Nature's Planned Rest for New Moms
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Monday, October 16, 2006
As I head into the third week of breastfeeding, it's dawning on me that there are many benefits to nursing that I'd never thought of.One is the idea that it's God and nature's way of ensuring that new moms get some rest. Now that may sound funny considering breastfeeding moms are known for having to wake up every hour or two during the night to nurse their little ones...thus, sleep doesn't really happen so much for the first few weeks.
But I'm not talking sleep, I'm talking "rest."
You see many moms in the past and today have a tendancy to go non-stop. Cleaning, chasing older kids, running errands, cooking, working, etc... tons and tons of stuff to keep us busy. But when you nurse, especially in those first few weeks, you can ONLY nurse. There is no nursing while carting around your kid and vaccuuming the living room. Babie take awhile to perfect their latch, moms take awhile to perfect their holds. ;)
So...I've been forced to take a break every two hours or so and to just SIT for 20 minutes while snuggling up with Emmitt and nursing him. Sometimes I day dream, sometimes I watch a bit of TV, sometimes I snuggle with Elnora. But no matter what I'm doing, I'm resting.
That's kinda cool.
Labels: Breastfeeding Advice, Life as a Mom
That's so true! I treasure every second of cuddly snuggly nursing. It is so nice to have this time to rest, reflect, and just quietly coexist with the baby, always aware that all too soon she'll be growing up and will wean herself.
Curious -- how patient is Elnora? I am hoping that the next go around our son will be old enough to occupy himself for twenty to thirty minutes at a time.
Curious -- how more restful is nursing to bottlefeeding less pumping?
hi, congrats on the nursing--i just found your blog and am wondering how you built your supply with your first baby?
mine won't latch and refuses the sns as well. just wondering. thanks!
This is one of my favorite parts of breastfeeding - I must stop. I have to slow down. I didn't 'get this' with my first one and I didn't enjoy it as much either. I was always tryin gto figure out what had to be done next. She had such severe reflux to that I was always waiting for the next big explosion. It was always at least four feet projectile out of her and sometimes I had bad timing and it got me really bad. She lost too much wait and had an Upper GI and when I had to start pumping to add calories to her intake with special powders and then thicken it with cereal and so on I really missed the nursing time. I spent twice as mcuh time feeding (pump, mix, feed) than I had when I was nursing her. I regretted that I didn't stick it out and just nurse her through it all. but you are right. We must slow down.
K and anonymous, I'll go ahead and cover your questions in new blog posts...
When I was pregnant I thought this was going to be one of the things I was going to like about breastfeeding. I'm one of those people who is always going, doing, thinking about what to do next. But for me the first two months of nursing was so excruciatingly painful that it was not restful whatsoever! Now that my baby is a little older and I don't need the rest as much it's going better. I still enjoy the time snuggling with baby, but I could have really used some of this relaxing time in the first couple of months!
This is the reason I loved learning how to nurse lying down. It became my favourite position.
God bless my mother in law for teaching me how!
That's right. It's a great system!
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