“I am a 29 year old mom of three. With my first child I only breasted for 4 months and it was not exclusive. I gave him bottles of formula often. Before I had him I knew I wanted to breastfeed but it did not turn out as I had hoped. I think a lot of the problem started in the hospital where I gave birth to him. The nurses made me feel that something was wrong because he did not want to nurse right away. They insisted that I allow them to bring in some formula to coax him into eating. By the time we left the hospital he had taken several bottles. The hospital also gave us a surprise going away gift…2 cases of single serving formula bottles and the nipples to go with them! Needless to say we ended up using them all so my son and I did not get a good nursing pattern going. When I went back to work after 4 months my milk dried up pretty quickly so he was formula fed from then on.

When I gave birth to my second child I was insistent that I would exclusively breastfeed this time and right from the get-go I told all hospital staff that the word “bottle” was not to be mentioned around me. I was going to breastfeed only! My determination paid off and my daughter nursed like a champ from the beginning. I gave myself no other alternative this time…bottles and formula did not exist. I was rewarded with a wonderful breastfeeding experience that lasted over two and a half years with 6 months of that time spent tandem nursing my daughter and her new baby brother.

My story is pretty such the same as for my third child as it was for my second. I KNEW I could do it and I am happy to say that I did exclusively breastfeed my son for as long as possible.

What specific challenges did you have?  

I was challenged by medical professionals who did not support my determination to breastfeed. Formula feeding was more convenient for them, since they did not want to devote the time to helping mom and baby develop a breastfeeding relationship.

I also met with a big challenge with my second child when she bit down on my breast very hard and it made nursing her extremely painful.

How did you overcome these challenges?  

I overcame the negative attitude of the medical professionals by being more assertive and telling them that while I respected their opinion I would NOT being paying any heed to it.

When my daughter bit me I had about 2 weeks of painful nursing ahead of me. The area became raw and sore and could not heal properly because of the continued nursing. Not nursing from that breast was just as bad because I would become painfully engorged. Often times I was in tears but I refused to give her a bottle and undo the work we had done. Thankfully after 2 weeks I was back to normal.

What were the benefits you, your baby and your family experienced because of breastfeeding?

My bond with my second and third child was night and day better then with my first child. My first child (who was bottlefed) was very fussy and sickly. He insisted on being held day and night and could not self soothe. When he was vaccinated at 11 months old his immune system was not up to par since he was not getting that liquid gold mamas milk. He ended up having a reaction to the vaccine which almost cost him life. To this day he has immune problems and he is epileptic. I truly believe that his problems could have been avoided if he had been breastfed exclusively and for at least a year.

My second and third children are the picture of health. I can barely recall a time when they were ever sick. My bond with them is also phenomenal! I used breastfeeding time with them to shower them with kisses, praise, and words of love. It was more then just feeding time, it was special mom and baby time. And in contrast to my first child, my two youngest children are very independent.

How did you get the support of your husband, family and health care provider?  

I demanded it! For me there was no other option then to breastfeed and I was going to do it for a looong time , so I told everyone who would listen that they had better respect that. I made it clear that this is one issue where no compromises would be made.

If you were to have another baby, what might you do differently?  

Nothing! I think I became kinda militant about breastfeeding but I have no regrets, especially when I see the end result.

What advice do you have for other Moms?
Get aggressive about your rights to breastfeed your baby. Will you look back on your years spent breastfeeding and wish you had spent that time doing something else? Heck no! You will treasure every minute of it.”

Tiffany Washko
http://www.NatureMoms.com/blog