Inspirational Breatfeeding Stories

I'm a teacher and I planned my first pregnancy so I could take the last quarter of school off. My sub was so awful, my school called and asked what it would take to have me return to my classroom. I said my baby comes with me, I could dress like a slob because nothing fit AND that would be allowed to breast feed (which I was doing exclusively at the time) on demand (and a private room would be provided in which to do this).

It took my administration all of .3 seconds to agree to all terms. I had a laminated note that read "Mrs. F**** needs to breastfeed William. Please drop what you're doing and go to Rm 15 to cover her class." Every teacher on campus knew that if they got that note, they had to respond. Not only did it work, it worked brilliantly. My son was on the best nursing schedule ever, same time every day, for the last 6 weeks of school. My private room was the Vice Principal's office, so I had a wonderful companion while I nursed. Everyone--myself, my students and my baby--thrived in this environment.

So, I can safely say that my son has taken 11th grade US History twice...once as a newborn and once as an 11th grader!

Great idea to ask for stories...

I like your idea here because I think many women do not know what rights they have. Sorry my story is not inspirational but my hope is that no one ever feels 'stuck' to do what I saw happen.
I will never forget one time when we ate at Applebee's. I went to the bathroom and there was an usually long line. It turns out that the woman was breastfeeding her child in the stall. We all let her go but I wish that I had had the guts to let her know that she has the right to breastfeed at her table. How awful that she felt compelled to feed her beautiful baby in the dirty bathroom. I wish that I had told her about the special breastfeeding shirts and other items so she wouldn't be exposed. We as mothers need to feel that breastfeeding is an empowering and a life sustaining activity not something to be hidden in a stall.

I don't have much time, but let me just say it took 3 months with my daughter to get a decent latch. We then had a full month of overproduction issues. It was a nightmare. Hubby came home to me sitting on the couch crying many a day. But I hung in there. I am so happy that I did. Then, when I had my son, he just latched on and that was that. So much of it has to do with our anxiety. I know that I caused most of the latch issues with my daughter.With my son, I just didn't worry/stress about it, and he figured it out for himself real fast.

Oh my very favorite topic!!! Praise to you for asking, I can't wait to read all the responses!

I was very determined to breastfeed, was determined to a lot of things and some had to go by the wayside. I should explain first that when my son was born we had just moved cross country(for good reasons, but hard and REALLY sad while pregnant!) we were living with my in-laws and brought our new baby home to an already crowded, stressful house. My MIL was a real hypocrite about nursing, talks it up, but then swears you have to quit by 6 or 7 months when they get teeth..blah blah blah. Not to mention, I was extremely ill after having my son, for weeks. I had to supplement because I couldn't keep food down and didn't have enough milk for him. All the stress and illness made it so hard to continue to nurse. That and the prudish household not wanting me to nurse near them!

But through my illness, colic, periodic supplementing with formula, nasty comments from extended family, we've made it. My son will be two in January and we're still breastfeeding, I plan to allow him to continue until he self-weans. I love it, he loves it, and I have become so inspired by the whole issue that I'm looking at becoming a lactation consultant.

With my first born I had lots of issues breastfeeding. He was born tounge tied and didn't latch very well. Breastfeeding was very painful and being a new mommy was stressful and at times I felt like I wanted to give up. Sad, that by three months my little one lost intrest in breastfeeding. I know the question refers to breastfeeding, but I am glad that eventhough I couldn't breastfeed I pumped!! I was determined to feed my little one breastmilk, I to this day don't know how I did it, but I pumped every three to four hours ( milk supply wasen't much) and was able to provide him with breastmilk until he was a year old. I am so happy I did it! A lot of people ask me if I would do it all over again. My answer is YES! I had my second baby two months ago, and though she is a great latcher, I pump at least twice a week to put some milk in reserve, in case I would have issues with her.

I had a preemie who was born 7 weeks early. She had to be intravenously fed for a few days and then they put in a feeding tube because she had no idea how to even suckle. I pumped and pumped and pumped because I really wanted to keep my supply going. Many people told me just to switch to formula because she'll never get BF right. They were so wrong. With help from the NICU nurses and the LC at the hospital my daughter was able to BF even though she had been getting bottles while I wasn't able to be there. Once I got her home after 3 weeks I pretty much baracaded myself in our basement with our daughter and nursed on demand for a week. We both got the hang of it and nursed for almost 17 months when she self-weaned. I was very determined to BF regardless of her prematurity and the nurses and the LCs were so supportive I really thank them the most for not giving up on us.

