The BF Motivational Thread!

Great idea for a thread & i have to agree, that look they give you while nursing when they look up at you, as if to say thankyou, i love you, i trust you & so much more just melts your heart. Even when I am tired & stressed & feeling lousy, that look makes everything worth it, you know?
And if that fails.... what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger, lol!

OMG what a lovely thread,I'm all emotional just reading it and just thinking about feeding my baby and him looking up at me with so much trust and love in his eyes has started my milk flowing!!!
I can totally relate to every comment made

This is so lovely.

I had a rough start to my BF journey too - prolonged engorgement, thrush and a cracked nipple that took nearly 10 weeks to heal but when it did I was so so glad I stuck with it. I feel like I have given my son a gift and that because of the time we have spent together we have a wonderful bond. It hasn't been easy at times but it is rare that something worth doing is that easy and once I got the hang of it, it was easy. I was aiming for 6 months and I have hit that and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

I have learned to trust my body which in turn has helped me to trust my instincts as a mother across the spectrum.

And, I don't have to get out of bed for night feeds and can in fact fall asleep myself feeding him.

And his poos were never smelly!! (although now he has started on solids this benefit is quickly coming to and end)

Hooray for bf baby poos!! My LO has never had a really unpleasant poo. Also because they are more liquidy the nappies soak them up very well

I also like knowing that it is very unlikely my LO will ever be constipated - and not having to sterilise or wash anything (oops just realised I already said that at the beginning of this thread - but I'll say it again anyway!)

I also love how she looks up at me mid feed, has a smile and loses the nipple and then looks all panicky as she desperately scrambles to latch back on! I also said I'd finish at 6 months and here I am at 7 months with no intention of stopping soon.

On a practical note, I also love the convenience of it. I was at a wedding last week with a baby the same age as Aisling and the amount of faffing about that was done with that baby's bottle was unbelievable. By the time the bottle was ready, Aisling was finished feeding!

Weight gain gets better.

In the first week my LO lost quite a bit then made it up quickly. Then we had a week when gain was small (4oz) but she made up for it the following week. Then we had a week where she actually lost weight - she made up for it by putting on 11oz the following week.

Bf weight gain is more fluid and unpredictable than ff. In time though, I have become much less anxious about it.

It feels great when she gets weighed and has grown! It's good to know my milk is nourishing her and helping her to thrive - it's a real boost when the going gets tough and I am finding things hard

bumping

Something else that has got better for me is... I am now way way way better at 'discreet' feeding than I was in the beginning

Bump! Cos there are a few of us in the middle of growth spurts, having broken nights sleep and generally feeling fed up lol

Something that would be easier for me at the moment is socialising (if I had anyone to socialise with - LOL!).

LO reliably goes to bed at 7pm and sleeps for at least a few hours (apart from when growth spurts strike - but even then she usually manages a stretch when she first goes down for the night)... so I could go out partying (or - GASP - maybe even go to the cinema... aah cinemas... I remember them... vaguely...) once she was in bed without having to worry... that's something I couldn't have imagined happening before she was around 3 months old.

It all changed around 3 months when she suddenly started getting tired earlier (woohoo!). Until then she didn't go down until 10pm, which was too late really for me to start thinking about going out (I was too tired by then too).

Hugs to all

Love this thread x x Have had some great support from B & B girls this week and last as been having a few problems and was on the verge of giving in. My deeply cracked nipple is now almost healed and despite the fact I woke up to discover a milk blister on the other one this morning I am staying positive and working through it.

I love BF and my LO has recently started smiling when he is ready to come off the boob and then laughing when he does! It is fab.

I love reading about all the benefits it has for us both and also the fact that the baby weight plus a stone more has already dropped off despite not really trying to lose weight!

I love my little man and am so proud to have made it this far, six months next week.

We all deserve to be proud of our achievements, it is hard work at the best of times and emotional at the worst.

xxx

Originally Posted by Lorien

I'll repost the quote I found:

"You are not a pacifier; you are a Mom. You are the sun, the moon, the earth, you are liquid love, you are warmth, you are security, you are comfort in the very deepest aspect of the meaning of comfort.... but you are not a pacifier!" -- Paula Yount

I love how he falls asleep at the breast, as if there was nothing on earth that is better, and he lays in my arms perfectly content, perfectly trusting. I feel in that instant that I am worthy of that love, because I am feeding him the most perfect nourishment I can provide. I always thought I'd BF until six months, then I thought a year -- now I will BF as long as he wants, because I will cry when it ends and I can't see that perfect sleeping face again.

that's such a lovely way of describing it! Beautiful .