Whatever is Your Choice, It’s the Best – Be Stress-free and Enjoy It!
Long post alert !!!!!!!
Just pouring out my thoughts:
I have seen many breastfeeding groups on facebook saying that giving formula is considered as a crime. Let me walk you all through my journey.
My baby’s birth weight was 3.65 kgs. I had a C-section and baby was fed formula for the first 3 days. Then there was a latching issue. I tried and tried. Everyone around me said I have to do it, otherwise, the milk will stop coming. I got severe nipple cracks, cried every time I fed, and still, I tried and tried. Baby used to cry all the time, the whole night; after feeding too, baby was not satisfied. Then I used to give formula. My breast would leak but somehow my baby was not getting enough.
Weight gain was not as per paediatrician’s recommendations. He asked me to give formula after every feed. It was very cumbersome… but still, I tried. Everywhere giving formula was treated as a crime… It made me question my motherhood. People used to say, when the baby cries mother, leaks (was not happening with me). I cried silently.
I reduced formula to once a day. So much stress on breastfeeding everywhere… So many nuskha…!
We had a ceremony on the 10th day in which I had to express some breast milk and throw it in a well to maintain my supply. I tried and tried. I couldn’t get a drop of milk. I cried the whole night. And I leaked.
Fast forward to a few weeks – after 1 month, pain developed in my breast. Severe pain; after every feed, I used to cry. Doctors said they are clogged ducts – milk is left, express it out! I was not getting, my baby was not getting enough. He was hungry. If there was milk, why was my baby hungry?
I met a paediatrician, she told me, “Try and latch your baby as much as you can. Give him formula if you feel he is still hungry. Don’t stress yourself over this. Formula is not bad and is not a crime. It is the closest thing to breast milk. DON’T KEEP YOUR BABY HUNGRY. Offer breast milk and if it’s not enough, give formula.”
Mothers know best when a child is hungry. Sense it and do accordingly. There is no thumb rule for this. No doctor, no lactation consultant, and no other mom can teach you how to read your kid.
That day everything got solved on its own. I breastfeed the whole day. I give formula once every day, whenever I feel he needs more. We are happy and stress-free. So mommies – SENSE IT AND ENJOY IT!
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