I never had any problems (who knows with my third yet) but I did end up working up my nursing confidence. I always nursed around company (I usually asked if we had single male friends over if they minded and they almost always said, "It's your house and your baby. I don't mind if you don't," so I stopped asking). Once I "mastered" nursing I didn't mind nursing in public at all. I do like to make sure people are not uncomfortable, but I find that most people are more concerned with the mom and baby's comfort. Once my kids were "mobile" nursers (climbing all over my lap while nursing) or distracted nursers (pulling off to look at anything and everything nearby) I tried to make sure there was more privacy or I found a nursing room. I can remember one trip to Target, though, with my second baby. I was waiting around for my husband and didn't have a cell phone but the baby REALLY wanted to nurse. I finally gave up on finding a large fitting room since I couldn't "leave a message" in the baby department, found a bench nearby in the shoe department, parked and smiled at everyone. If you look at people when you're nursing, I find that a lot of them end up talking to you about their breastfeeding experience (or their wife/girlfriend's). I had a rather involved conversation once with a young man cleaning food court tables at the mall. His girlfriend was expecting their first baby, they were possibly in their late teens, maybe early 20s, and he saw me with a newborn and just awkwardly launched into some questions. It was so cute--he was going to all the appointments and reading about how he could help her with nursing, etc. I like that people talk about it a lot. I never knew it was an "issue" when I was a kid. I just assumed that was how babies were fed unless something was wrong or the mom wasn't available. :)

Success Story Number 1: I nursed my first for 3 1/2 years after major latching problems caused her to lose significant weight the first week of her life and brought on jaundice. a lactation specialist helped us overcome those latching problems and we were finally reimbursed by our insurance company after two years of fighting. i guess they figured they were spending too much money in salaries fighting not to pay a measly $250!

Success Story Number 2: I nursed my second for 3 years. He was delivered by c-section and required major surgery within hours of his birth. He spent the next 10 days in NICU. I began pumping the day after he was born; as soon as I could get up and move around, I headed to the pumping room! Once he was out of the incubator, I put him to the breast and he latched with no problem! It was easy from that point on!

I can't say that I overcame anything per se but I did start out breastfeeding my daughter thinking that I would nurse her for 6 months, 1 year max. A year came and went, I got pregnant and then we thought, oh, she'll wean herself while I'm pregnant. Well, she didn't. She was at her brother's birth (22months old then) saw him nurse for the first time and joined in a while later. Fast forward 2 years and 9 months. I'm still nursing both of them :)
She's been talking about weaning quite a bit lately. Says that when she's five she'll wean, sleep in her own bed, and wipe her own bottom :) Actually said tonight that weaning will be easy because you just stop but wiping will take some practice. Out of the mouth of babes.....

So, I guess my point is that tandem nursing is a blessing. Never had any sibling rivalry/jealousy issues because she never felt threatened by him. He still nurses quite a bit while my older one pretty much nurses a few minutes in the morning and sometimes a few minutes in the evening.

In a million years if anybody had told me 4 1/2 years ago that I'd be nursing my preschooler I'd have said NO WAY! Never say never. It's been a great journey. People think you're crazy but I really don't care. My kids are turning out pretty remarkable and I'd like to think part of it is them being able to nurse full-term.

Great question!

With my son (my first) I had severely inverted nipples but was determined to breastfeed! We struggled with it for a while and we used a nipple shield for 3 months, and then got rid of it. He stopped nursing completely around 10 months. With my daughter, I had lots of goals in mind and was way more confident. I decided I wanted to nurse exclusively for 6 months - no formula - and she went until 11.5 months without any formula (I wish I hadn't of done it then!) We continued to nurse until she was 15 months old. When we have our 3rd, I plan NO formula and nursing until at least 18 months!

The bonding was so incredible and I loved being able to nourish my babies. I don't think there is anything wrong with formula, but for me the confidence I have gained in nursing pushes me toward breastfeeding even more. I think it was the struggles with my first that made nursing my second so rewarding!

from the first time I got pregnant I was down right determined to breast feed my baby for one whole year no matter what. At first it was so hard! I didn't know what I was doing....I had such a hard time getting her to latch on correctly. My nipples got all cracked and bloody and I was in so much pain! I remember her only being a few weeks old and I would dread every time she wanted to eat cause of the pain. I would hold my breath and rock back and forth to deal with the pain. finally I thought something had to wrong so I went to the doctor and I had been dealing with mastitis for a good 2 weeks without knowing it. It was horrible! but after that I got on meds and it cleared up. But I actually ended up getting mastitis about 3 more times. By the time she was 6 months I had a clogged duck which only heals with time (a lot of heating pads & extra pumping). So I had a none stop pain in my breast for 1 month straight! again the pain was horrible! But I stuck with it cause i just new I would never forgive myself for stopping and the bond I had with my daughter was too great to give up just yet. So I stuck it out with all the pain and made it to the 12 month mark! Yeah! It was really hard but I would do it all over again if I had to. With my second luckily I only got mastitis once and then never had another problem and even nursed her until she was 14 months. I love breastfeeding my babies and can't wait to do it with my third.

