I wrote before about learning to breastfeed our first three babies in Breastfeeding Stories. I have more to write since I had more babies to breastfeed. This post will breifly cover our next 4 babies and talk about breastfeeding in public.
Breastfeeding the next 4 babies…
Honestly, a lot of my breastfeeding days for babies #4-7 are a blur. I would sit down to feed them again and again, usually with a book or cross stitch project or my phone, and they would eat while I kept my mind busy. It was sweet snuggle time. And now those for babies are ages 16-10. How did that happen? My memories of those days with the different babies blend together enough now that I can’t destinguish clearly which memories go with which baby.
The toughest part of breastfeeding is the first few weeks. You know in Luke where it says the “days were accomplished” that Mary was pregnant with Jesus? I feel a lot like that with the first month or so of breastfeeding each baby. Those are days that you just have to take one day at a time, doing your best to help your baby get what they need and get your body to understand what it needs to do.
All those 4 babies had a good deep, strong latch and good suction. They all liked to take their time and snuggle with Mom.
#4 had such a cheerful nature. I remember feeling like I knew what I was doing with her and was less worried about getting it wrong. What a joy! And she was the first one I nursed for a full 12 months. 😃
#5 had a huge appetite and grew super fast! By the time he was 9 months old he was wearing size 18 month clothes! I had to make sure I used good back support and a nursing pillow for that one! When I wasn’t careful, my back hurt!
#6 was the one I nursed the longest up to that point – 18 months! She never got on a set routine like my others had. She was kind of demanding near the end, randomly sitting on my lap and wanting to breastfeed. I got tired of that and weaned her. But I was very pleased to know that I was capable of nursing that long.
Little #7 had trouble sleeping, which we eventually figured out was due to baby sleep apnea and dairy intolerance (I wrote more about that in Kids and Cow Milk?). But he was a sweet little muffin. He loved being carried in a wrap and often slept in there while I worked around the house. I weaned him at about 15 months. Looking back on those 3 babies before him, I felt like 15 months was a good age for weaning. It was past the year mark, which was my goal, but before they became aware enough to really object to being weaned.
Breastfeeding in Public
When I was learning how to nurse our first baby, I didn’t realize that I needed to just be home and without company to figure it out. As first time parents we were just excited and tried to keep doing all we’d been doing before. But I was exhausted and uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally, trying to make breastfeeding work.
I was a little smarter with the next ones, and took some time at home to get comfortable with breastfeeding that new little person, before we ventured out or invited people over. Having a good idea of what I was doing from the last babies helped, but that new little mouth still needed time to figure it out, and I needed time to figure them out before we were ready to be nursing in public. With my first baby it took me 2 months, partly due to his tied tongue. With most of the other babies it was about 2-3 weeks.
Aside from knowing what I was doing, I had to be ok with the idea of breastfeeding in public. With my first few babies I had been very diligent to find a nursing room or to cover up with a baby blanket. With the next few I was more comfortable with breastfeeding in front of people, and able to keep myelf pretty well covered without a blanket, so I rarely bothered getting it out.
Some Stories
While I was nursing our baby #4 one Sunday, I realized that I had spent about half of my church time the past few years in that mother’s lounge. I felt like I was missing church! I also knew that I was not done having or breastfeeding babies, so I made the decision to just nurse them in the meetings. It was a little uncomfortable in the beginning, but I got used to it. I always had a blankie to cover up with there.
One day my husband and I were at the zoo with our little ones, and the baby needed to be fed. I sat down on a bench to feed him or her. Soon a woman walked past and noticed I was breastfeeding. She said she was part of some organization that promotes breastfeeding, so she gave me lots of praise. That felt nice! 😊
Another time at church I was in the lobby during the meeting breastfeeding one of our babies. A woman from our congregation gave me a hard time for breastfeeding and called me a cow. 😒 We were in church, for goodness sake! I couldn’t tell her off! I just said, “That’s not a very nice way to put it.” She said she didn’t want to be stuck at home so she wouldn’t nurse her babies. I was very annoyed, and thought that if she had any idea what the benefits of breastfeeding are for moms and their babies, and how much easier it is than preparing and washing bottles, she would have a different opinion.
Yet another time at church (yes, I spend a lot of time at church), I was sitting in the lobby after the meeting breastfeeding one of our babies, and a man from our congregation came to say hello. At one point during our conversation he seemed to realize that I was breastfeeding, and even though he didn’t say anything, he kept trying to look away and soon ended our conversation. His body language made it obvious that he was uncomfortable. So after nursing many times without a cover, I decided I’d better make more effort to cover up for the comfort of the people around me.
A Nursing Cover
For a nursing cover I used a baby blanket the most. Later I used a cover my mother-in-law sewed for me. That one was nice because it was designed in a way that I could peek down at my baby. With my last few I also used a baby wrap sometimes. The baby wrap was great for when I’d be walking around. I breastfed some our babies in wraps quite comfortably walking around the hardware store with my husband. 🤣
There are a lot more choices for nursing covers now than there were 21 years ago when we had our first baby. Check some out on Amazon. Or maybe find a pattern like this and sew one.
Whatever your breastfeeding choices, I hope that you will give yourself time to figure it out so you can nurse your baby with confidence, knowing that you are doing what’s best for you and your baby.
Thanks for reading my post! I hope you’re enjoying your adventure!
