Mums share 20 brilliant things they love about breastfeeding
When a mum popped up on parenting forum Mumsnet to ask other mamas what they enjoyed most about breastfeeding, hundreds of mums chimed in with their favourite things.
“I’ve been experiencing pain which I discovered is from a blocked duct. Very painful and wanted to remind myself of why I love breastfeeding,” she wrote.
“Anyone else care to share what they love about breastfeeding?”
All the reasons
Turns out there are lots of things mums love about breastfeeding, things that make the struggles many have experienced feel much more worthwhile.
They ranged from conserving energy in the dead of night to having time to sit down for extended periods during those busy early days of parenting.
Many mums noted that breastfeeding had been difficult at times, but agreed that there were lots of special moments that helped connect them to their baby.
Read on and see if any strike a chord with you!
20 brilliant things about breastfeeding
1. “That amazing zoned out feeling you get just after the let down reflex – like a natural high!”
2. “I love when they look up at you and meet your eye. So bonding.”
3. “Living by the rule ‘if in doubt, whip it out’. Boob solves most issues at this age.”
4. “The only thing I really loved was the convenience.”
5. “I love that milk coma look when they’re done.”
6. “I’ve had a lot of unwanted attention from catcallers for my chest throughout my life so it is nice to do something positive with them, they were just a pain in the neck before kids.”
7. “I loved that it was free, and I didn’t have to pack bottles every time I wanted to leave the house.”
8. “My daughter strokes my boob with her hand while she’s feeding. It’s such a comfort for her.”
9. “I like that it’s a good excuse to retrieve him from any dodgy relatives!”
10. “The weigh-ins and seeing him follow the 75th percentile line. We had such a difficult start to breastfeeding and it was rougher with my first, this gives me such a sense of achievement as I’ve worked so damn hard at it and it’s finally pretty natural.”
11. “You don’t have to have a routine, or keep track of when you’ve fed them because you can’t do it too much or too little (broadly) so you can just do it whenever they want or when your boobs feel full.”
12. “You can put [breast milk] on random skin complaints, loosen stuffy noses with it, use as eye bath for conjunctivitis.”
13. “I loved the magic go-to-sleep powers I had. Even when the toddler was bouncing around just 5 minutes of milk would make them zonked.”
14. “I used to love sitting up listening to World Service at 2 am, lived abroad, I got quite interested in the Middle East football leagues!”
15. “When my nice but full-on In-laws became too much for my antisocial introvert self, I could declare it to be ‘time for a feed’ and take myself off upstairs and spend half an hour chilling in my lovely nursing chair.”
16. “Could stuff my face and not gain weight. Having a free hand meant I could eat a mars and feed at the same time. Bliss!”
17. “I loved their little hands spread out like stars on my boob.”
18. “Snuggling up at night, with him curled in like a foetus, attached by the boob and his feet perched just below my boobs.”
19. “His chuckle when he realises he’s about to feed.”
20. “Their tiny little arms sweeping back and forth over my décolletage as they fed, like a metronome. They both did it, and it was beyond cute.”
Beyond cute indeed!