Category: Bohdan & Carrie

Tomorrow, my beautiful first-born will be 7 months old. I am so proud to say that I have exclusively breastfed her for this long, without the use of any formula! And just within the past month, my baby girl has been introduced to solid foods, and she really enjoys it.

Breastfeeding

Often times, if I tell someone that I am still breastfeeding, they look at me with disbelief or suggest that I need to stop soon. They ask, “Does that baby have teeth? Oh, well then you need to stop.” I am so perplexed by this. Is it because in their generation, breastfeeding was looked down upon? Or they were afraid their baby would eat their nipples off? (I’ve never heard of that.) Why would anyone want me to stop breastfeeding? Please tell me how else would my daughter eat and thrive?

I also get, “You’re not going to be one of those moms who breastfeeds their child until they’re 3 or 5?” Even if I wanted to do that, is that really so bad? And why does that upset you? I think for most people it makes them uncomfortable because they were not raised around it, or they’re just absolutely clueless. The World Health Organization (notice the first word is WORLD) suggests that women breastfeed their child for a minimum of 2 years. 2 YEARS, people!

Repeat after me: Breasts are for breastfeeding.

What do you think mothers all over the world are doing? Well, they are breastfeeding until they’re baby is 2. What do you think Mongolian mothers feed their children? Nomadic people who live in handmade tents in between mountain ranges, with very limited food supply, running water, and other modern necessities. These mothers are not running out to their local grocery store to buy formula and make companies rich. They are feeding their children breast milk. This wonderful, natural, free liquid gold full of antibodies, immunities, vitamins, minerals, stem cells, and the list goes on.

Formula companies, how ever they do it, find out who all the new moms-to-be are, and will mail them boxes of formula samples. They do it before the baby is born, in the hospital, and after the fact. They spend all their time researching what breast milk is made out of, so that they can try to re-create it. Now why would anyone want to buy something that is trying to replicate the real deal? Why would you buy a fake when you can have the real deal for free? This just confuses the heck out of me.

Oh, by the way, if you’ve gotten this far into my rant, I thought you should know, it’s NOT YOUR DECISION how long I breastfeed. That is MY decision, thank you very much. If I want to be one of those moms who feeds their child(ren) breast milk until they’r 2 or 3, then so what. Why is that YOUR problem any way?

Breastfeeding  / Nursing Benefits:

• It’s free, natural, convenient, and sterile
• Offers dramatic health benefits for mom and baby
• It protects baby from childhood diseases, infections, allergies, and so on
• It’s easier for the baby to digest breast milk than formula
• It’s full of antibodies, immunities, vitamins, minerals, stem cells, and other complex nutrients
• Plays an important role in bonding with baby, as well as emotional development
• Breast milk can change its composition to keep up with baby’s developmental changes and stages
• Breastfed babies have a higher IQ
• I can do it in my sleep, therefore everyone in our house sleeps more
• It’s the world’s first pacifier

Co-Sleeping

And on the subject of co-sleeping, this too is looked down upon by my peers. I am hoping that this is just because they are uniformed on the benefits of co-sleeping. Or maybe they’re just too conservative or too close-minded to give it a thought. I think it’s a generational thing. Since the 1950s, hundreds of books were published advising mothers to never sleep with their child, and then in the 1970s, along came some wacko doctor with his “cry it out” method of putting children to sleep. I guess if this is all you’ve ever known, then you’ve lived a sad life.

Let me just say that, again, every country in the world co-sleeps with their children. It is only an American phenomena where families don’t “typically” do this. Over-commercialized and materialistic Americans want you to buy your newborn babies cribs, and make them sleep helpless on their own in their cold little nursery. And when they cry at night, you’re supposed to ignore them and let them “cry it out.” (Because we should all listen to wacko doctors who publish books…) What a bunch of total BULLSH!T. “Hello, my baby is crying and I’m going to ignore them because my pediatrician says they should be getting 6 hours of sleep at night.”

Actually, babies are designed to wake up every couple of hours to nurse. This internal clock was designed to protect them from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Many babies die from SIDS while sleeping in their crib, alone, in the middle of the night. If a baby co-sleeps with his/her parents, however, their risk of SIDS goes down dramatically.

How about this? You let your baby sleep in the bed with you. When you’re baby gets hungry at night, they don’t need to cry or even wake themselves up. They just turn to momma and nurse. Moms all over America would get a lot more sleep if they did this… instead of getting up and out of bed in the middle night, stumbling over to the baby’s room, breastfeeding them (or if you’re living a nightmare, warming up a bottle of formula), stumbling back to bed, and doing it all over and over again every 2 to 3 hours. Yeah… that sounds like fun.

I also get criticized by others, who say, “Oh, co-sleeping is so unsafe. You’ll rollover your child.” I’m sorry you think that, unfortunately, you are again misinformed. Mothers who breastfeed their child release chemicals and hormones that gives them “mommy ESP.” While breastfeeding moms are sleeping, they know exactly where their baby is, and can even sense the baby waking up before they even wake up! I have never once rolled over my child, or woke up with her covered in a sheet. Safe co-sleeping is possible. There are some things that need to be considered in order to make co-sleeping safe, and that is exactly what we do. We have a King-sized bed, sleep with tight fitted sheets, keep the baby on top of the blankets, and mommy is breastfeeding.

And because we co-sleep, we can travel lightly. We don’t need to bring a pack-n-play with us on trips. Our baby just sleeps in the bed with us. We’ve even slept in full-sized beds with no problem.

Co-Sleeping / Sleep Sharing Benefits:

• Mom, dad, and baby all sleep peacefully; Creates sleep harmony between mother and baby
• Baby never cries
• Baby has more stable physiology (steadier heart rhythms, breathing, temperature)
• Reduces risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
• Provides long term emotional health; Baby trusts his/her parents
• Safer than sleeping in a crib which can injure or kill a child
• Think of it as a mindset more than a place to sleep

For more information on co-sleeping, visit this page on the  Dr. Sears site:
http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/sleep-problems/co-sleeping-yes-no-sometimes

Recap

Both breastfeeding and sleep-sharing is a personal decision that I make. If you have any problems with it, then just keep it to yourself. And remember, even if you don’t agree with it — it must be working because the child I am raising is beautiful, thriving, and always happy.

I owe much of what I know to the following books. I am also a strong proponent of co-sleeping and attachment parenting. It just makes sense, and it’s how all non-American cultures raise their children.

The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (La Leche League International Book)
I strongly urge all pregnant moms to go to at least one La Leche League meeting in their 3rd trimester. I went to 3 meetings while I was pregnant!! Once Estelle was born, I knew immediately what to do. This book is amazing and has virtually everything you need to know about breastfeeding.

Attachment Parenting: Instinctive Care for Your Baby and Young Child
I borrowed this book from my local LLL library. Many of the philosophies covered in this book I instinctively had… and knew I would raise my children in this manner… such as co-sleeping. For thousands of years this is how children have been raised. They slept with their parents in their bed. It just makes sense to sleep with your baby. Also, sling-wearing. Wearing your baby in a sling around the house to do chores, out in public, or at a friends house. It’s not only convenient, but it’s a way to bond with your baby, and get him/her used to noises around the house, and being able to sleep while snugged across your body as you move about.

The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Revised and Updated Edition)
The title of this book describes it all. Everything you need to know about birth, breastfeeding, sleeping options, colic, illnesses, general health, weaning, etc. The book is by Dr. Sears, who also contributed to the above book. I enjoy reading anything by Dr. Sears.

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