I promise not to make this too graphic, but I was thinking today about the reasons I loved nursing Adelyn. I know lots of people can’t or don’t want to nurse their babies, and I respect the many reasons for this. But I made a goal to nurse for at least 6 months because of the health benefits to the baby, and as time went by, there were many more reasons to keep going. Here are my top 10, in no particular order.
1. Baby formula smells raunchy. When Addie doesn’t finish a bottle, I hate pouring it in the sink because the smell wafts up and makes me gag. Don’t even talk to me about when you accidentally leave the formula in there for a while. Gross.
2. Cleaning bottles. Your dishes double when your baby is on the bottle. And frankly, I don’t have the patience to clean the dishes that I use, much less all the dishes that come along with bottles.
3. Decreased chance of breast cancer for me. I just learned about this one, but it made me feel good.
4. Protection from sickness. Addie has been a very healthy baby, despite ME getting sick three times since she was born. I attribute that to the antibodies that come through breast milk.
5. Cuddle time in the morning. Addie is a very vivacious baby, and hardly sits still for more than 2 minutes. This made nursing during the day difficult, because she got too distracted by stuff going on. But in the morning, first feeding of the day, I usually nursed in bed, with her next to me, and she actually cuddled me (although her legs still kick like crazy). I love cuddles from her, because they are so few and far between.
6. Weight loss. I was able to eat like a starving animal for 10 months, and not gain any weight. I will now be weaning myself from this diet plan.
7. Financial savings. Breast milk is free and easy to transport. Who can argue with this one?
8. I met lots of new friends in the nursing lounge at church. Which was good because we just moved into the ward right before Addie was born. Thanks for all your advice, girls!
9. Nursing makes middle-of-the-night feedings a whole lot easier. Especially when you live upstairs and the bottles/formula/sink is downstairs.
10. I honestly loved knowing that I was giving my baby the best food I could offer. It may not have been enough to carry her to a year (we had to start supplementing with formula at 9 months because she wasn’t gaining weight fast enough), but I’m proud of myself for getting this far. It was pretty hard in the beginning, and there were definitely some downsides, but I’m glad I stuck with it.
