"While I was pregnant with my first child, I knew I would breastfeed. It was just something that you did, it was what my Mom did and though my sister in law had formula fed one of my nephews, I knew there was no question that I would breastfeed. I actually don’t recall talking to my husband about it – and if we did, I’m sure the conversation went something like well of course we will be nursing, end of conversation. There was no convincing him it was the best idea, thank goodness!

I really enjoyed breastfeeding my children. Both of my kids were loud eaters so I could be talking to friends or family on the phone, and if I was nursing, they could hear that. They liked it – a way to hear the baby when the baby couldn’t talk to them.

Neither one of my kids wanted to be covered up and with my oldest (my daughter) I was quite modest. My husband and I would plan our schedule around her eating. We would start out at home, feeding her until she was full, then promptly leave the apartment when she fell asleep. It was a short five minute drive to town where we ran our errands, and she was a new baby thus she slept a long time. Once she woke up, we would leave (regardless of where we were or what we were doing) and go home to feed her, change her, etc.

That lasted about three months. A very long time and I admit that I look back and laugh. My husband is in the military and he had to leave when our daughter was a few months old – I quickly got used to feeding her in public. Still being quite modest, I managed to do it without flashing people (something us new moms are concerned with).

With my son, I was out and about with him when he was about a week old. My husband was gone again (and unfortunately missed the birth) and I had to get a few things at the store. Right when we got to the store, my son started fussing and was hungry. Luckily for me, there was a deli next door so I grabbed sandwiches for my daughter and I and fed my son while we ate. I am still quite modest, but feeding in public just wasn’t the same as when my daughter was a baby. After those first three months with her, I got over having to feed her at home – I would have never left the house!"

What specific challenges did you have?

When my daughter was a baby, I got a breast infection. My MIL was visiting and she and I didn’t know each other all that well, but she played with the baby and watched her while she slept, while I slept for what felt like hours. That day my husband was at work and had to stay overnight. When my MIL woke me up because she thought the baby was hungry, I had a fever and in general felt bad (I had been feeling bad all day, and knew something was wrong and had looked in a health handbook I have). I decided to go to the ER and called my husband to let him know. I was scared – I didn’t know what exactly was wrong and I didn’t know my MIL that well. I wanted my own mom! But my MIL went with me and kept an eye on the baby while I went to see the dr. The Doctor was impressed that I knew something was wrong, that I figured it was a breast infection from my own research – and that I was still nursing!

When I told my mom (earlier that day or the day before) what was wrong, she asked if I would have to quit nursing. I said I didn’t think so. And when I talked to my Grandma, she flat out said “quit nursing” – but I didn’t listen.

From what I remember (this was 4+ years ago), the Doctor said it was okay to keep nursing and she gave me some medicine. I took medicine while I was there and felt a lot better within about a half hour. Once I got the other meds, we went home. My husband was concerned and relieved when I called him to say it was nothing too serious.

When my son was born, he had to eat all the time. I was in the hospital nursing him on one side for 20 minutes, he and I would sleep for 15 minutes, then he would wake up and want to nurse again! He was a big baby – 2 lbs bigger then my daughter – and I figured he was just very hungry. When I got out of the hospital, I realized that I had sore nipples because he was not latching on correctly. It hurt so bad! This never happened with my daughter and I got tears in my eyes from the thought of nursing him and in the seconds leading up to nursing him. I knew how to nurse so I’m not sure what happened that time around!

Within a few days, I was better. I worked on unlatching and relatching him if he wasn’t on there right, and he was so hungry he still nursed very often. His nursing often combined with my making sure he was latched on correctly fixed the problem in a few days. It was a painful few days – but I didn’t want to give up because I really wanted to breastfeed him. Once my milk came in, he stayed full longer, so the nursing wasn’t quite so frequent.

What were the benefits you experienced with breastfeeding?

I think the best monetary benefit is that it was free!! I never supplemented with formula though I did give each of my children sugar water at one time or another (something my Grandma told me would calm their stomachs if I didn’t have any baby gas remedies at home).

As for personally, I felt like my children and I were part of something no one else was a part of. I remember my daughter nursing and me holding her hand, she would look at me and start laughing, which of course meant she wasn’t latched on anymore and milk was running down her cheeks. I told her stories and sang to her so this happened quite often. I also know that I got so much more sleep by nursing! It was very easy to roll over and grab the baby out of the bassinet and nurse and both of us fall back to sleep.

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

With my husband, it was a given that I would nurse and he was very supportive. He was still very bonded with our children; we never worried about him not being. He changed diapers, held them as often as possible, took naps with them, and even played video games with them. We have pictures of the kids on his lap leaning over to drool on or bite the controller.

My family was also very supportive. Like I said, it was just a given that I would nurse – if I had formula fed, I’m sure I would have gotten a lot of feedback. LOL My Grandma was happy that I was nursing; she said she didn’t understand why so many people wanted to just buy formula and not think about it.

When I had my daughter, my Mom was visiting. The nurse had not showed me how to breastfeed, and I assumed it would just click with me when it came time – but my Mom stood next to me and latched the baby on. It took that one time of having my Mom show me, and that was it.  The two health care providers I saw were extremely glad, and very proud of me, that I was nursing. Other then the cost of formula, they often talked about the health benefits of it.

If you were to have another baby, what might you do differently? 
I would make sure I knew how to get them to latch on correctly! Getting the right latch made a world of difference to me and is so important.

What advice do you have for the Moms reading?

If you want to breastfeed, don’t let others negatively influence you. Find information, ask other moms, ask your dr, nurse, etc. Hopefully your husband is supportive as well – but if he isn’t just point out how much money you will save by not formula feeding. If the information you find online, in the library, etc., doesn’t click with you – go searching some more!

I think finding a supportive group like the La Leche League can be very good too. Just find someone who is there around you – friend, family, etc, - who can give you support when you need it. Find someone where it is okay to call them anytime you have a question. Sometimes breastfeeding is hard for moms, but stick with it because the results are so worth it.

Tsoniki