The Real: Breastfeeding what's the big deal?

Im sure most of you all seen my post on instagram about the talk show The Real (BET) on the topic of breastfeeding. This show is hosted by Tamar Braxton, Tamera Mowry, Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon and Jeannie Mai. Tamara Mowry is also a breastfeeding mother, advocate, 'lactivist'. With that said I was anxious to watch the clip to see her standing up for breastfeeding.

Before I voice my opinion you can first watch the video here. 

The Real: Breastfeeding, whats the big deal?

As you see it is mainly focused around a woman still nursing her daughter from the breast at 6 years of age. First and foremost every single word that Tamar Braxton had to say was absolutely sickening to me. She was the worst one out of the 5 women. I understand yes it is about opinions and everyone has one, but to me it seemed as if all 5 women were slamming breastfeeding and were all using the word us breastfeeding mothers hate the most 'BUT'. 

As the saying goes every breastfeeding mother hates a butter. Braxton seemed to be disgusted with breastfeeding all around she even admitted to breastfeeding or may I say 'breastfeeded' (is breastfeeded even a word?) her son for 3 weeks and decided it wasn't for them just by looking Into his eyes. As a breastfeeding mother myself I can say looking into my child's eyes while he is nursing is one of those most precious moments we share and I am adamantly sorry that she didn't feel that way with her child. 

Love just wanted to crack jokes about it the entire time basically making fun of this woman and any woman who chooses to breastfeed beyond infancy. While Mai and Bailon wasn't as opinionated as the others you could tell they were in disagreement as well. Bailon even went as far as acting like nursing to age 2 was not acceptable.

Tamara Mowry on the other hand was the most shocking of all. This woman who claims and I don't say that lightly ... CLAIMS she is a supporter of breastfeeding BUT her opinions speak otherwise. She really only seemed to support breastfeeding until age 1 and age 2 is okay to still be breastfeeding but if you want to breastfeed longer than you should be pumping it and putting it in a cup and teaching your child to be 'independent'. Although I didn't know extended breastfeeding meant your child couldn't be and isn't independent. 

I'm disgusted by all these women. Downing other women who choose to provide their children wtih breast milk longer than some people see fit. If a parent and the child isn't uncomfortable then why does it really matter to others? Oh, so you're the one uncomfortable about it? Are you the mother or are you the child? I didn't think so. Therefore keep your nasty opinions to yourself. As for Mowry just stop acting like you are a huge breastfeeding supporter when not once did you defend this mother or stand up for breastfeeding when all the other women were saying nasty things. I almost forgot that their was a comment made about breastfeeding mothers covering up while nursing in piblic and Mowry STILL did not defend that. Oh well if others are uncomfortable seeing a nursing mom in public get over it. The person feeling that way is obviously the one who is sexualizing it. A mother on the other hand is only trying to feed her child. Would you look in disgust at a mom feeding her child with a bottle or feel disturbed? No. You know where the idea of a bottle came from? A breast. So grow up. Breastfeeding is natural and ALWAYS provides nutrients no matter what age.

If these women didn't mean to come off this way or wouldn't personally breastfeed their child at that age they could have said it in a better way that was not downing her or breastfeeding.

I support breastfeeding and I support that woman and all others who choose to breastfeed whether it be 6 days or 6 years. Way to go mom for giving it your best. To me that is awesome because our bodies are awesome and we can come together to support each other and our strength. This woman is selfless for continuously providing her child for 6 years with these awesome nutrients. Still giving up her breasts when ever her child wants. More than likely she probably pumps as well. To me what this woman does is completely selfless even if she does it because she isn't ready to give up the nursing relationship I think it's obvious the child doesn't want to give it up either so it's not as if she's being forced. The question we should ask ourselves even if we don't see ourselves nursing our child at the age of 6 would we down the women who do? Do we look at it in disgust? Or do we support it and love the will that this mother has?....when you answer that I believe you'll know how much or how little you actually support breastfeeding. 

Yay for 6 months and our 2nd BF goal!

 

12-17-2014 Berran turned 6 months old. My baby is already half way to his first birthday, nooo! He has grown so fast and I am still not ready for him to get any bigger. He is my sweet little tiny baby that needs to stop growing I wish I was able to stop the hands of time for all of my children. Time goes by too fast and they grow even faster.

