A new mom feeding journey: from breastfeeding to pumping

Few experiences as a new mom are as daunting and create as much frustration as breastfeeding.  Let’s face it, the prenatal class you took on breastfeeding that involved holding a baby doll to your breast didn’t really simulate the experience of coaxing a tiny human to open their mouth wide, then chomp down on a very sensitive part of your anatomy, and then stay awake long enough to adequately get in enough food to help them grow.  And now please do this another 8-10 or more times every day.  Without doing a formal poll, I think I can safely state that the challenges associated with breastfeeding come up first in nearly every first session of The Chicago New Moms Group when discussing experiences that most moms struggle with, at least to some degree, if not to the point of ending their breastfeeding journey.  Even many years later, I can still remember the roller coaster of emotions from one feeding to the next starting in the early newborn days of toe curling at first latch to the constant worries about supply and if my babies were getting enough milk.  And why did they sometimes decide to just scream at my boob?

For many moms who continue on with their breastfeeding journey, there comes the moment when you take your breast pump out of the box and have now moved onto “stage 2” of being a breastfeeding mom:  pumping.  This can involve it’s own set of challenges.  For some moms, pumping may happen in addition to breastfeeding, for others it becomes an exclusive activity when nursing isn’t working out for either mom, baby or both, and for others for whom pumping either doesn’t work out or is an abhorrent activity, they may stop entirely and only breastfeed or supplement with formula.  Regardless of what your pumping experience is, it is typically done in an effort for someone else to be able to feed your baby so that you can be apart for a period of time.  This can give you the freedom to do something for yourself, go to work, take care of other children, etc.  The key here though is that your baby has to actually take food from the bottle in order for this to have any benefit.  It should be said that the general recommendation for introducing a bottle to a breastfed baby is to make sure that nursing is well established first.  Ideally, this would be after about 4-6 weeks.  For breastfeeding challenges, please seek the support of an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant who can be found through The Lactation Network.

Some babies do not care how food comes to them.  It could be directly from the breast, in a bottle, in a shot glass.  They don’t care.  Food is food and they are happy to take it in whatever form it arrives.  Other babies are more particular about these sorts of things.  For some, if you haven’t introduced a bottle in that 4-6 week range of time, they get wise to the fact that nursing is warm and snuggly and smells like Mommy so why should I take this mean/plasticky bottle?  Babies are WAY smarter then most of us given them credit for.  Often around about 3 months old, which is right about the timing when many moms in the United States have to return to work, some babies will become very stubborn about taking a bottle, especially if they haven’t been offered one daily or at least every other day in the early months.  Check out an intervention we had to do when my son was a baby and was rejecting the bottle.  If this guidance doesn’t help, and you are still struggling to introduce a bottle to your baby, I have often referred families to feeding therapists who can be very helpful especially when there are anatomical challenges that make taking a bottle more difficult.  In some instances, I also have found that postpartum doulas can play the role of a persistent, patient caregiver to encourage your baby to take the bottle.  Once your baby is more amenable to the bottle, paced bottle feeding is recommended so that your baby doesn’t suddenly decide that the bottle is easier then nursing and pendulum swings the other way.

Regardless of how your breastfeeding journey progresses, please be kind to yourself.  Many moms are shocked by how much they associate being a “good mom” with being able to successfully breastfeed.  In reality, how you feed your baby has absolutely nothing to do with what kind of a mom you are.  You are a great mom, no matter how your baby is fed.