Article: Convenience to blame for poor breastfeeding rates

[Starfish]

Hoobley - I too am not too 'virtous' with my breasfeeding. I drink coffee and eat chocolate daily and have the occassional beer. DD is exclusively breastfed has been thriving so far and no one has ever commented negatively on what I'm doing...

I find it hard to believe that anyone would think ff is more convenient. I admit that in those first few weeks, when DD and I were learning to bf and I was being woken every two hours I thought of ff and sharing the load with DF, but when I thought about it further I realised that it would be a lot more hassle, i.e. mixing the formula right, sterilising bottles, etc.

While I am aware that society in general still does not make it easy for bf mothers, e.g. I work part time and am able to express in my office anytime I want/need, but even then I feel a bit uncomfortable (I am perservering ) and that some women cannot physically bf, I don't think that anyone would choose to ff simply for their own supposed convenience.

[BellyBelly]

This is being discussed on a midwifery list I am on, and a midwife & LC has posted saying that she actually works in an area where many women FF to compliment their lifestyle, so they can do all the things that the woman mentions... so I guess depends where you are in the world?!

I remember when I was doing the breastfeeding clinic in hospital, the LC there told me that she worked all over Melbourne as a MCHN, and she really enjoyed working in the outer suburbs where mothers were really giving it a go contributing in Mother's Groups etc - compared to when she was working in the inner suburbs - and she actually mentioned Camberwell - that they would even get nannies brining babies to mothers groups. So I guess we are all different and are exposed to different walks of life....

[Janie]

I guess i felt if anything it was that the article was trying to inflame all sides without actually saying anything.

Bx

I totally agree Bec! I think she was trying to be pro-BF, but didn't really manage to pass on that message well.

[paradise lost]

LOL, that illustrates my point Caro - people reading this might now think that to bond properly and make a success of BFing one cannot go out of the house for SIX WEEKS after the birth. By then i was running, swimming, out and about with and without baby all over town! I think i made it to 10days PP before i HAD to get out and have some fresh air and me, XP and DD went for a walk in the local park (using the wrap). She slept through it tucked against mummy's boobs and i felt much better afterwards. If someone had told me that in order to BF successfully i'd have to stay in the house for 6 weeks i'd either have FF from the start or set out to prove them wrong!

Bx

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I was out and about within 3 weeks, I needed it! But then, my mother decided to visit and I wanted to get away from her, that could be part of it LOL. But staying in for 6 weeks isn't needed and staying indoors can contribute to PND, or so the studies say. My "out and about" was just to coffee mornings where I could breastfeed though.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I galavanted around! I had DS's Godmother stay with us when he was a month old and we did go to town for the day and out for a long walk, but then again I didn't bond until DS was a lot older. DS was fully breastfed that at that point too!

[Liz]

I didnt' like the article. Felt quite inflammatory for both sides.

As for b/f being a chore - I can't honestly say it's ever felt like a chore. I continued the no caffeine & no alcohol rule.. seeing as I'd had that rule in place for so long from when we decided to TTC - I was used to it!.. and of course now being pg again... and I'll probably keep it now until I finish making babies and feeding them! (wowee will I be a cheap drunk!!) But I've never craved either, so it hasn't been a problem at all. As for the rest of my diet - nothing else has changed at all (except when pg of course). I didn't even up my intake of water - now THAT to me would be a chore! LOL.

The most inconvenient thing I've found - is not being able to take medications! LOL. I really miss nurofen. heh. Fortunately I haven't been that sick since being pg with DS, so haven't suffered tooooo badly.. but no cold & flu meds, everything had to be fixed with panadol just about! heh.

Going out - yep I galavanted early in the piece! I would go nuts if I stayed home for 6 weeks! I think it's important to be completely available to your bub for those first 6+ weeks to establish breastfeeding - but hey - boobs are on tap - they can be used anywhere, any time! hehe.

I agree with you Ryn about the me-first thing. Me-first just doesn't fit into the role of being a mum does it? Don't we always get the burnt toast?

[paradise lost]

Lol at the burnt toast - very anti-feminist! Though i always thought whoever burnt it should eat the burnt toast and i have DP make it when he's around

I just had a shock at the GP's when she asked if i was still teetotal (which i was when i joined the practice well over a year ago as DD was still small) and i was like "No, i drink all the time now!" She asked how much and when i said "about 2 units a week" she said i must be a cheap date and we had a good laugh

I never took medication before PG anyway so that didn't worry me, but i'd probably have just take it if i was desperate. Maybe my mother acting like a martyr is what colours my views?

Bx

[Liz]

hehe - i made myself sound like a real druggo didn't I! I'm not one for meds myself really.. but I do like to take something when I have a cold so I can breathe at night! Even most cough mixtures are off limits I think.

[paradise lost]

Aye a big druggo alright - getting loaded on nurofen and having pain-free crime sprees LMAO!

[Liz]

Too right! you mean there are harder drugs than those??

