Nursing 10 Babies...Well Not All at Once

A recent picture of Patrick, my #10, at a Chinese restaurant in a small NC town (and no, he didn't eat Chinese food....he's this chubby at 6 months and has only breastfed : )

I realized recently that I've written very little about breastfeeding, which is kind of funny since I've been breastfeeding on and off since the end of 1990.  Actually if you tally it up, I've breastfed for 133 months (that's 11 years) and I'm still going!  So I thought I would do a quick post on some things I've learned in this journey and some things I recommend.  So here are some "becca bullet points":

1. Breastfeeding is by far the better and of course natural, normal "green" way to feed your baby.  It is healthier for the baby and for the mom.  It's is simpler, cleaner and of course cheaper.  I won't get into debating this, I'm just going to assume we're all on the same page here.

2.  Now I know somethings happen and there are reasons you can't breastfeed. I've been there and had this problem with Matthew, my son with Down Syndrome.  I finally had to realize that it wasn't all about ME being able to nurse him, but about HIM growing and being healthy.  I was able to nurse him, but he had to have a high calorie formula 50% of the time.  But if you are having problems, don't give-up!  At least nurse as much as you can and give it a good "college try!" Lactation consultants are everywhere nowadays and can really help.  

3. I always nurse on demand.  I think this is how God created it.  You can loosely schedule if you need to or just want to feel more organized, but really the baby will tell you when he or she needs to eat.  The baby is always growing and his needs change daily.  Also, the constitution of the milk changes constantly, so what works one day, as far as scheduling, may not work the next.

4.  Introduce a bottle of pumped milk somewhere between when the baby is 2 and 3 weeks old.  This way if you need to leave the baby for a short time or just want your husband or an older child to feed the baby, then they can.  I did this with 5 of mine and it worked great.  I didn't do this with 5 and they would never take a bottle.

5.  Buy those great nursing tanks.  I love the Glamourmom ones, but Target has great ones too.  You also need at least 3 nursing bras.  Get or borrow a good pump too.  I used nursing pads for the first few babies, but really you don't have to have those.  A Boppy is great to have too, but not a necessity.

6.  Don't introduce solids until at least 6 months.  I usually wait until 7 or so. It's not worth the mess and it's healthier for them just to have breast milk.

7.  When I nurse, I let them empty one side and then switch if need to.  You want them to get the hind milk.  Most of my babies where pretty efficient and your milk lets down faster with each subsequent baby (isn't that great how God did that?  He knew we'd have less time to nurse with each baby : )so it only takes me 15-20 minutes to get them full and then they go 2-3 hours.

8.  When you are ready to get more sleep, move them out of your room.  I know babies can smell their moms and all of mine have slept better when I moved them away from me.

9.  I nursed all of mine for about a year, some longer.  It seems like when they started walking they lost interest and really got into food.  I usually was pregnant by that point as well and feeling pretty bad.  But do try to nurse for at least a year.  It is so good for them!

10.  I've never tandem nursed.  I've seen friends do it and it just never appealed to me.  I always wanted to have good quiet bonding time with my newborn and it seemed like the toddler would be all over the mom when they saw them nursing.  Just too crazy for me : ) but go for it if your so inclined.

Well these are just some things off the top of my head....if you have any questions, let me know!