The Three P’s To Successful Breastfeeding

As it is World Breastfeeding Week I thought I would take the opportunity to share some wisdom I’ve gained during the 17 months I have been breastfeeding my Son. The advise (from my own experiences) is intended for new and expectant mothers as we as those who maybe struggling to feed your baby naturally.

Plan

If you are expecting, you may have already come to a decision on how you will feed your unborn child and if are thinking to breastfeed, I have previously written about 8 breastfeeding essentials you will need to invest in to make your breastfeeding journey that little bit easier!

Patience

There is an art to breastfeeding your baby and along with ensuring he is correctly latched, the breastfeeding positions you use whilst nursing will determine the success of the feed!

three-ps-to-successful-breastfeeding-little-eco-nursing

Speaking from my own experience I struggled to nurse Eco between the early hours of 2am – 4am during the first few weeks following his safe arrival.

Unknown to me at the time, I had an overabundant milk supply so when my liquid gold came in each night at 2am, Eco would struggle to latch and feed because my flow was too fast which always resulted in a screaming marathon for 2 solid hours.

This of course left my significant other and I beyond exhausted and doubt started to creep into my mind if I was doing something wrong but thankfully for us, a lovely old school midwife visited us at home and showed me a breastfeeding position I wasn’t previously taught and from that day onwards I have been super blessed to have not encountered any other problems thus making my Breastfeeding experience to date a truly pleasurable one.

That said, I am aware that some mothers experience many problems and obstacles when attempting to breastfeed their little’s and my advise would be not to give up so easily, remain patient and sought advise from a Breastfeeding Support Clinic via your hospital or local Children’s Centre.

Perseverance

I am not going to pretend that breastfeeding is easy for it is not!

There are many obstacles a Breastfeeding Mothers may experience including engorgment, mastitis, sore / cracked nipples, low supply of milk or the case of littles being diagnosed with reflux or tounge tie.

If you choose to exclusively breastfeed your baby like I did (no bottles or pumps) the ever frequent nursing sessions and night wakings is all on YOU! It may seem completely daunting at first  but somehow you will find a way to adapt.

There are many research articles that backs up facts that Breastfed babies do indeed wake more frequently during the night than their formula fed peers.

But if you can continue to persevere through extreme bouts of sleep deprivation, growth spurts and cluster fedding sessions until they are at least 6 months old, you the awesome exhausted Mama reading this would have played a vital part in giving your child all of the essential vitamins and nutrients they need to survive, develop and grow.

Disclaimer: Now I am not for one second implying that formula fed babies do not get adequate nutrition because that is just absurd, but when comparing the two side by side the benefits of giving your baby breastmilk in my humble opinion is by far the best option.

Weather you experience breastfeeding your child for a few days, weeks, months or years, being able to do so is truly a wonderful thing!

So when when you are at your wits end with the hourly night feeds, just remember the Three P’s and the numerous benefits that comes with breastfeeding your little (note to self!)

What age did you breastfeed your little until? I’d love to know by leaving your comments below 🙂