All three of my kids were barracudas, which is an actual classification for a breastfed infant. Just like it sounds, barracudas are aggressive eaters which translates into pain for the mom. Toe-curling, swear-inducing pain. It passed eventually, but the first two weeks were awful. I would dread the moment when my sweet babies would wake up and demand to have another crack at my pain-ridden decolletage.
I was also a huge spaz. For some reason, I could not get the knack of just letting my baby latch without some sort of guidance from me. I was not one of those moms who could just pop the baby under her shirt and let him root around and figure it out. I needed to be able to see what was going on at all times which was nearly impossible to do unless I didn't have a shirt on. The need to be semi-unclothed limited my feeding locations. So at family gatherings, I would have to take myself off to some room by myself while everyone else sat around and enjoyed each other's company. Or I would have to be home by feeding time because feeding in a restaurant or store wasn't possible. Like I said, huge spaz.
And while a bottle has some inconveniences, like needing to be heated, having to remember to pack one just in case, and the ridiculous cost of formula, it has still been fabulous. Before it was all up to me. Now I can hand her off to whoever is closest and they can feed her. I can be out of her presence for more than four hours at a time and I don't have to worry about pumping when I come back. There is no pain involved, no worry about what will happen when that first tooth comes in.
I'm glad I didn't know about all of this with my first child because it would have made going back to breastfeeding super difficult. I would have done it, no doubt, but I would have been daydreaming about powder in a can the whole time.
photo by fragglerawker_03 http://www.flickr.com/photos/fragglerawker/2527508557/
I was a spaz too- and needed privacy for the same reasons as you. Oh, the early weeks of nursing. Way to hang in there!
ReplyDeleteAnother benefit from the bottle is that you know exactly how much your baby is drinking. I always worried my babies were not getting enough from me.