BreastFeeding Advocate

I receive WIC for my children, I get milk, eggs, juice, and peanut butter to make sure my children get the nutrition the need. I'm not ashamed I get WIC because I feel it's important my kids have these things.

Anyway, at my last appointment, I mention to the WIC workers that I was very interested in teaching and influencing teenage mothers to breastfeed their babies. I made a website (which I need to fix a bit), and wrote many articles and poems on this subject. I showed them some of my work and they were impressed.

They asked me if I would like to come in and speak with some teen moms about my experience with both bottle feeding and breastfeeding my children, (I breastfed my first baby for 2 months then went to bottle, and breastfed my second for a full year, so I'm aware of both types of feedings.) I'm very excited and honored they asked me.

When I went to an breastfeeding class with my sister when she was pregnant I practically ran the group, the teacher was thrilled because it just so happened she lost her voice and needed assistance. I'm so happy, I hope I can influence these young mothers to give breastfeeding a chance, it is a beautiful gift you can give your child.

Bravo for you!

You ever go to LaLeche meetings?

Breastfeeding is a lot of work! Auggh! I've been breastfeeding my son for 5 months now. He's going through his 6 months growth spurt now, and I'm hurting!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I have visited a LaLeche meeting, I like it a lot. But they don't have them around here very often.

It is a lot of work, takes a lot of patience and motivation, but it's sooo worth the trouble.

When my daughter went through her spurt between 4th and 5th month, I made sure to do a bunch of different positions that way the one area (where the top of the baby's mouth is), does not get sore. It's hard to do the football position when the get that big, but laying down, sitting up, and even letting the baby sit on your lap and nurse like that helps (if you do that you'll have to hold the head back if you have a sleepy eater or his nose will be smoshed in your breast...lol).

That's awesome your nursing, you should know what I mean when I say it's a beautiful experience.

Kudos to you, Des!! Right on! You go, Girl!!

When I first saw the subject line, my first thought was LaLeche League, too! But I'll bet you could teach them a thing or three! LOL

I breastfed both of my kids. My daughter I had to cut off cold turkey at 15 months because I was going on a weekend trip. By that time she was only getting her bedtime snack anyway.

My son gave it up on his own at around the 9-month mark and went straight to a sippy cup.

The thing I found the most difficult was pumping so I could keep up my supply during the work day. I worked less than a block away from my daughter's day care, so I timed my breaks and lunch around her schedule. Luckily my boss had no problem with it. The day care would call and tell me she was hungry, I'd drop my work and head up there.

I was fortunate enough to not develop saggy breasts and stretch marks, so let your moms know that that's not necessarily going to happen to them either. Then again, I was small to begin with so I didn't have a lot of sagging that could happen anyway.

For the payoffs of it, the inconveniences can't even be compared.

Thanks Sept, I hope to leave an impact, especially since I'm a young mother and was a teen at the time I was breastfeeding my daughter. I just want to basically tell them that it's like learning to play guitar....it's hard, and your fingers get raw....but after practice and sticking with it your fingers tough up and you get better and better. That's exactly how it is.

If I can persuade one teen mother to try it, I'll feel good.

Wi Fighter--Yes, see, that's another thing I would like to mention is that even with school and work it is possible to keep nursing your baby, alot don't realize that. They give up to easily.

My breast did change after nursing, but not negatively. I think it gives them more character...plus after pregnancy and birth, the entire body changes anyway, it's apart of becoming a mother...so the breast changing during nursing shouldn't be a downfall....I agree it doesn't do much harm anyway..lol

Good for you Desirae! I think you would make an excellent teacher and maybe be good carear choice for you!

I breastfed both my kids and am very happy for it. With my son, I had a different experience. We found out (eventually) that he had severe food allergies that were coming through my breastmilk. It is uncommon , for many months they doctors tired to tell me he had colic, but my gut instinct told me something else. I did some research (before common PC's LOL) and found out some info from the Mayo Clinic from some studies that they just started. They sent me a ton of helpful information about it.
I had to go on a very strict allergy diet myself because my son was allergic to ALL formulas even the one for babies allergic to milk and soy, so I needed to breastfeed him medically. I had to visit a ped. nutricianist every 2 weeks to make sure I was getting what I needed and my baby too. Well it turns out that I had to breastfeed him until he was 2 because he needed the protein and milkfat and couldnt' get it anyway except through the breastmilk. It was hard but the only choice was to use donated breastmilk from somebody else, and that wasn't an opotion for me. LOL
And the thing about teeth, my baby had a full set by the time he was 1 1/2 years and I never got bit! lol Breastfeeding a wonderful thing to do for your baby. Good luck, keep us posted!

i wanted to breast feed both of mine but was unable to breast feed after about the third day... i had problems with one of my breasts so, unfortunately for me i was unable to. i would have love to. my sister in law breast fed my little nephew and he is very close to his mom

Another good thing to mention is they will not bite when they do get teeth and it does build a very strong bond between mother and infant.

