beyond the age of 1. In fact, the World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding up to two years of age and beyond. When he turned two, I got pregnant with Kellan, but decided to keep going. It didn’t really bother me, and my OB said that there was absolutely no problem with continuing to breastfeed. Plus, I figured it would help with the transition with the baby. So here we are at almost 4 years and we’ve decided to call it quits. We’ve prepared Noah, and I honestly think he’ll be just fine. Me however… we’ll see.
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Go Tanel! That’s awesome that you’re still breastfeeding and that you’ve followed your heart and your child’s needs rather than others opinions. Heather nursed Chloe for 3.5 years, Ian for 2.5 years and is still nursing EvaJoy (2.5 now). It’s great that you persisted through those tough early days and that you have healthy nurser(s) now. I know so many moms who gave up nursing way too early (poor little babies).
Good luck with the weaning!