How informed about BF were you... - Page 2

[LunaMom]

I was very well-informed, both from the book "The NUrsing Mother's Companion," which I read compulsively all throughout my pregnancy, and from a breastfeeding cousin with whom I am very close. I can't imagine how people get through it if they are not well-equipped with knowledge and support. It's not even that it was so difficult; rather, it was just so darn unfamiliar, and I had never really been around breastfeeding mothers and babies (the cousin lived out of town, so all support was by telephone!).

[DaryLLL]

I just always wanted to bf. My mom bfed me and my sister in the mid-1950's for 3 mos each, I know how lucky we were! (Of course, she smoked a pack a day and drank too, while doing so!)

My dh is the oldest of 5 and all of his siblings had a few kids before we had our first, and almost all of them were bfed.

My co-worker, Judy, quit working to have her first child. We kept in close touch and she was still nursing her 14 mo when I finally had my first child. She finally got me to a LLL mtg when my dd was 3 mos. Things were going fine, but I had questions and loved the mtgs. She also gave me a subscription to Mothering as a baby gift!

But I still had a lot to learn about the normal course of lactation and co-sleeping. I did better with each child.

(Oh, BTW, in the OP, it was stated colostrum is "thin." It is not. It is thick and yellow. Mature human milk can look thin as compared to cow's milk, and it is supposed to. It has less calcium and other things needed for bone growth, more things needed for brain growth.)

[ohiomama]

I was very well informed- there are nine kids in my family and six of them are younger than me and I saw them all breastfed until about 18mo. All of my mom's friends breatfed as well.

I had such a different experience then most of you with hospital births. I did however have a nurse midwife and wrote on my birth plan that I intended to breastfed. But everyone was very helpful and encouraging. Never offered a bottle or a binky.

Not to say though that everything was problem free. The first night home from the hospital my ds nursed for 4 hrs. straight and I was going to die. I called my mom first thing in the morning and begged her to go out and buy me a binky. She did, I used it and had no problem with nipple confusion.

I had thrush really, really bad for a few months off and on. Terrible, terrible thrush. I would cry everytime my ds woke up because I knew he would want to nurse and it hurt so bad. But I kept going and he nursed until 17mo. and I will nurse any subsequent kids.

[Sustainer]

Re: How informed about BF were you...

Originally posted by delighted.mama
I think I could write a short essay on some of the wrong advice I got.

I'd like to encourage you to get a free web page and do just that. Here's a list of sites where you can get a free web page (it's really not hard) --

http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Ec.../Free_Hosting/

Here's my own "breastfeeding manifesto" --

http://devrock.5u.com/custom.html

Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can.

Inform the next generation!

[~Megan~]

Not at all! I didn't even go to the class the night they talked about bf 'cause I already decided that's what I was going to do.
Once she was born though I was so determined to do it. I guess I did know a little, I made sure that she was never given a bottle while at the hospital.
I just went with my instincts and it turned out great. Of course I have an awesome LC to turn to when we were having some latch problems to begin with.
Our ped gives all moms an appointment with the LC at 1 week pp.

[mama_kass]

I read everything that I could find. Besides that I had lots and lots of support, and determination to do it.

[sevenkids]

I had no clue. When I had my first at 16, the midwife handed me my minutes old baby and said cheerily, "Feeding time! She's hungry!" and walked out of the room.
Ummmm, What am I supposed to do NOW!?
I sat staring at her for a full ten minutes before I figured it out.

Surprisingly, (or luckily!) I had no problems with nursing her. NO sore nipples, no tenderness, no fussy baby, it was a breeze. I nursed her for two years without any problems.
It wasn't until much, much later that I read the books. But I had pretty much figured it out myself by that time.

[Meiri]

I hadn't particularly thought about it much until I was pg with DS, but...Mom had nursed some of us, it was treated as sweetly funny when an infant relative tried to latch on when I was 14 or so and holding him(Mom took him to his mom for feeding), I'd babysat for a family whose 2 or 3 year old was "still" nursing, I'd had to bottlefeed a baby we were watching during a visit home and Mom and I had talked a bit(She told me she'd figured that's what they were there for. Her mom had not breastfed any of them.)

So, even though I hadn't really thought much about it, breastfeeding was quietly there as a normal part of the background. Once I was pg, I did some reading and that sealed my decision--too many benefits for both me and baby and the only "cons" in the book were bullshit IMO.