I have shared a few times my breastfeeding story. It was a disaster and blessing all in one. There was a point that my baby girl failed to gain weight for several weeks. After a visit to her doctor office, seeing a Nurse Practitioner that I had never seen before, I was discouraged and in tears. She told me that I needed to supplement with formula and made me feel as though I was starving my poor baby girl. She made me feel like a failure and I literally left the office in tears.
I did call and make an appointment with the pediatrician and vowed never to see the NP again. I told the doctor the same and, to this day, I will not see the NP at the office. I am sure she is a fine nurse but she is definitely not educated about breastfeeding. Even though we are not breastfeeding anymore, my opinion of her is not positive and I choose to stay away from her.
Our pediatrician told me to pump and supplement with a bottle of breastmilk each night. She was entirely behind me breastfeeding my baby girl as long as we wanted to. She just wanted to see Joley gain weight but felt I could do it with breastfeeding. We did that for a few months and Joley started gaining weight again. We didn’t have to supplement anymore and we continued to breastfeed until Joley was nearly 16 months old when she decided she was finished. Self-weaning was hard on me but easy on her. I am glad it happened the way it did.
Joley had a doctor’s appointment last week for a well-baby visit. My “too small” baby is now completely on the growth charts. No longer below the chart or on the first percentile, Joley is now on the 23rd percentile. She is growing well and has been for quite some time. Breastfeeding was successful in making her grow for 16 months. She was well on her way of soaring up the growth charts simply because we didn’t give up. Despite the setbacks and negative information received, we continued on our breastfeeding journey and my baby grew.
My point is this… if you are breastfeeding, and want to continue, keep at it. There are ways to help your baby gain weight without formula. It wasn’t always easy but it was worth it. Pumping daily was worth it. Feeding my baby a bottle wasn’t fun, but it was worth it. Now, she is happy and healthy and we shared an amazing 16 months of breastfeeding and bonding. For the record, I am not at all against formula. I formula-fed Johnny and he is a healthy little boy. I am also aware that there are mothers that can’t breastfeed for various reasons. But, I don’t want any mom who is trying to breastfeed to be discouraged. I am offering you hope that you can succeed…. just like me and my baby girl.
(she is making a kiss-y face)
Heather says
I forgot to add that I nursed both my girls until 16 months also, and my 18 month old is still going strong. I am ready to wean, but he isn’t. I’m doing the don’t offer/don’t refuse method, and if I don’t offer, he asks. LOL
Heather says
Excellent post! I didn’t have any problems breast feeding my first but I didn’t know what a nursing strike was so I panicked and put him on formula. Now I know better. After I had him, I had a breast reduction, then had 3 more kids. I was so worried about breast feeding but we made it. I had to work really hard at getting enough milk out for them in the beginning. I did have to supplement with formula for the first month with all 3 until I got my milk supply built up, but I did tons of research, pumped, used herbs specifically for breastfeeding, breastfeeding tea, anything that was safe that would work.
My heart hurts for those who are sad because they didn’t produce enough milk so they stopped breast feeding. No one told them there are lots of things that you can do to try to help that. I had major surgery on mine (went from a 56 G to a 36 B) and I am proof that your breasts will reconstruct themselves so they can do what they were meant to do, even if the baby just gets a little and you can’t produce enough for all their nutritional needs, a little is better than none.
Wrote a book. Sorry! LOL
Lona W says
Great post!! I breastfed all three of my children and I love seeing encouraging words like these.
Debby Pucci says
That is great information. I wish I had tried harder with my children. They both pulled away after three months. I think it was more my fault because I was too embarrased to breastfeed in public/friends/etc. Of course the bottle is easier for them but I know they did get a good start.
Michelle says
Spread the word mama! A lot of mothers really need to hear this. I had an awful time breastfeeding and now, after everything I have read, I wish I did not give up. We are not planning to have anymore kids, but if it happens, I will battle through and stick with it, especially now that I know I can find support from other mothers.