I don't really have a specific inspirational story to tell you, but my first weaned on his third birthday, my second at 39 months (only because my milk dried up due to my third pregnancy) and my third is 21 months and going strong. Don't trust doctors when they tell you you have to wean due to being on meds or having surgery -- they don't always know what they're talking about -- find out what meds you'll be on and for how long, and contact your La Leche League -- they can help you figure out the truth and perhaps you can request different medications.

I have been pregnant or nursing or both continuously since Dec. of 2000, and wouldn't give up a minute of it.

I was very determined to breastfeed following our natural, drug free birth (in the hospital). She was put on my chest after birth and I breastfed her about half an hour later. Boy was that painful! The entire first month was painful but it didn't even cross my mind to give her formula. Moreover, at two weeks old we spent three days at the hospital until the doctors finally figured out she had cow's milk protein intolerance (the symptom's and non-stop screaming were not pretty). I had to quit eating ALL dairy products and ingredients because I did not want to switch her to formula. She had formula for 5 days while I pumped and dumped, then we went back to breastfeeding and haven't looked back since! I wouldn't change that for the world! She is 21 months now and still breastfeeding :) She had outgrown her milk protein intolerance and now happily munches on cheese and loves yogurt!

Hurdles no... but here's some fun:

- When my milk came in I went from a DD to an UNKNOWN. Each of my breasts was bigger. than. my. head. On a quirk, I weighed one and it was over 30 lbs. Ouch. I literally had nothing that could fit over my breasts... so I took the shell off of 2 parkas to be able to cover myself going to the hospital. I wore one across my front and the other on my back. Thank god for lactation consultants, and thank god for nipple shields!!!. LOL... just IMAGINE walking with 60lbs protruding from your chest, carrying a 4 day old infant in a car seat. Adrenaline baby. When I see the "anime" girls... I KNOW they all have super powers to move around with breasts the size of timbuktu.

- During the first few days (while my milk was coming in...) I would randomly "squirt" over 20 feet. Oops... sorry there man.

- Mastitis can turn your milk BRIGHT TURQUOISE. We're not talking pastel turquoise. We're talking 1980's blinding, peacock, neon turquoise. Who knew?

- Breastmilk really does taste like cantaloupe juice.

In the first 4 weeks I had horrible problems with my milk. I did not make enough and I had inverted nipples. I pumped every 2 hours fed on demand. Used nipple shields for a while when my nipples caked over with scabs. I kept going until I could feed her without supplementing that took about 4 weeks.
Then in the 4th week I was diagnosed with Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. Thyroid cancer. I was told I would have tests, surgery, then radioactive iodine treatment and that it was to be done immediately. Well I had my surgery 4 weeks later and pumped and dumped for a few days until the drugs were out of my system then I fought tooth and nail until I convinced my doctors I would NOT stop breast feeding until my daughter was 6 months old. They eventually gave in and allowed me to do it. But only after several multi doctor multi department meetings and several heated arguments. I then had to wait another 3 months so my milk would dry up before I could have my radioactive iodine. That was several years ago and I am now breast feeding my 5 month old son and have recently had a similar conversation with my doctor but this time I said I want to wait until he is 1 year old before I will have more treatment.
Any way I did fight! And I have and am somewhat putting my own health to the back burner to have the wonderful experience of breast feeding my kids. I am in no way saying anyone should be a martyr. I and my doctors agree I am in no way risking my own life. I am so happy about the choice.

I was determined to breastfeed DD because I wasn't. My milk was slow in coming in and DD had latching issues. So, I had to supplement her for a while. As a result, she developed major nipple confusion. It took me nearly 4 weeks to get her to latch properly. In between I battled mastitis, sore nipples and a mother who told me to stop as it was looked so tough to get DD to latch. DD nursed exclusively happily for the next 3 months. Then I had to go back to work. DD had what I call 'reverse nipple confusion'. She absolutely refused all teats. I had to try every brand in the market before she finally accepted MAM teats. I'm pumping now and DD is happily breastfeeding and bottlefeeding. Initially I thought I would only BF for 6 months. When I did try to stop, I had terrible breastfeeding withdrawal. Suffice to say, we're still at it and DD is already 10 1/2 months old. I'll let DD decide when she wants to stop.

The first 2 weeks are HARD! Painful and swollen, mastitis and all... with the support of my husband and our commitment to making it work, it became easier after that initial adjustment period and ended up being a great way to bond with and nourish my daughter. I also had a lactation consultant come by one day - best investment ever!