I had a good excuse to formula-feed..
My baby was born early, and I didn't get to hold or feed him for 6 hours...
I had one flat and one inverted nipple, which I didn't know about in advance, and no-one offered me nipple shields...
My baby was kept isolation in the hospital nursery for observation for a hospital-induced infection, so I had to go to him to feed him...
The nurses didn't allow me to nurse my baby at night, nor did anyone tell me how to express my milk...
My baby had severe jaundice, and had to be under the bilirubin lights all the time...
Because of the jaundice, my baby was very sleepy, and had to be kept awake the whole time he was nursing. I undressed him, changed his diaper, flicked his feet, switched sides every few minutes - all in an effort to keep him awake and sucking...
Even so, my baby took so little milk that he lost weight, going down from 5 lbs. 10 oz. at birth to 4 lbs. 14 oz...
My baby took an hour to 1.5 hours to feed each time, and had to be fed every 3 hours - from the start of the last feeding...
Due to his premature birth, severe jaundice, weight loss, and hospital- induced infection, my baby ended up staying in hospital for 11 days...
My milk didn't come in till the 12-13th day...
Even once we were home, my baby still didn't wake for feedings. I had to set the alarm for every 3 hours - day and night, to remind myself to feed the baby so he wouldn't continue to lose weight...
My baby had a tiny rosebud mouth, which barely covered the end of my nipple, and so I couldn't get a proper latch till he was over 6w old...
My nipples ended up cracked and bleeding, and I cried through most of his feedings until his latch improved at about 6 weeks...
My husband was unsupportive, and wouldn't even hold the baby so I could go to the bathroom...
My baby had colic, and it was so hard to cope with his constant crying and take care of a busy 2.5y old too...
My 2.5y was ADHD and had a minimum of 10 temper tantrums a day. Every moment I sat down to nurse the baby was an opportunity for my 2.5y old to get into trouble and destroy my home...
My baby was reacting severely to foods in my diet, and to continue nursing I would have to live on a very austere diet...
As my baby grew, he needed to nurse every hour, except in the evenings when he marathon-nursed! Even during the day he would often nurse for an hour or more at a time. I had to go around with the cups of my bra down, because of constant sore nipples...
My rheumatoid arthritis flared up after my baby was born, and those hour-long nursings often left me in pain and tears. It took me months to
figure out positions for pain-free nursing...
I was very shy and embarrassed to nurse in public...
I had unresolved issues of childhood abuse...
My baby was hospitalized with bronchiolitis, and I wasn't allowed to stay with him at night. Their solution was to sedate him...
I got blood poisoning and needed bed-rest and meds...
I got a breast infection...
My husband left us when the baby was just 9m old, and I was suddenly faced with being a single parent and needing to support my family...
Then my exclusively-breast-fed baby went on a week-long nursing strike...
But I guess I was uneducated, because I never realized these were reasons to quit...
So we continued to nurse...
(The baby in the article was Michael, now 33 years old)
~*~ Catherine McDiarmid-Watt,
Owner of borntolove.com - a natural baby product website
blogger of Frugal Freebies & Pregnancy Stories
WAHM to Jason-35y, Michael-33y & Joshua-22y
