Breastfeeding : everithing you need to know

Here you are a young mother, your baby plunging his big eyes into yours for the first time, and the tears that bead on your cheeks are the reflection of this overflowing of emotions that burns your heart. Here you are, mother, and you hold in your arms your flesh, your blood, what you hold dearest in the world.

You hold the life

If you had the chance to give birth vaginally, your little piece is placed on your body, and like a small animal it will immediately rush towards this breast which is offered to it.

If you had a caesarean, the time to patch up your injured body, little baby will certainly have been entrusted to dad, who will be thrilled to hold everything against his body, this mini him, for a skin-to-skin that will remain an event forever. engraved in his memory

It is therefore only after an hour, if everything has gone well, that your baby is brought to you to be nursed.

Colostrum, a veritable gold mine of food, will fill this little throat to satiety, and here you are happy, moved, soothed to see that everything is going well, ready to live a whole new adventure with this little mini you.

Then there you are in your room, still on your cloud, and so filled with happiness, that you do not expect what will happen in the days to come.

The day after this waking dream, the medical team arrives in your room, and the moment of the weighing of your infant falls on you like a cannonball.

This little angel has lost weight...

This is normal, you are told, since you are breastfeeding. You will have to wait a bit for the milk to come in.

the baby suckles, but the weight continues to drop. Still no milk flow.

And there, you are confronted with the ignorance, perhaps I would allow myself to speak of incompetence, of the nurses, which accompanies you at every moment: "he has lost weight again"

So you, already under the influence of your hormonal fall, with tears in your eyes, you question your ability to breastfeed your baby

This stresses you, of course, you the mother full of good will who want the best for your offspring, start to doubt yourself, your faculties to be a good mother. You expect a little compassion, from the medical team, a minimum of benevolence. But no. We keep telling you that baby is losing weight, we advise you to switch to a bottle. Then doubt sets in. And if that was the solution.

Fortunately, not all maternities respond to the same pattern, and some have a very positive relationship with breastfeeding, with support worthy of the name. But sadly, that's not the majority, and many of us super moms may feel disillusioned with so much hostility and eventually give up breastfeeding only to be relieved that baby is gaining weight.

You have to face the facts, you are not prepared for all this, and the medical world clearly lacks training on the subject.

So no, ladies, you are not bad mothers because your babies are losing weight. This is perfectly normal

Lactation can take several days to set in, so rest, de-stress, enjoy this newfound happiness, and you'll be fine.

and in a few days, what must happen irremediably will happen:

baby gained weight!!!!

Your milky adventure begins. Beautiful adventure, live these magical moments intensely

How to promote milk flow

The best way to promote the flow of milk is to put the breast soon after childbirth. If everything went well for you and your loulou, put him to the breast as soon as possible. Nature is well made, so put baby on your belly, and you will see, eyes full of emotions, that baby will go to your chest on his own, and take this breast ready to feed him in his mouth.

And this first skin-to-skin feeding will be all the more beneficial. Studies have shown that skin-to-skin increases the baby's ability to suckle effectively. That said, if medically it is impossible for baby to suckle immediately after birth, don't panic, nothing is lost, and everything will be fine, don't worry.

Remember that breastfeeding is absolutely painless. So if you feel pain, baby is definitely not latching on well. Do not hesitate to get help from a childcare worker or a midwife during your stay in the maternity ward.

Also take care to sit comfortably during feedings. The more comfortable you are, the better it will be. Especially since baby is a real emotional sponge. So be quiet, soothed, relaxed, and your baby will suckle in the best conditions. Your breastfeeding will be all the more effective for future milk flows.

Do you like fennel? that's good, because a good infusion of fennel will increase your milk production. Fenugreek is also a good ally, so do not hesitate to mix the two if you find that the milk flows are not productive enough.

But the most effective way to promote milk flow is breastfeeding on demand. So do not deprive your loulou, the more he suckles, the better you will manage your lactation.

No offense to certain pediatricians who will tell you that you shouldn't breastfeed too much, or that you have to respect a number of daily feedings... bullshit!

you are the mother of this tiny being, and you are in the best position to know what it needs. So don't be impressed by your doctor or pediatrician who will tell you that baby is too fat, that baby suckles too much, that he needs to suckle more, or that he suckles less...

Be attentive to baby, he knows what he needs, and will also be able to make you understand it

Long breastfeeding, and why not ?

In France, breastfeeding for more than 6 months is often considered as long breastfeeding. Unlike other countries where breastfeeding continues until natural weaning, that is to say from 2 to 7 years.

It is very rare that in our country, children are breastfed for so long, and yet many studies highlight the benefits of long breastfeeding.

France is one of the countries where children are breastfed the least and for the shortest time.

Why ? Quite simply because at home, we favor returning to work, which is rather difficult with breastfeeding. Unless you plan to express your milk and entrust the bottles of mother's milk to the nanny. But there too, it is an obstacle course.

It is difficult to bottle feed a baby who has been breastfed, so unless you have a pearl nanny, who will be patient, and use good stratagems to get baby to drink, things will quickly get tense, as well for mum who will be subjected to all the pressures (entourage, nanny, sometimes even spouse...), and for the baby himself, who will feel all these tensions around him and who will find himself in a situation of emotional stress and will therefore categorically refuse the bib.

Yes, when baby is not well, what is the solution to soothe him? Mom's breast of course!

So as you can see, nothing is done here to help our young mothers satisfy the need to best respond to their offspring.

Frustration, grief, loss of sleep, even depression will follow.

Of course, it's not me who will bring a change in our world of bullies, although... even a very small thing can sometimes make things happen. Leave me then the sweet dream that at my level I can lay a small stone on this edifice of ignorance; Because yes, it is indeed about ignorance.

Family physicians themselves are not trained in breastfeeding. How do you expect them to give you help, support and understanding, when for them the easy way is to stop breastfeeding.

Moreover, so many pitfalls can arise during breastfeeding, especially at the beginning, very often putting it in jeopardy. You need a certain strength of character to hang on and follow through on your convictions.

You are brave, and you will get there.

But what matters above all is not whether breastfeeding lasts or not, what is important is that it is satisfactory for the baby, but also for the mother, and also for the father. . Everyone must experience breastfeeding well for everything to go well

But be careful, the end of breastfeeding should not leave mom frustrated, disappointed and sad. If so, it will have been stopped too soon.

Let your body speak, let your baby speak, and above all, let you decide.

That you couldn't breastfeed baby longer will never make you a bad mother. From the moment you made the decision to stop, it means that you have reached the end of what you had to give your loulou. So blame yourself!

How to stop and make everything go well?

Explain your choice to baby, he will understand very well.

Do things slowly, reducing over several weeks, and be calm

The duration of breastfeeding is not counted in days, months, or years. The duration of breastfeeding is above all a magnificent interaction with your baby. It is not temporal, it is just a reflection of the love that exists, and however long your breastfeeding lasted, all that affection, all that love that you shared with your baby, will have brought him the foundations necessary to build yourself well, and will have given you the image of unconditional love

Never forget this:

however you fed your baby, bottle feed, short feed, long feed, whatever.

You are and always will be a good mother.

Never let anyone make you think otherwise