YES, 'Nursing' Really Covers It Best.
Quote:
Originally Posted by meemee  woah so much talk about our 'human pacifier' experience and i didnt know.
nettieferg i welcome your questions (if you are still reading - darn if you aint) coz you had the courage to stand up and ask why. why didnt i stop it once the nutritious aspect died.
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Yep
-- Still here. And I THANK you for your response . . . I really had been honestly wondering.
It is strange that you chose to answer me tonight, because TONIGHT I actually figured out the answer myself, and was thinking of *you* . . .
DD just learned to crawl yesterday. This evening, she tried to crawl up a step, but ended up hitting her head instead. She was hysterical . . . there was nothing I could do to calm her. I rocked her. I patted her. I stroked her. I 'shhhhushd' her. I EVEN did all these things -- all at ONCE.
Still, she cried and cried. What could I do? I had tried *everything* . . .
Out of sheer desperation, I unclipped my bra. She latched on immediately.
Magically, she quieted to a soft whimper. Her eyes closed. Her rapid hiccuping breathing slowed. The tears stopped. Her reddened face faded back to peachy cream. Her stiff body relaxed into mine. Her tight little fists uncurled, to softly hold 'her' breast . . .
I sat there for a bit, feeling stupid and shocked . . . weren't breasts *just for feeding*?
Maybe feeding is the primary purpose served by the breast, but, clearly, it is NOT the only purpose. It truly was an enlightening moment. (Being tired, those moments are a little sparse
)
My daughter's preferred comfort was not to be found in any of mommy's well-intentioned techniques ---- for her, it was only to be found in the wonder-drug, also commonly referred to as "mommy's breast".
So obvious. So simple. So natural.
I LOVE it . . . and totally get what you mean (now
).
I DO want to thank you for taking the time to explain it to a 'newbie'; however, I hope you won't take offense when I say that . . . my daughter really explained it BEST.
-Jeanette
PS. For some of the posters who may have judged me harshly:
Breasts=Feeding is what I was told in the hospital, a few hours after giving birth. I asked if it was okay to let DD hang out LONGER than a '15-20 minute' feeding, but the ped. laughed and said that this made me a 'human-pacifier' and that I did not need to subject myself to that type of behavior . . . babies are 'greedy with your time, if you let them get away with it' . . . At my 1 week ped. visit, my ped. was horrified that DD was up every 2 hours at night to feed, and that I MUST have DH give her a bottle, because this was ridiculous, and I was going to get sick . . . she also let me know that 'some moms just don't produce enough milk, so their babies end up perpetually hungry'.
For the record, having allowed un-knowledgeable peds. to destroy my previous attempts at BF my children, I had prepared THIS time by reading Dr. Sears. Thus, I never EVER cut DD short (unless it was absolutely necessary) . . . I also NEVER gave her those nighttime bottles . . . and I NEVER got sick either . . . DD, now 7 m/o, sleeps 10 hours each night, with only 1 nursing in-between - so much for my 'milk shortage' (no CIW, DD just loves her sleep, and is nice and fat
) . . . and, YES, I changed peds.
But, until now, I still thought that the breasts were 'just for feeding' (that's all people discuss), thus my previous confusion.
I am not even sure that comfort-nursing is as widely accepted as food-nursing. Although, after my experience tonight, I'm kinda feeling like it's just as important . . .
:
for comfort and so much more.
