What a good question---I'm curious about what other moms say!
In my case, my son was born 2 months early, without much of a sucking reflex. We fed him through a syringe, and he had a feeding tube for a few days. I tried to breastfeed him in the NICU, with a tube running down my breast (to get him used to feeding at my breast without having to nurse). My son had all kinds of IV's, wires and tubes that it was so stressful trying to learn breastfeeding, while he is hooked up to machines, he was only 4.5 lb.s and the NICU is not quiet--there are constant alarms going off (I can still hear the distinct sounds, 20 months later!). My milk was not cooperating, either, as my body never really "caught up" with the idea that I needed to produce milk, and then when I did start producing, I could not produce enough to keep up with his demand. So...long story short, I saw numerous lactation consultants, had an awful schedule of every two hours, round-the-clock: breastfeed (or attempt), then bottle feed any pumped milk, then bottle feed formula, then pump. I was barely making enough to breastfeed, so the pumping was not very productive. And, as you know, the process of feeding a newborn takes a while, so my process described above took about 45 minutes. oh...the kicker...one consultant said I was not producing enough because I was not resting or eating enough (when did I have the time?!) and was stressed.
Because of all of this, I hated breastfeeding! I barely lasted 7 weeks, different consultants made me feel OK or made me feel guilty. But, when I finally made the decision to 100% formula feed, life was so much better! I will definitely give breastfeeding another chance for any future children, but this first-time was not pleasant. I have some mom friends who are successfully breastfeeding their infants and it seems so easy...they are an inspiration to me!
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What a good question---I'm curious about what other moms say!
In my case, my son was born 2 months early, without much of a sucking reflex. We fed him through a syringe, and he had a feeding tube for a few days. I tried to breastfeed him in the NICU, with a tube running down my breast (to get him used to feeding at my breast without having to nurse). My son had all kinds of IV's, wires and tubes that it was so stressful trying to learn breastfeeding, while he is hooked up to machines, he was only 4.5 lb.s and the NICU is not quiet--there are constant alarms going off (I can still hear the distinct sounds, 20 months later!). My milk was not cooperating, either, as my body never really "caught up" with the idea that I needed to produce milk, and then when I did start producing, I could not produce enough to keep up with his demand. So...long story short, I saw numerous lactation consultants, had an awful schedule of every two hours, round-the-clock: breastfeed (or attempt), then bottle feed any pumped milk, then bottle feed formula, then pump. I was barely making enough to breastfeed, so the pumping was not very productive. And, as you know, the process of feeding a newborn takes a while, so my process described above took about 45 minutes. oh...the kicker...one consultant said I was not producing enough because I was not resting or eating enough (when did I have the time?!) and was stressed.
Because of all of this, I hated breastfeeding! I barely lasted 7 weeks, different consultants made me feel OK or made me feel guilty. But, when I finally made the decision to 100% formula feed, life was so much better! I will definitely give breastfeeding another chance for any future children, but this first-time was not pleasant. I have some mom friends who are successfully breastfeeding their infants and it seems so easy...they are an inspiration to me!
How about you...how long did you breastfeed?
July 17, 2008 - 1:26pmThis Comment
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