Well, hello there. First of all, I’m not breastfeeding so you can stop wondering. It’s not about me but there are things about breastfeeding that I’ve had to unlearn that I feel I should put out here since I have seen first-time mums break just trying to keep up.
You see when a woman catches the pregnants, we all go through that phase where we read blogs about exclusive breastfeeding and how it ensures baby’s immune system is strong and that it helps with bonding between the mum and the baby. First-time mums get their knowledge from blogs and the elderly women who have gone through it before. Some of the things we are told are law….or not, because somehow experiences are different and we get to find that out when we are breaking yet it can be avoided.
Dear First-Time Mums,
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is highly encouraged and I am in support of it but it’s not something you should break your back trying to achieve. The only achievement you should pat yourself on the back for everyday is managing to raise babies that need your guidance and continuously look up to you. The only achievement you should strive to see through should be doing right by your kids and loving them unconditionally. You cannot feel inadequate or less of a mum just because you tried to breastfeed exclusively and it didn’t work. What matters is a satisfied child, no? Even in history, some of our mothers never had enough milk and babies would be given very diluted cow milk. Well thank God for technology and nutritionists who tested and certified baby formula that can be a better supplement for your little one.
I can tell you for a fact that that’s how I survived with Alma and Ava. I used to worry too about the whole ‘making the immune system strong’ and I would breastfeed them till I feel like I’m fainting but these little people never used to get full so I had no choice but to keep supplementing. I had to ask my mum how she did manage since she had twins as well and she told me that she also struggled with producing milk that my sisters had to take diluted cow milk. That made me read further and I promise you, your baby will survive on this earth while taking Naan or Liptomil or any other baby formula out there.
Bonding with your child does not happen through breastfeeding alone 🤦. You can try the skin to skin type of bonding that’s highly encouraged in hospitals after birth. You grew a whole human in you and you keep raising them every single day of your life, what makes you think that bond can be broken over something you have no control over? Yes you will take njahi, dill seeds and fenugreek seeds as advised by literally every woman around you but if they don’t work, grab your formula and let baby be full please.
Motherhood should be a beautiful experience for every woman out here. One that constantly makes you feel like you are doing a good job and that you are definitely trying your best. Stop trying to make your nipples sore yet your little one is still not getting full. This self doubt of whether you’re doing enough should be discarded because you are definitely doing more than enough. To all the other mums, please be kind to women who cannot breastfeed exclusively like you. It does not make them lesser human beings.
Love always,
Mama As ❤️.
raising2 