Breastfeeding Has anyone ever wondered if women had as many problems with it back in the old days as women do now? I…

Just read this great article.

https://www.unicef.org.uk/babyfriendly/breastfeeding-the-dangerous-obsession-with-the-infant-feeding-interval/

@pp if heard that too but his latch never charged, the pain just eventually stopped. I did successfully feed for 18 months out of one breast so the pain worked out.

^^ I meant in my post for ME it only hurts for the first week. But I do believe if it's hurting too much your nursing wrong!

Sistabigbones, I might do something similar to what your friend was doing IF I can get him into the daycare on my base in time. I have to make sure he takes a bottle though, because I know even in that case there will be times I can't make it. And I think it's good to have at least a small supply built up in case of emergencies. I have a friend who just spent her first night away from her baby because she had to go to the hospital. You just never know.

Yes pumping counts just the same.. but I know for a lot of women it just gets overwhelming whether you are exclusively breastfeeding, exclusively pumping or both..

I have a friend that would wake up and breastfeed her baby first thing then get ready for work and breastfeed the baby right before she dropped him at daycare, she had a twenty minute break before lunch and she would go nurse him during her break then again at lunch then again after lunch on her second break and of course once she picked him up from work and all evening.

Mind you I live in a small town so clear across town takes 5 minutes lol

But she was super dedicated and she tried pumping but baby wouldn't take a bottle. So she committed to do the best she could and that's all we can do.

As moms we got to figure out what works best for our baby, ourselves and our families and what works for one mom doesn't work for the next and that is completely ok. It doesn't make you a faliure if your doing the best you can!!

Do I think breast is best? Definitely!! Would I knock another mom for not breastfeeding their child because they can't or they don't want to? Absolutely not!!

Breastfeeding works best for my family and it's free lol I pray that I'm able to breastfeed this baby as I have my others but because my health situation has changed who knows what that means for baby and I. But I sure am going to try , try and try some more and that's all I can Do!

Oh and I too wish breastfeeding only hurt for the first week.... i think there would be a lot more breastfeeding moms..

A lot of women have a really hard time breastfeeding. I literally have no milk coming in and by the time my goes to the the first doctor's appointment which is like at 4 days old my baby has lost too much weight, had really dry lips, and one or two wet diapers a day. So not only starving but also dehydrated. I try everything and still end up having to supplement. It breaks my heart looking at my lethargic child and knowing it's because of me. So yes I just give up and give in to formula. Because by the time I even began to get enough milk I have to return to work. The way American society is set up doesn't support breastfeeding. I pray this time I can breastfeed but if not I just have to suck it up for my baby's sake.

God I wish it was only the first week that was hard

I know if I have any kind of issues I'm going to ask for help from a lactation consultant or even my doula. I call and ask my OB questions all the time when I have them, I'm definitely not scared or ashamed to ask for help.

For only the first week is hard. I'm not going to lie to you... omg omg when your milk comes in it's AWFUL your boobs are rock hard and hurt and you can't relive it too much because if you do your telling your body to make that much all the time which means your boobs will always be huge & hurt.

But once you get pass the two days after your milk comes in you should be fine!

Also some info for you, nursing should really hurt if your nipples hurt that bad your probably nursing incorrect. You always want to make sure your baby opens mouth wide open & they are around your areola and not just the nipple.

Im due in a few weeks and im pretty much only commenting on this so that I can come back and read all of these comments when im losing my mind and feel like quitting lol. Thanks ladies.

Lakishat, oh yeah going back to work definitely has something to do with early breastfeeding cessation as well. I am fortunate enough to get 12 weeks of paid leave (active duty military). But even leaving him after that will be rough! I wish I could be around 24/7 to feed him.

Sistabigbones, I think open and honest dialogue like that is important so new mothers know that it is not going to be easy but it will get easier. And as far as being committed to being around all the time, unfortunately I can't do that :(. But he will get breast milk either way since I will be pumping when I go back to work.

My hubbys grandma did not produce any milk at all so her kids were all given condensed milk from day 1, she said they didnt have formula back then. Ive seen breast pumps from the renaissance. I think women used to have more community support, my mom breastfed me and i make plenty but i couldn't get my lo to latch and the lac con stressed me out so i pumped. But my mom and i aren't close enough so i never asked her for help and she never offered. In older cultures when one mom couldnt bf yet because milk was slow to come or couldn't get baby to latch other moms would step in to help nurse or even cup feed expressed milk to a newborn.

