[blparent] Update and Question-Breastfeeding Issue-Please don't read if you do not feel comfortable with the topic of breastfeeding

Wed Oct 20 00:07:39 UTC 2010

Hi RaLynn,
Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl!  I love her name.  I have 
Andralyn (Andi for short), and Kaelyn. *smile*
I want to also congratulate you on sticking to your guns and doing what you 
feel is best for KaLy.  There are so many parenting practices that will vary 
from one family to the next, and you're right that everyone seems to have an 
opinion, and a lot of them feel their opinion is the right one. lol  I 
personally think that we all have to know our own child, and do what is best 
for our family as a whole.  Every child is different, too, so knowing each 
child as an individual is very important.
I will share my own experience with you.  With my first, I had very little 
support with breastfeeding.  I had him on New Year's Eve, so there were no 
lactation consultants available.  A couple of the nurses showed me 
positioning, but weren't very helpful and didn't encourage me to keep trying 
when we failed.  One of the nurses gave my son a bottle without even asking 
me, and after that he refused to even try nursing.  He was formula fed, and 
started on solids at 4 months.  He did fine, but I was disappointed that I 
didn't get to breastfeed him.  So with my second child, Andralyn, I was 
bound and determined to breastfeed her.  They talked me into giving her some 
formula, because she was jaundiced, and I agreed, but only because they made 
it sound like it was absolutely necessary.  Andi preferred nursing though, 
and though she took the bottle, she had no problem going back to the breast. 
After I brought her home, I tried pumping so her daddy could give her a 
bottle, but she would have no part of it, so she was exclusively breastfed. 
My third was jaundiced as well, but they said to keep breastfeeding, and 
that no formula was necessary.  She actually recovered from the jaundice 
better than Andralyn had, so I don't think it makes a difference.  I had 
encouragement from both the nurses and lactation consultants with both my 
girls, and I am so thankful that they were there to help me.  Andralyn was 
breastfed for 13 months, and Kaelyn for 28 months.  I started rice cereal 
just on occasion at 6 months with both of them, and solids here and there, 
but picked up on the solids at 9 months.  With Andi, I followed my instincts 
on that, and planned to do the same with Kaelyn, and I was surprised when my 
Pediatrician actually told me to wait till 9 months with Kaelyn.  She said 
the food can cause them to fill up on that rather than on breast milk, and 
before a year they need the milk more than anything.  Feeding cereal and 
solids is just for practice, and is not needed for nutrition at all.
These are my experiences.  I am happy to talk to you more about this off 
list if you like.  leemer02 at gmail.com
I wish you all the best, and encourage you to keep doing what you believe is 
right for your little girl.  Sounds like you are off to a great start as a 
momma. *smile*
Take care,
Leanne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RaLynn McGuire" <RaLynn.McGuire at asu.edu>
To: <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 6:22 PM
Subject: [blparent] Update and Question-Breastfeeding Issue-Please don't 
read if you do not feel comfortable with the topic of breastfeeding


> Hi all,
>        First of all I wanted to take a moment to reintroduce myself.  My 
> name is RaLynn (pronounced RayLynn) and I am visually impaired and my 
> husband is totally blind.  I think the last time I posted to the list I 
> was still pregnant.  I found it to be a great resource as we were planning 
> for our little one.  On August 5th our daughter KaraLyn (KaLy for 
> short-pronounced like Kayly) was born.  She weighed in at 8 lbs and was 21 
> and a half inches long.  Since then we've all learned a lot! Lol.  We were 
> very lucky and we had no trouble with the breastfeeding process.  The only 
> issue we had was people wondering if she was getting enough to eat because 
> she would wake often and want to eat.  I kept reassuring everyone that she 
> was eating like a little piglet but it still shook my confidence a little. 
> Luckily we stayed the course and at her 2 month check in she weighed in at 
> nearly 13 and a half pounds and had grown to nearly 24 inches.  No one 
> wonders if she's eating enough now!  It's been "fun" trying to decipher if 
> what people are telling you is good advice or just personal opinion.  I 
> guess what I mean is I've learned that when everyone said "Don't stock up 
> on newborn clothes since they won't stay in them very long" they were 
> absolutely right in our case!  I just packed up a box of clothes that KaLy 
> never even wore because she was already 8 pounds when she was born!  But 
> I've also come to realize how many people really do not understand or 
> support breastfeeding at all!  This seems so strange to me as mothers have 
> been doing this for ages and yet there is still so much misinformation out 
> there about it.  While our experience in the hospital was mostly great we 
> even encountered a nurse who, after our repeated statements that we were 
> breastfeeding kept offering or nearly insisting she take the baby to the 
> nursery and give her a bottle so we could get some sleep.  We just stuck 
> to our guns and kept politely declining.  We were lucky to be able to have 
> KaLy in our room the entire time and go home after only one night so we 
> didn't have to put up with that for long but it really shocked us!  We 
> didn't expect to encounter anything like this while we were there.  Oh 
> well, we got through it.  Many of the women in my family didn't breastfeed 
> because either they weren't able to or they simply chose not to so I 
> didn't really have much family support.  In fact my own mom kept pushing 
> the benefits of using formula during the first few weeks because she just 
> felt it would be "easier" for me.  I have to say, I do not judge those who 
> choose not to breastfeed.  It's hard work!  We were lucky to have good 
> local resources such as breastfeeding classes and lactation specialists 
> but even all of the information in the world doesn't prepare you to wake 
> up every two hours, spend half an hour feeding the baby, spend fifteen 
> minutes to half an hour to get them to go to sleep, dragging yourself back 
> to bed, and then having to start the whole process over again after about 
> half an hour of sleep! Lol.  Things are much easier now that we're beyond 
> those first few weeks and I know I've learned to function on a lot less 
> sleep!  I'm back at work for now and really struggling with having to be 
> away from the baby during the day.  We are still successfully 
> breastfeeding which has been wonderful.  I was worried that the baby might 
> prefer eating from a bottle and wean herself after I went back to work. 
> Luckily this hasn't been the case at all.  Anyway, I don't mean to ramble 
> on and on.  I was just curious if any of you had a similar experience with 
> lack of family support if you chose to breastfeed?  When did it seem to 
> subside?  Did you do anything or just let your chunky satisfied baby speak 
> for him/herself.  I feel like now that KaLy is so obviously eating well 
> that the concerns have pretty much gone away but now of course I'm getting 
> the "Oh well you should start putting rice cereal in her milk now" and so 
> on.  Which, I think at this point is pretty ridiculous!  She's only 2 and 
> a half months old, sleeping very well at night, and is growing like a 
> weed.  I know it's all just part of the process of learning what "advice" 
> to listen to and what to ignore but it just seems like a bit of an uphill 
> battle when it comes to feeding!  And in this case it's not with my baby 
> but others who think they know better.  Our pediatrician is wonderful and 
> very supportive thank goodness because I don't know what I'd do otherwise. 
> I'm a little worried as I read the posts lately that feeding will continue 
> to be an issue in one form or another! Lol.  Thanks in advance for any 
> input.
>
> RaLynn McGuire
> Disability Access Consultant/AT Professional
> Arizona State University
> Disability Resource Center
> PO Box 873202
> Tempe, AZ  85287-3202
> Department: (480)965-1234
> Direct:           (480)965-4732
> Fax:               (480)965-0441
> RaLynn.McGuire at asu.edu
>
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