[paradise lost]

My glucosamine supplements are quite hard...i tend to just swallow them whole. I have crime sprees where running is painless because of my healthy cartilage

Bx

[Matryoshka]

OR the COLD Toast heh heh

and yes girls that is what I meant in a round about way...For those that Cant feed in public they need to stay home, for those that have issues feeding they need to stay home - do bed ins and so on but if you have a good bf supply established and no issues then yeah to go out periodically is a good thing

Yep i couldn't feed in public, in fact i've never even bf in front of any family members, i STILL leave the room. In fact in the first few months i rarely left the house, my DS fed so often that by the time i'd fed him and changed his clothes and nappy (reflux), i would put the bag in the car and he'd want another feed. Many days i cried out of frustration as i just wanted to make it further than the carport. I didn't often have ebm so going out just wasn't an option. It was amazingly inconvenient and pretty upsetting at times, but i just copped it on the chin, gave him the boob and my heart would melt as i'd see him vigorously suckling on me and gazing in to my eyes. Thoughts of hitting the shops faded away and i knew those moments wouldn't last forever so i savoured them rather than resenting them.

[paradise lost]

Oh my goodness Ourlux, i COULD NOT have done it! I was shy in my head but i guess i told myself that if i was going to tell friends BFing was good and normal i had to act that, and also i kind of secretly like the idea of being the BFing pioneer in restaurants etc.

I forced myself to feed when DD was hungry no matter who was there and didn't warn people or apologise. I got a few off comments (mainly XP's friend apologising as if he'd caught me touching myself and a few hair-and-make-up-type female friends being a bit don't-know-where-to-look the first few times) but lots of lovely ones and one of XP's mates sat next to me for a whole feed watching, fascinated (which actually was very lovely) and afterwards thanked me for "showing him what bonding looks like" - he holds me in sort of awe now! LOL. I couldn't have coped BFing if i'd had to do what you did, not out of resentment but out of PND. Seriously without being able to get out, see friends, exercise etc. i would have been SO ill.

I do wonder though if part of it is that there are all these women who say "But if you FF then DH can help" but my XP WOULDN'T help. Even during the day he was useless in the beginning. FFing would have ultimately meant MORE work for me. I had to assure DP that when we have babies even if he doesn't get to do the night feeds (which he insists he'd like to share in) he is more than welcome to get up, change the nappy, bring the bubs to me for feeding and wind him/her afterwards! It was all of that which i found hard. I remember one night. She was about 8 days old. XP was refusing to even wake up properly (despite promising he'd do the nappies that night as i had visual disturbances from sleep deprivation) and was shouting sleepily at me to feed her so she'd be quiet. I was changing her nappy, cold milk dripping onto my feet as it sprayed in answer to her cries, and then she pooped explosively all up the front of my t-shirt. I was covered. She was covered. XP got up and took himself and his pillow into the spare room and left me, coated in poo, to deal with it myself. What difference would a bottle make to THAT!?

Bx

[Lucy]

Oh Bec, I shouldn't giggle, but the poo encrusted dripped upon Mummy image has given me a reminiscent laugh this morning.......

I just realised the other reason I hung out and BF'd....night feeds.....I think Sarah_H posted it about it a few days ago....the sheer ease of feeding half asleep in the middle of the night.....

And the BF'ing in public thing......I got the hang of it with Olivia thank goodness, so by the time Charlie and Lexie came along.......I Bf'd Charlie in public on a bush walk at the top of Black Hill when he was just about 10 days old in the middle of a freezing July.....it was actually a bit of a natural high, LOL! The view, the very fresh air, my new baby boy.......good to be alive type of feeling IYKWIM?

And Lexie...we did so much gallivanting with her, we were in the pub with family (4 adults and 5 under 5...eek, must be mad, LOL!) when she was a week old. My BIL put his arm round me as I fed her over my schnitzel and chips and said "Look at you both, Both enjoying a nice bit of tucker.........." LOL!

Ladies, this discussion has been good, thanks for sharing..........

[Phteven]

OMG at 6 weeks. Each to thier own but I couldn't last 6 days. After Yasin was born we went out for coffee and shoppping when he was 4 days old. It took me a bit longer with Imran because he was a c-section but I remember nearly giving a woman at a restaurant a heart attack when she asked how old he was and I said 9 days lol.
I just made public breast-feeding work for me - I've become very good at hiding babies under wraps and scarfs and I have a BF poncho that works a treat with a little viewing window for eye contact.

[Liz]

I forced myself to feed when DD was hungry no matter who was there and didn't warn people or apologise.

I still ask if people mind if I feed where I am.. or I go and sit on the lounge facing the other way if there's blokes around. No one has said they mind (even if they probably do!) and I figure it wouldn't really help our cause to make people uncomfortable hehe. I certainly never apologised tho, that's for sure!

[Phteven]

I still ask if people mind if I feed where I am.. or I go and sit on the lounge facing the other way if there's blokes around. No one has said they mind (even if they probably do!) and I figure it wouldn't really help our cause to make people uncomfortable hehe. I certainly never apologised tho, that's for sure!

Yep, I'm the same. No-one ever really wins support by forcing people into situations where they're not comfortable.
I've never minded going off on my own to a differant room to feed. I'm not the world's most sociable person so sometimes I quite enjoy having an excuse to get a little bit of quiet time. TBH sometimes at my in-laws I just pretend that I need to feed Imran so that I can sneak off for a while lol.