No matter how many kids I've breastfed I always forget how horribly painful the first 2 months are.

I will without fail get engorged in the first 5 days and question why I'm doing "this". But once I get past the pain and get my nightly routine down it is so much easier for me than bottlefeeding.

Breastfeeding is tough even for seasoned mommas but if you can stick with it, it is worth it.

I think another part that I struggled with is when baby was having a growth spurt and did cluster feedings.

I mean I would finish feeding put baby down to sleep and right away baby would wake and act like he was starving.. I questioned if I was making enough milk, I questioned if I had him latched right, I questioned my willingness to go on and just when I thought I couldn't take it or if I should supplement he would be back to his regular schedule.

Breastfeeding takes a lot out of you and it seems like your constantly feeding. You really have to be committed to being around all the time if your going to ebf.

But for me the benefits out weigh the pain.

I personally don't think alot of them did. For one, a lot of women were able to stay home with their children instead of only have 6-8 weeks. I know for me I'm excited about my baby but it's also depressing to think I'll only have 6 weeks with my baby before returning back to work. Plus I think a lot of the different hormones/chemicals in our foods today might affect our milk production. Back in the day, women had access to more natural foods. I know my family is from Alabama so everybody basically had chickens, cows, and gardens to eat instead of going to the store for food.

It's definitely not more "gross" than all the other things that come along with pregnancy like hemorrhoids, snot coming out of your vagina (mucus plug), peeing on yourself when you sneeze or laugh too hard, water breaking, a baby coming out of your vagina, followed by the placenta, or having to be cut open for a C-section, etc. Which all used to gross me out and scare me but it's all natural. Part of the cycle of life.

My grandmother barely nursed my mom, and didn't even bother with my uncles just because she didn't like it. I think the main reason was she wanted the housekeeper to feed the babies so she could go play golf.

My SIL never nursed because "it's gross"... like really. What other mammal on the planet would be like "oh, no I don't feel like feeding my baby because it's icky". It's absolutely absurd.

Oh and ThreePlus1, you are not incompetent! The fact that you even try is major. I hope you were able to reach out and get the help you need. And I think in the end if you need to supplement or switch to formula, that's better than losing your sanity and being depressed.

The first 6 wks were absolutely hell for my nipples. I cried so much

Well when I was doing the research in my class, the common reasons for early breastfeeding cessation are the pain, the lack of knowledge, lack of support, and postpartum depression. And this is pretty much all around the world, not just America. I think things are looking up though. It seems almost all women WANT to breastfeed so at least that's good.

Your question piqued my curiosity... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_and_culture_of_breastfeeding

Pretty fascinating! I did not even think about the "low class/commoner" connotation it received, nor how it related to infant mortality rates for women who couldn't afford a wet nurse.

Makes a lot of sense though. I grew to love breastfeeding but it was definitely a financial choice in the beginning.

...Oh derp! I just noticed the link you posted... off to read that now too!

And Newlyironman, my mother didn't breastfeed me because she said her nipples hurt too bad lol. I'm like really mom? But I don't blame her, I know it was very common to formula feed then. So glad there is so much more knowledge and support out there these days.

"Most importantly, according to Guillemeau, the wet nurse should not have auburn hair because redheads were known to have a hot temperament that was harmful to their breastmilk " I thought this was hilarious

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684040/

A very interesting read I found on the history.

I think the biggest problems now are that people are lazy, people think powdered crap is food, and our country doesn't take care of women postpartum.

I'm the first woman in 3 generations to ebf. My great grandma, grandma, and mom/ aunts were all convinced they couldn't bf

I wonder this as well because after my 4th child I have such a hard time breastfeeding and it often leaves me feeling incompetent and depressed.

Nope I don't think they had any problems. But Back in the day they didn't have "another" option. I think there's a lot of outside reason, yes for a very few few women milk doesn't produce. (Which is very rare because we literally were made for it) but it also is the thought for some women that you can't over drink, your still limited on thing, like leaving your baby etc. I normally don't leave our baby for the first year so it doesn't brother me & I'll still drink I just time it right I'll nurse and then have a drink at night.