Breastfeeding

I hadn’t thought much about breastfeeding until I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to do it, knew I might need to ask for some help if it wasn’t easy but otherwise had put it down as something we couldn’t really do anything about until we were doing it. I now realise, we were (potentially) setting ourselves up for a nightmare and fully believe that one of the biggest reasons I have had 2 fairly smooth journeys is because my husband and I took  the time to do a breastfeeding class before baby arrived. This meant that we both knew a lot more around what to expect, what was normal and what things to look out for which might suggest we should get some help.

While pregnant we did a wonderful local antenatal course run by a doula, she also offered a breastfeeding specific course which she highly recommended to all of us as it was much more depth than we covered in the antenatal course. It ended up being one of the most valuable bits of preparation, my husband came too and it made the first few months so much less stressful for us both. Although it was by no means easy, we had some wonderful support around us and also a good idea of what was normal and what wasn’t. I found myself regularly checking back on the notes from our session and feeling reassured that we were on the right track.

I continued breastfeeding my eldest until he was almost 3, he self weaned a couple of weeks before I was due with my second and I hope to continue feeding my second until he is ready to stop.