Supporting new and expecting moms

[JamieCatheryn]

I just talked to a young woman I've known a long time who is expecting her first child and said she wanted to breastfeed but wasn't sure. I told her the first 4 weeks are the most challenging because you and baby are learning, I'd suggest commit to making it through those 4 weeks and see from there, of course that a year or more is great if she can. She agreed to make a firm goal of at least 4 weeks and I'm just thrilled. How have you had the chance to promote bf on a one-on-one basis?

[IsaFrench]

yes i did "promote" one-to-one but more in the region of 7 months (or more ...) and that first person who breasfed for 7 months got very surprised comments from day-care about how long she was breasfeeding since she had resumed work by the time her baby was 2 months old ... then she mentionned she knew me & then the day care people went "ah ... ok, ... that explains it ..." => the day care people in my town have learned so much in the last 13 years .... I had the in-house psychologist (in another day care location) called on me (for presumed psychological problems in the mom ... since i was still breastfeeding at 18 months, surely I had some problems that "they" decided they needed to solve ....) ... but now, apparently, some local day care accept breastmilk in a bottle .....

now that I no longer breastfeed myself, it's a bit harder not to look/feel too ... militant about it

what I sometimes mention about it, is that my own motivation was "at least 4 months" since shortly before my first child's birth, there was a law passed in my country that obliged industrials selling powdered milk to write on their tins that breastmilk is best for the first 4 months ... & and then, that by then, bymonth 5, I saw no urgency to wean, considering that it was much easier, less fiddly and much cheaper than buying a milk substitute ... (= the lazy option !)

& that's when i looked for the LLL group that had appeared in my town & saw a 2 years old still breasfeeding, something i had never seen ...." and the mom looked very normal" so that gave me ideas ....

& that it is sad that some health care professional told me "you MUST give soup in a bottle" & "you will have problems when weaning" = some of the reasons I decided to educate myself with LLL litterature since that had seemed strange advice ...

i since have known of 2 other moms who breastfed for more than 1 year (when I think i sort of influenced their choice to some extent) & to whom I passed on the womenly art of breasfeeding book, & i passed it on to another mom, but not sure how long she breasfed, we are not so close ...
 

[Skippy918]

My cousing is expecting her first baby and she's unsure about whether she wants to breastfeed. How do I encourage her to try without being pushy? I told her its challenging at first, but gets easier with time. She's afraid that it's going to be uncomfortable. Any tips?

[IsaFrench]

it depends on her actual lifestyle ... which aspect of breasfeeding would blend more with her personnality ?

- if she's frugal or poor, the fact that it's cheap/free

- if she's lazy, the fact that it's far less time consuming than fiddling with washing and preparing bottle

- if she's germ freak, the fact that it's more natural (all those chemical products to wash bottles ? that doesn't appeal to me at all ...) and that nature intended things to be easy, just wash yoruself once a day, no need to use soap on the nipples or the breast even, AND that's totally good enough (you are not going to sterilise your nipples, you are not intended to do so ....)

- thow in a few studies relating to the fact that kids being breasfeed for a certain time are less likely to be obese later on in life

- what about not wasting all the material necessary to make tins of powdered milk ?

- it's instant bonding

- good for the positionment of the jaws and the alignment of teeth later on in life

- cannot be forcefed like a bottle SO probably good for learning not to over eat

- etc ....

-
 

[transylvania_mom]

Originally Posted by Skippy918 

My cousing is expecting her first baby and she's unsure about whether she wants to breastfeed. How do I encourage her to try without being pushy? I told her its challenging at first, but gets easier with time. She's afraid that it's going to be uncomfortable. Any tips?

I would tell her she'll feel uncomfortable anyways, either (1) breastfeeding or (2) preparing bottles and dealing with stinky diapers and leaky boobs until her milk dries up. So why not give it a try? She can always go to bottles if she wants, but she gets only one chance at breastfeeding.