WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING AN
I’ve had far too many people questioning me why I’ve chosen to do this. From the immediate nurse straight after my delivery, family doctor & through to some of you guys who have DM me with requests for me to address your concerns about this. Let’s be clear though, whether I am breastfeeding directly from the nipple or exclusively bottle feeding breast milk.. it’s still breast milk, it’s still breastfeeding. I’m just taking a different approach to “breastfeeding”. Every time I’ve had to explain myself I felt like I was being critisized & thus not getting the support that I should be getting. Breastfeeding is hard AF, any parent particularly mums would know. So if there’s an alternative method where I can still continue to achieve the same nutritional benefit for bub, why the fork not.
I breastfed directly from the nipple for almost 9months with my first child. I enjoyed the mother-bub bonding experience & overall convenience of not having to express pump throughout the day/night, but there were just too many other inconveniences which is why I am doing things differently this time when it comes to breastfeeding my second child. I still breastfeed Luna directly from the nipple about 2-3 times daily to completely empty out either after a pump session or in the middle of the night. Other than that, she’s bottle fed.
1. CONVENIENCE WHEN OUT & ABOUT
“Which outfit can I wear out today that will be easy to breastfeed in?”. Thank goodness I no longer need to ask myself that whenever dressing myself for a day out with bub now (not that we can go anywhere now that we’re still in lockdown). I can wear whatever the fork I want lol
2. CONTROL OVER TIMING
The bonding is beautiful, but it sure is time consuming AF. By pumping, I’m able to have control over feeding times. This has allowed me to form a schedule for both bub, myself & thus get more shhh done due to more free time.
3. TRACK INTAKES
Idk about you, but it’s hard for us to keep track of how much bub is drinking whenever I breastfeed. Transferring breastmilk to bottles has made tracking intakes a whole lot easier. It helps you recognise & adopt to changes with bub as well. For instance, when they go through a growth spirt they will drink far more than usual. Another is when they are teething they will tend to drink less than usual.
4. ABILITY TO SHARE FEEDINGS
My first became incredibly attached to me & thus sharing the feeding was not optional as she was dependent on me & me only. It was exhausting. However, feedings have been quite fuss-free with my second as we’re now able to share feedings not only between Daniel & myself, but with other caregivers also including fam/friends. Just like that, the load has been lifted! It has really created more balance in childcare duties.
5. SAVE TIME / MORE TIME
Luna always tend to fall asleep or get distracted during breastfeeding which drags out the feeding time. I feel like she would often not finish & thus get hungry faster due to dissatisfaction from her previous breastfeeding session which then interferes with tracking her intakes. I use to be fine with this, but I’m a mum of two now & I ain’t got no time for that lOl Whenever I wake up to breastfeed Luna in the middle of the night (because I’m lazy to get up & out to heat up the bottle), it’s instant regret because she drinks much faster from the bottle.
6. ADDRESS SUPPLY ISSUES
If you are having some issues with your supply, get pumpin’ girl. I know it can be incredibly demotivating when you can only pump out 30ml or less, but don’t let that fool you. Keep up with the pumping sessions cause I guarantee that the supply will increase. This is real talk from personal experience. Some people choose to pump after each breastfeeding session, but I find that pumping before sessions works better for me. The pump can only do so much, your bub is the one who can completely empty out & this is important in increasing your milk supply. Of course, there are days where I get lazy to pump & I’ve noticed a great difference between my supply. It’s always lower on days where I don’t pump. You gotta do both.
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