Breastfeeding - Beyond the first month...

Guest Blog by Andmybaby as part of the 'Keep Britain Breastfeeding' Scavenger Hunt

'When I started out breastfeeding, it felt like I'd never make it past the first hour, not to mind the first whole MONTH! But after a few initial struggles, I found breastfeeding like riding a bike...a few worries, a few falls, many doubts...however after setting myself a ten day goal, which passed unnoticed, I was indeed on my way to the month mark! In fact, hitting the 4 week mark, or even more especially, the 6 week mark, I was really getting into my stride.

So beyond the first month...I had no worries, no struggles, well yes...there was a little sleep deprivation (I hadn't come across co-sleeping yet!)...Little M had established his own rhythm and I had grown to know his little signs, his needs. My confidence feeding out n' about was growing, in fact I was darn proud of my mama-skills and fed him at playgroups, in cafés, everywhere. I was a little nervous around some people but learned to work around it. My breastfeeding goal had been 6 months, maybe 4...(at the time I thought the WHO recommended up to 6 months).

By 4 months, he was still my little baby...I was still in my stride, enjoying the mama and baby scene, by 6 months...give up? Give up breastfeeding? After all the work it took to get going? No way was I stopping now! I also knew by now that the WHO recommends far longer than just 6 months, that's just til solids are introduced...silly me! But to keep going til 2, well that seemed a long time. So I continued nurturing my little babe, in the way I knew how, I knew his every breath, his every joy...and I loved it. I didn't know how long I'd nurse him for but it didn't seem to matter, it was one day at a time, one week at a time and it was all good.

Before I knew it, I was in a cake accessories shop buying birthday props for my wee man's very first birthday. We had a huge, ginormous, gigantic celebration! We went over the top, nothing expensive, just way too many people and lots of food and happiness. We were damn proud of making it to this stage! I remember thinking about his age and weaning but everything inside me said no, keeping feeding your baby, it's working so well. I didn't want him to have weaning added as a birthday 'blessing' either!

And so we continued on until he turned 2...now I might add, there have been plenty of times when I've felt that I should stop and that he should be weaned by now. Usually followed by visits to places/people where breastfeeding even a small baby isn't the norm. But each time I feel like this, I reflect on me...well and him of course, my little nursling. In my bubble, ignoring any societal pressure where it's not seen as the norm, for us, it works wonderfully! Since learning to co-sleep (safely), night parenting became a pleasure...my husband and I grew to love the little snuggle-monster hogging our bed-space. It's just how we roll. It's how I parent my boy...toddler tantrums are nowhere to be seen...and I mean that - his navigation and coming to terms with this big bad world is buffered by his attachment to me. And my baby comes to me for cuddles. I go on instinct and it is working super well for us 2 and a 1/2 years on.

Of course it's hard to live in reality and keep thinking you're sane to be feeding an enormous 2 and a 1/2 year old...there have been times where I've felt quite an oddball. Take hen parties for example...no I can't stay out til 4am in a hotel 200 miles away from my 2 and 1/2 year old. I've made compromises though and taken my hubby with me to stay in the neighbouring hotel. There's always an alternative if you want it badly enough. Weddings are another minefield, where it's often assumed parents would (and should) relish 'a night away' from their kids. This is where support systems come in...I was lucky in that I didn't need (too) much support apart from latching help back in the newborn days...but once this boy turned one, boy did I need it! I went along to my local La Leche League meeting & never looked back. Twice a month, I went to coffee mornings and had my 'cup refilled'. Here, my way of parenting was not only seen as normal, they had a whole load of evidence to back up all these 'instinctual feelings' I'd had had since Little M's birth. It was like coming home. I might add here too that I'm insanely lucky to have a very pro-breastfeeding husband. (Well how else are we going to create the ultimate sports machine?!!)

I learned all sorts of things about babies' biological norms...one La Leche leader, who has since become a close friend...applauded my son not sleeping through the night! Hurray she said, he is doing exactly what he should be doing, what a clever baby! He's protecting himself against SIDS and making sure he gets the best quality milk, which comes at night-time.

I realize how things could have been different and with a rocky start and a difficult birth, I might not have succeeded in breastfeeding even as far as the first week, not to mind the first month. I am utterly grateful to a nurse in hospital who gave me her undivided attention, apparently this is rare. I think she saw somebody who really, really wanted to breastfeed? I often wonder what I would have done without her... My parenting is wholly based on breastfeeding, it covers all bases and eases a lot of worry for me, I'm not sure how I'd have fared without it. When I think of all the upsets it has fixed, the sicknesses it has soothed, the travel disturbances eased, the uneaten vegetables it has more than made up for...it has been my rock.

So breastfeeding beyond the first month...what would I say about it? What's left to say? I guess for me, breastfeeding started out as 'feeding from my breast', learning a skill...over the months it developed into something more...it became us, it became parenting, it became comfort, sustenance, mothering, it sort of gets to the point (I think around the 6 month mark) where you forget about breastfeeding, it's just what you do.'

Áine is a stay at home mother of one (and one on the way) and a former primary teacher. She lives in Dublin with her husband. Áine started her blog andmybaby.ie in 2011 to reach out to any Irish mothers who felt isolated in their choice to breastfeed as the rates are very low. Her interests include politics, women's health, especially maternal health and birth services, child development and media. She adores being outdoors with her son and friends and set up an outdoor playgroup in Dublin, Free-Range Kids. 

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Remember - there is one more Ardo Amaryll breast pump for grabs during this final week! Enter below:

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Now visit some of the other great blogs taking part in the 'Keep Britain Breastfeeding' Scavenger Hunt!

Diary of a First Child

My Mummy's Pennies

Edspire

Breast 4 Babies

My Thoughts on Things