And it helps you drop the pregnancy weight and helps your uterus shrink back to it's previous size quicker (flatter tummy faster )

I was in my pre-baby jeans less than a week after delivery.

I too got WIC when I was pregnant and until my child was 5. I saw nothing embarrassing about it either. I attempted to breast feed my child but all that happened for 4 months was he got collicy and belly aches and so on. Upon testing it turned out my child was allergic to milk including mine. For a while I felt like a failure to my child because WIC breast feeding consultants and peer breast feeding advocates were constantly pitching breast milk is best and so on, constantly trying to help me with try this and try that as if the problem was my holding him in the wrong position, first time mom jitters and so on. instead of addressing the fact that every time I fed my child afterwards he projectile vomited and cried. I was told for months that projectile vomiting just meant he had gas and when he does that just feed him more often in shorter breast feeding cycles. Boy was this WIC surprised when they got the results after my child landed in the hospital for breathing problems.

That WIC office and the one in this town now includes information about what to do when breast feeding does not help and information as to it IS possible for a baby to be allergic to mothers milk just like they can be allergic to cows and goat milk. Where before they stressed breastmilk and tried to convince the client to breast feed now they give information about the advantages to both breast feeding and formula feeding and let the client make thier choice.

Im not putting breast feeding down and if I ever have another child I do plan on starting out breast feeding. I just wanted people to be aware that in the end regardless of what breast feeding advocates say anywhere be it WIC, a doctors office, planned parenthood - Ive tried them all in trying to help my child - in the end if a parent chooses formula the baby will still thrive and grow, recieve the right nutricianla values and the baby is already got the benefits of the mothers immunity and so on because that stuff the child got while in the womb remains in the childs body for the first month or so and then the child has the doctor visits at which he recieves the required vacinations for the immunity stuff from the mom that is at those times lessening in levels.

With todays technology formula is now just as good a s breast milk. And there is nothing wrong with choosing formula over breast feeding. and a parent can bond with the child as well without breast feeding as they can with otherwise how come fathers are able to bond with their children by bottle feeding right.

Breastfeeding is great and so is bottle feeding. and which ever a person desides does not mean one is better than the other or the parent is a failure for not choosing breast feeding.

That's very true Myself. When I had my first baby I felt the immense pressure to breastfeed from WIC, then when I stopped when he was 3 months old, I felt ashamed as if I failed. Then I formula fed him, and man did he grow, and he became much happier and fulfilled.

I don't knock formula feeding at all, because I've experienced both. I agree they are very healthy and it does not me or anybody else less of a mother.

But that bond is what I'm mainly encouraging. It's something out of this world, not even describable. The bond I had with my first baby compared to my second was different because of breastfeeding. It wasn't that I had less of a bond with my first, it was something different.

I'll try to describe. Like with my son, he smelt sweet of baby lotion and formula. My daughter smelled sweet and like baby lotion. I held my son and bottle fed him, there isn't that much body connection, accept of course the eye to eye contact (which I find beautiful to of course). But with my daughter, her body was against mine, I felt her heart beat and her warmth. I felt her nurse and knew from feel when she was at her peak of hunger and at her fullest.

It small things like that that I can compare because I've done both. I don't regret going to bottle for my son because he was a 10 pounder and always hungry, he needed more, so I did what was right as a mother and gave him more. It of course depends on the child and mother.....but trying it, at least, is very very important I think, IMO.

Yes it does, it makes the boobs fuller and makes you lose weight much much quicker....actually after I stopped breastfeeding I gained some weight back and missed it soooo much!!....lol

I was fortunate to be able to breast feed my son on and off till he was about 4 months old. For whatever reason, I really battled to produce milk though and I just dried up by the 4th month.

You are doing a wonderful thing Des!!! Well done and enjoy it!