Controversial subject or what? I honestly underestimated how passionate both teams were until I was expecting our first born, Hugo and it came to light that it is a very spoken about subject in the world of mothers! Something that actually was one of the first questions I would be asked when announcing that we were pregnant “are you going to breastfeed?”
Hugo (now twenty-one months), was a very much “planned” baby and in the lead up to conceiving, we had pretty much everything planned out on how we wanted things to be for us and our newborn. Most of the decisions were joint but the feeding side of things was solely down to me. My partner, Kyle, exaggerated that this was my decision, only I would be able to decide how I felt about breastfeeding our baby and if it was something that I could see working for us. Instantly, it was a no from me. Immediately, it was a why from everyone else.
So why didn’t I want to breastfeed?
To be completely truthful, I’m quite large busted and we lead a very busy lifestyle. Previously, I wouldn’t have the guts to give that reason, in hesitation that listeners would roll their eyes or disagree but it’s honest. I just didn’t feel comfortable that I would have to expose my breasts whilst here, there and everywhere. I know that it’s completely natural and I think it’s a wonderful way to nurture your baby but first time round, it just wasn’t me for me and that’s ok. Also, feeding on demand and not knowing how much exactly the baby is getting, I just thought it was a very overwhelming decision as a whole and bottle feeding was just more suited to us.
Now Hugo is a toddler and we’re planning on expanding our family, my thoughts have changed slightly and I really would like to try express feeding next time round. My milk supply with Hugo was quite frankly, never-ending haha! I’m not sure if this was because I didn’t breastfeed or not but I would say I had enough milk to feed more babies than you can count on your hands. This was something I never even thought about when I dismissed breastfeeding Hugo and so I definitely would like to do more research into it should we be lucky enough to conceive a second time.
I do love the idea of your baby thriving from your own nutrients but if it doesn’t work out or it’s not for you, don’t beat yourself up about it, it’s completely normal to feed both ways, neither is “best” in my eyes. What’s best, is that your baby is growing and developing, happily and healthily whether that be formula fed or breast fed.
Motherhood is the best journey you’ll ever experience but with it comes so many emotions, we have a lot of decisions to make and sometimes we may feel overwhelmed. My best piece of advice, is to listen to others tips and tricks on parenting but only you can make the decisions, it’s your way. A mother’s intuition is the best tuition, always.
Author : Mollie Simons, 22, Leicestershire, UK
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