Wednesday, August 17, 2011

How I recruited my top breastfeeding buddies

"Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (August). For this month, we join the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action in it's "Talk to Me!" theme where participants will share personal experiences, insights or recommendations in communicating breastfeeding intentions and goals to their support system. Please scroll down to the end of this post and check out the other carnival participants."

I really believe a mom can’t successfully breastfeed without the support of the people around her.  In my case there are three crucial people that I need to be on my side.  Here are some tidbits on how I got my husband, mom and yaya to be pro-breastfeeding.  For those who know me well, the journey wasn’t easy because I took a lot for me to assert myself.  It is paying off, though J Happy Reading!


My hubby, my sidekick
Bry was quite supportive of me from the start.  We talked about how he can get involved even if he couldn’t actually breastfeed Ben.  He would help clean my pump, label the stored milk and tried to be flexible with our schedule since nursing and pumping took a lot of our time.  He downloaded my favorite TV series so that I  can be more relaxed when pumping.  He also didn’t mind sharing the bed with Ben since it was easier for to nurse him lying down at night.

My mom turned cheerleader
I wasn't a breastfed baby so my mom knew nothing about breastfeeding.  Thankfully, that didn't stop her from encouraging me.  We stayed with my parents until two months postpartum and I asked her to be with me when the lactation consultant visited us.  She suggested post a quick guide for handling breastmilk on the fridge.  She made sure I was well hydrated and served me dishes with galactouges during our stay.  Frankly, part of me was stalling going back home … oh well, there’s always the next baby, haha!

My yaya, the convert

Our yaya has been with us a month before Ben was born.  We hired her because she has a lot of experience taking care of babies but sadly, not one of them was breastfed for more than 6 months, and they were only served pumped milk and not directly fed.  But I expressed my desire to breastfeed early on.  The first few months were a challenge, with Ben crying constantly, that she suggested we mix feed.  I stood my ground, saying that as long as the pedia is saying Ben is growing fine, we do not need formula.  Then there were the bottle wars.  Ben wouldn’t take the bottle of pumped milk from her, which frustrated her so much she suggested I exclusively pump.  I resisted because I know that wasn’t a good reason to stop direct feeding.  Then there was the time she had difficulty putting him to sleep at night that she tried to convince us to give Ben a pacifier at least during the night.  I again had to say no, and explain to her that having a pacifier is not helpful for breastfed babies. 

Fast forward a few months later, my yaya finally got the message and was even proud of Ben for breastfeeding.  She would gladly answer “mommy’s milk” to other yayas who ask what type of milk is Ben drinking.  There was one time when she told me that she came across an article about the risks of formula milk and told me how she wished she knew then what she knew now.  During one of our recent visits to the pedia, she overheard me talking to the doctor about weaning and asked if me if I plan to stop breastfeeding soon.  I said no and that I’m just curious.  She told me Ben’s lucky that I’m still nursing him.  She has indeed come a long way, and for someone who has a lot of experience with babies, I was able to teach her something new.

Please do visit the other entries of my fellow mommy bloggers … and as an added bonus, do visit my birthday entry HERE for our nursing top giveaway courtesy of L.A.B nursing wear!

DaintyMom's Creating a Pro-Breastfeeding Culture in the Family
Wifely Steps' On Breastfeeding: Say It, Claim It, Get Support!
Truly Rich Mom's How To Get Others to Support You in Breastfeeding
EthanMama's My Best Breastfeeding Support System - My Husband
Raising Baby Lia's A Shoutout to my Breastfeeding Buddies
Jen CC Tan's I'm Breastfeeding, and That's That!
Project Blog by Kate's Talk and Make it Happen
Chronicles of a Nursing Mom's Effective Communication Bucket List
Apples  & Dumplings Communicating and First Time Breastfeeders
I'm a Newbie Wife's How I Taught My Family to Breastfeed
TouringKitty's Communication Through Breastfeeding (Twitter: @Touringkitty)
Mec as Mom's Pre-Natal Pediatric Consultations Are Necessary
Escie's World's Ready, Get Set, Go! for Breastfeeding (Twitter: @Escielicious)
Nanaystrip's BreasTALK : Text, Retweet, Share your Knowledge and Experiences (Twitter: @bunsonimaestro)
Superwomom's A-S-Ks (on breastfeeding questions, help, support)
Go Help Yourself's “6 persuasion tips for breastfeeding moms and advocates”
Legally Mom's Breastfeeding Talk Between Me and My Formula Fed Daughter (Facebook and Twitter: @legallymomPH)
Handy Mommy's Couple's Communication and Decision: Key to Successful Breastfeeding 

5 comments:

  1. it's always great when you've made a convert!!

    saving lives one informed person at a time, yes? :)

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  2. Hi Mommy Nats! ;-) My hubby is one of my most staunch supporters too - and my mom is also a "breastfeeding convert"! hehe. In fact, when I almost gave up with our second baby, because she had difficulty latching and I was getting so frustrated, tapos she was sick pa, it was my mom naman who reminded me about my conviction to breastfeed. hehe. Thank GOD! ;-)

    Happy Birthday! hehe. Just joined your giveaway.

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  3. hi mommy nats! i like how you stood your ground in expressing your breastfeeding with your nanny.

    congratulations to you and to your recruits! go breastfeeding =)

    btw, happy birthday! will join your giveaway =)

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  4. having a non-believing yaya is really tough! happily she didn't go behind your back to offer formula milk (i've heard horror stories of yayas doing that) and congratulations for changing her mind! your perseverance paid off ;)

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  5. Lagi kaming excited mag-asawa sa monthly pedia checkup. Malalaman kasi namin kung gaano na kabigat si Rio. Yun din kasi ang sukatan kung ayos ang breastfeeding naming mag-ina. Nitong huling bisita namin, masaya akong marinig sa pedia na sapat ang gatas ko dahil ayos ang weight gain ni Rio! Haay, salamat!

    Masaya akong makasama ka sa Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (August).

    Pasali sa giveaway mo ha :)

    ReplyDelete