World Breastfeeding Week (1-7th Aug 2018) 4/7

·August 4, 2018

I never thought I would be that bothered, I always said throughout my first pregnancy that I would try to breastfeed but if it didn’t happen I would happily bottle feed. However after birth when the tiny bundle of Ffion was in my arms I absolutely had to feed her! Bottle feeding was no longer an option and my instinct was that it was me that was going to give here everything she needed. The first few days I remember being so so painful but I continued though the macerated nipples and dreading every feed which felt like every hour. Day 3 and my daughter had lost over 10% body weight, and I still didn’t have much milk, I remember the midwife sitting with me asking what I wanted to do and me telling her whatever it takes as I absolutely have to feed her. I was told that they didn’t think I would be able to continue due to the very low suppy. There began the first battle and the all consuming routine of feeding , pumping , topping up. It felt never ending.

I just remembered crying with every top up bottle that wasn’t my milk. But I remember thinking i would prove everyone wrong .. red rag to a bull and all that. I was lucky to have a very supportive breast feeding team , support workers , infant feeding specialist and most of all my Mum. She was the one that said if you want to do this you absolutely can do it. I ended up on domperidone to increase my supply and got down to one top up feed per day. I made some fantastic friends along my journey, my friend were feeding too so we would feed together and gradually gained confidence to feed anywhere. I fed my daughter for 18 months and let her self wean when it was right for her. I have many friends that couldn’t understand why I would do it as it was so difficult and consuming so much time but I knew it was the best thing for me and my daughter.

Fast forward 2 years and Ffion has a little sister called Jenny. So the feeding story starts again, second time round armed with everything I learnt first time round I was hoping for an easier ride. This time I produced too much milk and struggled with latch and had issues with my daughters high palate and the pain she causes when feeding has been excruciating at times. Asked again why I do it ... I want both my girls to have the same, there was no question I would try everything to feed my child. So 18 weeks in , second time round things are improving and she is exclusively breastfed and I am so very incredibly proud of our journeys that why I’m happy to share with everyone

‘It’s easy they say’ ‘ it’s natural they say’ my advice to any new Mum is that breastfeeding can be one of the hardest things in the world but stick with it , get through the first few weeks of your journey , if it’s not for you the well done for getting through the hard bit but never ever give up anything on a bad day!

It’s the hardest most rewarding thing I have ever done and love the time spent feeding my girls 😀 - Phillipa

I started off really rocky. Nobody I knew breastfed. I wasn't a breastfed child and my partners two older children weren't breastfed, so we were dead set to have our little one breastfed. I didn't have much help in the beginning. Health visitors and midwifes weren't helpful at all and wanted us to introduce a bottle and formula. I didn't want that. They didn't factor in things to do with weight loss in the early days( complications during birth) So I ate all those oats. I read all those books and became a part of a massive breastfeeding group on Facebook and it saved our journey. My mum and partner were massive cheerleaders for me so that helped a lot. I didn't fear feeding in public as I became a part of an (army) to try to normalise it but as the months go on and my daughter is past the acceptable age 🙄 im getting a little more nervous feeding outside our home. I am still feeding today at 26 months and wouldn't change a thing 🌷- Robyn

We will be celebrating 2 yrs on 22nd July of breastfeeding an allergy baby, Connie was diagnosed with cows milk protein allergy and a Soya allergy at 4 weeks old, we picked up on this really fast as her brother also has cows milk protein allergy and her symptoms were similar. Soya also gave her reflux so she would vomit full feeds up and would then be hungry so it felt like I was feeding continuously.

I had to cut all dairy and soya out of my diet and within 6-8 weeks we saw a great improvement. Connie will not (even now) take a bottle or milk in a cup so relies on me for her milk but as a mother you do what you feel is best for your child and for me that meant cutting out dairy and soya out of my diet and sacrificing a social life!

They're only little for such a short period of time and the benefits outweigh the negatives and struggles! I have always said I would continue to feed her until she self weaned.- Stacey