 

Berran is such a happy baby although his spoiledness has been coming out much more than it ever did before. He used to put himself to sleep during his day times naps if I was busy and unable to let him latch, no more. Now he HAS to latch on or HAS to be held to nod off to slumber land. He used to chill the entire time I cleaned the house unless he was hungry or needed a diaper change but not now. He loves to have my attention now more than ever before, rather it be me carrying him, talking to him, letting him latch on, or just him seeing me near by its almost always a must.

 

Lucky me he still isn't an awful child that cries a lot or seems overly spoiled. I can still get my house cleaned, dinner cooked, home work done and everything else inn between while giving him the attention that he needs and without him throwing a complete fit.

 

He is still in the bed with us. He was always in the bassinet until his reflux got bad when he was still small so we put him in the bed to be sure we heard him and reacted fast because he would choke a lot. Once it improved he still slept in the bassinet when he first went to sleep but when he woke up he was placed in the bed to nurse and I left him there to nurse as he pleased. Now, he just goes to bed when we do but the past 2 nights I have laid him down in the bassinet until he woke up because it WAS nice to have the bed to ourselves again, but I wouldn't trade his cuddles for anything.

 

Berran is now sitting with support, he has found his feet and puts them in his mouth all the time. Berran loves his pacifier and has began to follow it with his eyes when we dangle it in front of him and he will grab it and put it right back in his mouth. He thinks Braxton and Broox are hilarious. Speaking of Broox he finally admitted that he loves Berran to Berrac and I but its a secret and we are not supposed to tell anyone especially not Braxton. Anyways, we haven't been to Berrans 6 month check up yet so I am unsure of his weight and height but he is a chunk that is for sure. I gurantee he is 20 pounds or more. He seems to do more and more each day and he keeps a smile on his face!

 

Along with him being 6 months means we have reached our second breastfeeding goal! I really have had many problems this go around mastitis, clogged ducts, over supply, low supply. Luckily I have over came every single one. I do notice some weeks I have a lower supply, I no longer freak out as I did the first time it happened, instead, I heat up some oatmeal, throw in a little flax and brewers yeast then take fenugreek 3 times a day until its back to normal. So far those things seem to do the trick and I haven't even had to make the lactation cookies.

 

I am proud to say my baby has not had one drop of formula. It is amazing knowing that my body has nourished him since day one and still to this day my body is what is continuing to nourish him. With this being the 6 month I am supposed to introduce baby food. I think I am going to hold off until he begins to show interest. He still doesn't seem too interested in food and not to mention he was 5 weeks early so I feel as if he could use the extra 5 weeks before being started on food.

 

I have attempted some table foods like potatoes, sweet potatoes, bananas and peaches and he did like the banana and peaches but he did not chew or keep them in his mouth well and would not try to grab them himself.

 

Also, this is my third child and it was never brought to my attention that the baby food is NOT supposed to replace feedings but the food is supposed to compliment a feeding. I love that I know this now because I do not want our breastfeeding to drastically decrease. Once we do start food I will nurse first and then offer baby food. So, to you mothers out there who didn't know, there ya go!!

 

I plan on nursing him as long as he pleases. Yay to a happy, healthy exclusively breastfed 6 month old baby!

Lactation Cookies

Here is the recipe for some awesome lactation cookies and they are yummy too! I have no idea on the source someone gave me this recipe so no it's not my own and I do not take credit but here ya go!

 

My week of low supply aka breastfeeding week from hell

I thought clogged ducts were awful then I got mastitis and really didn't think I was going to survive that but the physical pain of those two combined cannot come close to the emotional pain I felt when my supply dropped. 

I have always had an oversupply since Berran was born it took almost 6 weeks to not pump 6-8oz after every feeding or not have to pump after a feeding to avoid clogged ducts. Even after that I had a good supply so the last thing I would think of is it dropping.

