08/01/2025
World Breastfeeding Week
I’m not even sure how to put into words my journey of breastfeeding in the last 9 months. As I sit here pumping in my sweltering hot car to maintain my supply for my little dude who will barely drink from a sippy cup I’m full of feelings.
Going into my feeding journey I knew it would likely have its challenges, I see a disproportionate amount of struggles to easy feeding journeys and I knew from when my milk came in that our latch wasn’t the best. We saw multiple lactation consultants, chiro, osteo and the midwives. The first 6 weeks were filled with pain, lots of tears, uncertainty and also a strength of connection I didn’t know I had. It was so love/hate.
At 5 weeks old we got a release of his tongue and lip done, the aftercare was awful but we finally had a pain free latch. It still wasn’t the best but we were managing. We also struggled with a heavy letdown and I often waterboarded him. Add in some food sensitivites to dairy, gluten and soy for me and we were more or less on track by 4 months.
Then came bottle refusal. I was back to work at 4 months at he wouldn’t take a bottle from anyone. I was limited to working 3-4 hours so I could just go home to feed him while he got progressively more fussy. Around 6 months he finally took a sippy cup and will now take between 1-3 oz depending on his mood.
Peppered in there are teething struggles, lots of distracted feeds, the most face grabbing / scratching / pinching and twerking while feeding and endless wakes for comfort through the night.
I can’t even imagine what it would have been like for a smooth journey but somehow the struggles make me even more proud.
Here’s to another 9 months or more (hopefully) my guy.
💕
