Namastè!
Note: This is a post extolling my lighter reasons to breastfeed. While the title is tongue-in-cheek, there's nothing selfish about this endeavor. I would say I hope it doesn't trigger anyone, but the title is pretty clear that it's about to be a breastfeeding praise-athon; proceed in awareness, is all I'm sayin'...
While my little baby Tiger Lily sleeps, I'm up a-pumpin'! In 3 years I have yet to miss more than 2 feedings--I pump when they sleep or are otherwise too indisposed to latch. It's been this way since 2016. While I'm not always excited to plug in or latch a kid, I'm always firm in my resolve to give them my best...
...I'm one who steadfastly believes that fed is required but BREAST IS BEST. Science agrees.
All that said, ten reasons come to mind every time someone asks why I choose this very demanding route. (Breast is best but it ain't easy by a long shot.)
1. After researching pregnancy, childbirth, and everything in between, I didn't want to research food too. Breastmilk is my baby's perfect food--it's nutritionally, developmentally, and even immunologically specific to her little tummy. All day, every day. Every latch, every meal.
2. I never had to do the guesswork of affording a suitable formula. Formula is EXPENSIVE, breastmilk is free. My wallet, brain, and patience are,have been, and will remain safe from that harrowing section of Publix, thank you kindly.
3. I'm not shy about feeding my babies anywhere they get hungry. Because we didn't need to haul bottles, my diaper bag ALWAYS stayed pretty light--and cute. Never needed much fiction so I could focus on form. (Hi, Coach bag!) I actually used a little backseat organizer thing, *chuckle*
4. Breastmilk heals practically anything a baby can come down with, from baby acne to eczema to teething. We do many milk baths, milk tinctures, and milk popsicles to soothe the itchy-ouchy uncomfortable bits of childhood.
Note: Consult your pediatrician. We did!
5. The convenience. Period. If I'm in the mall and she needs a feed, BOOM. If I'm in the park and she wants a quick snack, BOOM. I always have everything I need on hand, in perfect quantity, to satisfy that tiny tummy.
6. The versatility! Exclamation point. I've yet to encounter a situation where nursing didn't immediately comfort my baby. While it doesn't exactly kill pain, breastfeeding decidedly calms them down. It soothes them when they're out of sorts. It hydrates them. It (obviously) eliminates their hunger pangs. Because of this, I literally don't need gripe water, teething meds, or any of the diaper bag fluff--only when nursing and the accompanying cuddles don't work, do I need to look into other remedies. A fresh diaper and nursing take care of it 9 times of 10.
7. It's their perfect food. It literally adjusts itself to suit whatever my baby needs. When it's hot and summery, my milk ups its water content to ensure her hydration. Should she be coming down with a cold, the bioexchange created (in the vacuum between her saliva and my breast during feeding) signals my body to send her an immunity boost: I literally make milk for her filled with antibodies to fight whatever she's developing. She's never had problems feeding, gassiness, or reflux issues. Nor did her brother. Touching back on they immunity thing? The babies have never had a major illness. My aunt gave my son strep when he was about ten months old, and within a few days it was cleared without any ill effect--strep usually takes at least a week and has aftereffects. Tiger Lily has never been sick at all.
8. I sleep more. From birth on up, those nighttime feedings are exponentially easier and quicker when you don't have to fix/wash/sterilize bottles. My babies have nursed without even fully waking. Even if it takes us live to get to the "sleep all night" age, we still get our winks.
9. It was a perfect reason to cosleep. With Tiger Lily, my postpartum anxiety was through the roof. I couldn't shake the feeling that something would happen to her, so I kept her so very close. Because I didn't really care to explain how anxiety works or how it made me feel, I just used breastfeeding as my reason to cosleep. After all, she had to be closeby to get her milk, and people always assume breastfeeding is super hard so no one really bugged me much beyond that.
10. It's freeeeeeee! That means all the money I saved on bottles and formula, could be spent (or saved!!!) for other fun things. My babies generally have big birthdays, for one. We celebrate many festivals throughout the year. We travel, a lot. More practically tho? Our grocery budget, while obviously increasing when the babies got on solids, didn't take that multi-hundred dollar hit each month for formula. We didn't have to adjust our finances much.
Note: While there are lots of pumps and gadgets (and I've got many), a mom doesn't need to spend money to breastfeed. We only need a baby and a breast. ♡
All in all, I chose to breastfeed because I knew it'd be easy. (Minor speedbumps aside.) Even with an adjusting period, I knew this would work for me and most importantly, my baby. Any adjustment was worth knowing they would get the best possible nourishment--and those other benefits weren't too shabby either.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat!