Breastfeeding Part Two

Although, I think the benefits of breastfeeding way outweigh the negatives, there are still some things that aren't the best.  I thought I should address those, too.

Timing

This may just be my child, but he likes to eat...a lot...all the time.  Sometimes it's more often than every two hours.  Some days he will eat every hour for six hours in a row.  Luckily, because of my overactive let down, it only takes him 5-10 minutes to eat instead of 10-20, but it's still time consuming.  I often feel like I just finished feeding him, burping him, changing his diaper and it's already time to do it all over again!  I'll look at the clock just to make sure it's really been two hours and usually it has.  Plus, there's the remembering which side he's on.  I only nurse on one side at a time, for now.  So, I have to alternate sides at every feeding.  I know there are apps and bra tags and other things you can use to help you remember, but then you have to remember that.  I'm not sure how much he's eating at every feeding and maybe formula fed babies can eat more and go longer between feedings, but then you have to wash all of those bottles!

Clothing

Nursing tops are ugly.  Plus, who wants to invest in some plain colored, cross front shirt that you will NEVER wear once you stop breastfeeding?  Not me.  I still have about 10 pounds of pregnancy weight to lose.  It doesn't seem like that much; especially because I tried really hard to gain a reasonable amount of weight during my pregnancy and in the end it was about 30 pounds.  I lost 20 pounds right away, but these 10 pounds are wanting to stick around.  I really shouldn't complain too much because the most exercise I've done in the last few weeks is walking around our neighborhood.  To get to the point, I have almost NO clothes that fit me!  I have one pair of stretchy jeans I can wear - with a major muffin top - one pair of shorts and a pair of khaki capris.  Being the genius I am I thought I could buy a few new dresses, because I could wear them now and after I lost the weight.  Then I remembered, duh! How are you supposed to nurse a baby in a dress?  You can't pull the top down and you definitely can't pull the dress up.  You also have to be careful with tops.  You can't just wear a t-shirt because when you pull it up to breastfeed your entire back and side will be showing.  You really have to think about your wardrobe and how easy, or hard, it will be to breastfeed.

Pooping

Anyone who has ever breastfed a baby knows exactly what I am talking about.  Breastfed babies have a very distinctive stool.  Mustardy, seedy with a just as distinctive smell.  I could remember the smell even before I had Henry, it is something that you never forget.  Since breast milk is thin and eaten so often, babies poop a lot!  Again, because of my overactive let down Henry is a gassy baby, and with his farts he usually poops - at least a little.  So, we go through a lot of poopy diapers in this house!  

Overall, I think the health benefits, for both Mom and baby, make up for the more inconvenient parts of breastfeeding.  I'm glad it was easier this time and I hope it stays that way!



*The day after writing this post.  This happened:

I just had to share it!  Yuck!