It was the weekend which is when I work. Friday night I pumped my normal 10oz. Saturday night I went into work early and pumped 8oz. The next time I pumped it was 7oz. He doesn't usually eat at night time so I wasn't worried about the 1oz drop the second time I pumped. After that last pumping session it was like my boobs never filled back up. I thought maybe he had been eating more while we were napping that day since he sucks like im his pacifier, so after we woke up and my supply never returned I began to freak out. 

What did I do wrong? Why is my supply dropping?  I'm drying up! He is going to wean himself! All my plans to nurse until he is a toddler was gone. Needless to say I was really worried and it was ONLY day 1! Luckily I have plenty of people I can turn to for help and support throughout my breastfeeding journey. I feel like having breastfeeding support is important. 

I pretty much knew what all I needed to do. As soon as I noticed the drop I had him nursing as much as possible everything else could wait. If he wouldn't latch when I wanted him to I would pump. I was drinking mothers milk 3 times a day and increasing my water intake. We spent 2 full days in the bed nursing. I noticed a slight change but not much.

The third day I went to the natures way store and Kroger to purchase fenugreek and items to make lactation cookies. I began taking the fenugreek immediatly 3 pills 3 times a day. As soon as I arrived home I made the cookies (will provide recipe in another post). I probably ate about 6 that night because they were SOOO good and I couldn't stop at 2 or 3!

By the next morning I was amazed that my supply had drastically increased. It was back to normal. By day 3 of fenugreek and lactation cookies I almost had an over supply. 

I have stopping nursing non stop, the tea and I haven't made another batch of cookies but I am still taking the fenugreek 3 pills 1x a day. My supply is still going strong. I plan on finishing the bottle and then seeing how I do once I come off. 

Hopefully all continues to go well but I'm glad that I was able to not stress out TOO bad and did everything I could to get my supply back up. If this happens to you a few other suggestions is brewers yeast in pill form and flax seed in pill form as well.

Nursing in public

Nursing in public is a fear of so many women. They fear what othesr think or maybe you're modest and fear showing too much. I have known women who would formula feed and go without pumping because they didn't want to pump anywhere outside their house or feed around anyone except people they were comfortable around. Even with a cover some people still choose not to nurse in public. 

Then their are women who use a blanket or a cover. Atleast that way the baby is getting fed breastmilk and the breasts are covered. That makes women feel a little better about nursing in public and it usually reduces the stares, or does it?

I have 3 boys my oldest was formula fed, my middle son was mostly exclusively breastfed but over the course of 12 months we probably supplemented with about 3-4 cans of formula so I like to think I done good, and for this child he is exclusively breastfed. I have had my fair share of experiences with nursing in public.

Of course with a bottle no one cares and no one stares so with my first there was no problem. Then with Broox I had no problem nursing in public anywhere and every where but I did so with a blanket. I didn't have a cover so I just used a blanket instead. Yes, it was a little hard at first but once I got the hang of it I was fine and did so comfortably. I never had anyone make comments but while getting him latched on and everything fooling with a blanket definitely drew attention our way but I didn't care my main concern was getting him fed who cares what others think.

With my newest son Berran we no longer worry about a cover. I nurse in public without one and have found it is much easier and I feel as if I was doing it all wrong with Broox. I always wear a tank under my shirt and when he is ready to eat Pull down my tank and bra, get him in position and raise up my shirt and he latches right on.

No one has ever noticed me doing this and so many times I've had to tell people they cant hold or see him because he is eating. I even had a doctor examine him while he was nursing and she didn't even realize he was eating until I said something so yes it is discreet.

Us as mothers must know that our boobs are not sexual the world has just sexualized them and yes it is fine for you to few them as a sex symbol during certain intimate times but really they were made to nurture and feed our babies. It is not wrong to feed your baby in public, it is not gross, you are not trying to get attention or any of the above. You are trying to feed your child which is 100% natural and beautiful. A woman's body is remarkable we are able to make and carry a child and then continue to provide him with nutrients as long as we desire. That is just amazing to me and for some one to feel ashamed of nursing in general or in public, that saddens me.

So, for all you women who are scared or feel embarrassd nursing in public find a way that is comfortable to you. Practice in the mirror and in your house. Start nursing in small places out in public. Before you know it you will no longer feel that way and more than likely will graduate to no cover. Let's all come together and naturalize breastfeeding!