So before I had my daughter and people asked me if I was going to breastfeed I naturally said yes, because it's only beneficial and mostly because I couldn't see a reason why not to.
I didn't know what I was getting myself into.
First there's the milk coming in. The way it's stated it sounds like the milk knocks on your door and then it comes in for a nice cup of coffee. The way it actually feels is that the milk knocks on your door, you open and realize the milk is huge and won't fit in the living room let alone the door but it's too late and it forces it's way in anyways.
Then you have to keep your milk supply up by nursing regularly. Except your baby maybe has other ideas, ideas you agree with like sleeping through the night.
Yes, in the beginning my daughter slept through the night but I had to wake her up to nurse, otherwise I was at risk of not producing enough milk or losing it all together.
Ever wake up a sleeping baby? When you put a baby to sleep you're the hero. When you wake up a sleeping baby, you're the asshole.
Then there's the actual act of nursing. The recommended rhythm at first is to nurse every 2 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night and to nurse each breast for 10 minutes. The clock starts at the beginng of each session so theoretically you have 1 hour and 40 minutes free time in between.
Theoretically. What actually happens is usually this (for me at least).
8:00: Start
8:10: Finally get baby properly positioned and latched. Commence sucking.
8:15: Baby falls asleep. Stroke baby's check to wake her up as to not remove latch.
8:20: Doesn't work so remove latch and play with baby to wake her up
8:25: Finally get baby properly positioned and latched. Commence sucking.
8:30: Time to change breast only baby has fallen asleep again. Change diaper to wake baby up.
8:40: Baby poos in between diaper change so much that she's swimming in it. Have to change everything
8:55: Finally get baby properly positioned and latched on other breast. Commence sucking.
9:00: Baby uncomfortable. Starts to cry. Comfort baby.
9:05: Try a different position but unable to latch properly. Baby gets fustrated. Cries. Hysterical.
9:00: Give up.
Of course it's not always like that but I would say if you have an hour and fifteen minutes between feedings you're lucky.
And that is your life. Your 24 hour days cut up into rhythm slices of 2 hours. I remember whenever I had finished one feeding, in my head the clock would start ticking in which I had to get something done before the next feeding, like in an episiode of 24. Tick, tock Tick, tock Tick, tock...
And that's actually when feeding your baby beastmilk is easy. Enter going back to work.
See, when you think about it feeding a baby breastmilk is simple. Milk goes from breast to baby via the nipple to the mouth. Of course this means mother and baby need to be in the same place at the same time.
When this isn't the case things get complicated. Very complicated.
First you have to extract the milk from the breast by a means other than the baby's mouth. A breast pump.
To simulate a baby's sucking, you have a machine with a motor, tubes, suctions, valves, and containers.
Once the milk is extracted you have to keep it cold or frozen up until the moment the baby drinks the milk.
So in order to give breastmilk to your baby at a distance instead of 3 things (breast, nipple, baby's mouth) you now need at least 15:
Breast pump + accessories, milk containers, cooler bags, ice, refrigerator/freezer, milk freezer bags, baby bottles + accessories.
AND you have to clean everything all the time because milk and bacteria go together like peanut butter and jelly.
If I have one recommendation for a mother who wants to continue breastfeeding when she goes back to work I would say this. BUY THE SAME BRAND FOR EVERYTHING. If you're going to use a medela breast pump buy medela baby bottles and nipples because the cute discrete bag to keep the milk cold when you're carrying it around is designed only for one type of bottle shape. Don't be like me, who's baby is already used to avent nipples so it's avent bottles it is except my pump is medela with it's own bottles to extract the milk so in order to be able to carry around all types of bottles need to feed her baby she has to use a cooler bag filled ice making her look like a paramedic transferring organs.
Most French women go straight to formula.
I don't blame them one bit.
I didn't know what I was getting myself into.
First there's the milk coming in. The way it's stated it sounds like the milk knocks on your door and then it comes in for a nice cup of coffee. The way it actually feels is that the milk knocks on your door, you open and realize the milk is huge and won't fit in the living room let alone the door but it's too late and it forces it's way in anyways.
Then you have to keep your milk supply up by nursing regularly. Except your baby maybe has other ideas, ideas you agree with like sleeping through the night.
Yes, in the beginning my daughter slept through the night but I had to wake her up to nurse, otherwise I was at risk of not producing enough milk or losing it all together.
Ever wake up a sleeping baby? When you put a baby to sleep you're the hero. When you wake up a sleeping baby, you're the asshole.
Then there's the actual act of nursing. The recommended rhythm at first is to nurse every 2 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night and to nurse each breast for 10 minutes. The clock starts at the beginng of each session so theoretically you have 1 hour and 40 minutes free time in between.
Theoretically. What actually happens is usually this (for me at least).
8:00: Start
8:10: Finally get baby properly positioned and latched. Commence sucking.
8:15: Baby falls asleep. Stroke baby's check to wake her up as to not remove latch.
8:20: Doesn't work so remove latch and play with baby to wake her up
8:25: Finally get baby properly positioned and latched. Commence sucking.
8:30: Time to change breast only baby has fallen asleep again. Change diaper to wake baby up.
8:40: Baby poos in between diaper change so much that she's swimming in it. Have to change everything
8:55: Finally get baby properly positioned and latched on other breast. Commence sucking.
9:00: Baby uncomfortable. Starts to cry. Comfort baby.
9:05: Try a different position but unable to latch properly. Baby gets fustrated. Cries. Hysterical.
9:00: Give up.
Of course it's not always like that but I would say if you have an hour and fifteen minutes between feedings you're lucky.
And that is your life. Your 24 hour days cut up into rhythm slices of 2 hours. I remember whenever I had finished one feeding, in my head the clock would start ticking in which I had to get something done before the next feeding, like in an episiode of 24. Tick, tock Tick, tock Tick, tock...
And that's actually when feeding your baby beastmilk is easy. Enter going back to work.
See, when you think about it feeding a baby breastmilk is simple. Milk goes from breast to baby via the nipple to the mouth. Of course this means mother and baby need to be in the same place at the same time.
When this isn't the case things get complicated. Very complicated.
First you have to extract the milk from the breast by a means other than the baby's mouth. A breast pump.
To simulate a baby's sucking, you have a machine with a motor, tubes, suctions, valves, and containers.
Once the milk is extracted you have to keep it cold or frozen up until the moment the baby drinks the milk.
So in order to give breastmilk to your baby at a distance instead of 3 things (breast, nipple, baby's mouth) you now need at least 15:
Breast pump + accessories, milk containers, cooler bags, ice, refrigerator/freezer, milk freezer bags, baby bottles + accessories.
AND you have to clean everything all the time because milk and bacteria go together like peanut butter and jelly.
If I have one recommendation for a mother who wants to continue breastfeeding when she goes back to work I would say this. BUY THE SAME BRAND FOR EVERYTHING. If you're going to use a medela breast pump buy medela baby bottles and nipples because the cute discrete bag to keep the milk cold when you're carrying it around is designed only for one type of bottle shape. Don't be like me, who's baby is already used to avent nipples so it's avent bottles it is except my pump is medela with it's own bottles to extract the milk so in order to be able to carry around all types of bottles need to feed her baby she has to use a cooler bag filled ice making her look like a paramedic transferring organs.
Most French women go straight to formula.
I don't blame them one bit.
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