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Today I’ve decided to finally open up about my nursing experience with all five of my babies. I know it can be such a touchy subject…as some women can’t breastfeed, some don’t want to and some babies just can’t get the hang of it and so on. But first off I want to say, there is absolutely no right or wrong way to feed your baby!! What you choose for you + your baby is the right choice for you and don’t let anyone or anything tell you otherwise.
To make a long story short I have nursed all five of my babies (from 5 months to 12 months) and all five experiences have been completely different from each other as every baby has come with their own personality and situation. I remember vividly feeling so much pressure with my first to only breastfeed. This ended up being one of the hardest challenges for me as a new mom. I hated when it came time for her to nurse. I dreaded it because the pain that came with it was so excruciating. Like I basically bled for the first 10 days. (I know too much info but I want to be so honest here.)
I ended up calling a coworker five days in to nursing asking for any help or advice and I remember her saying “make it to day 10 and that they will be a game changer!” (and she was right!) It was still a huge struggle and I so badly wanted to just give my baby a bottle at times but I felt like such a failure if I did.
A few days later I was at my moms and still struggling with the whole nursing thing + beating myself up about wanting to give her a bottle. (why do we do this to ourselves?) Right then my mom said she had had enough and was going down to the store to buy formula and she did!! We fed hunter a bottle that night and in that moment it was like all the pressure had been released — like I had gotten permission for my baby to have a bottle AND nurse and it would all be okay.
I think the amount of pressure we put on ourselves (or we hear and read from others) can be overwhelming!! After that night I learned there was no right or wrong way to feed my baby and that I needed to do what was best for US.
Fast forward a few more years and every baby has been completely different. I’ve had mastitis numerous times, and nursed right through it. I have pumped milk for one and nursed very little do to colic for another or formula fed and just flat out nursed one baby for months. And in the end alllllll of them survived and lived right through it. Haha. All and all, do what feels right for you!!
Well now you can search NO more, because they have the BEST nursing bras!! And I honestly think you will all love them!! I really didn’t think I could love a bra this much and ThirdLove has done it for me!! My personal preference and favorite I tried is the wireless. It is so soft it feels like it is hardly there. (wire what?) They have all different color options but I love their Naked 1 the best. It’s perfect for wearing under white tees + you don’t have to worry about it showing through.
I am just finished nursing Harper a few weeks ago(cue the tears), and this bra is the one and only I’ve been wearing!! I just ordered their regular/push up bra, because now I have nothing left. Please tell me I’m not the only one?! And after this experience, I know it has to be good! Now tell me if any of you have felt this way about nursing…or was I the only one? I’d love to hear your story!!
xx – kails
in partnership with ThirdLove
photos: corissa ann
I’ve had a great experience nursing, it’s come very easy and I’ve no challenges. BUT I overproduce milk which means my normal DD boobs are now a H-I size. My back is constantly in pain and wearing off the shoulder shirts/dresses are nonexistent. Lol! It’s makes nursing bras near impossible! I need support, but can’t find a decent bra that will fit and support. I have 3 months left until she’s a year, till then I have to put my selfishness aside and just deal with it.
I love that there should be NO judgment in regards to feeding, it’s YOUR decision! ❤️
You are a strong woman! I can’t believe the variety of challenges we each go through!
I love hearing other women write things like this. I felt so much guilt trying to nurse my daughter. She was on the border of failure to thrive from a tongue and lip tie that was undiagnosed. I felt like a failure and guilty all the same time. We did end up nursing some and feeding her formula and it was perfect for us. Once I let that guilt go it was so much easier to just enjoy her. We as moms put so much pressure on ourselves and it doesn’t help when mom shaming is involved. Thanks for writing this and letting others know that it is normal!
Thanks for your feedback Tracy! I really try to connect amd remind readers we are really all human and are going through the same crazy challenges! Thanks so much for being here!
I nursed until Behr turned one… and I never in a million years pictured me doing that! The first two weeks were AWFUL! I just silently cried during the pain. I felt like my baby was doing his job latching, my body was producing milk so I had to do my part. I am so glad I powered thru but man it was sooo hard and having to endure that pain every 3 hours was beyond hard. And now I have no boobs left Lol. Thank you for your honesty and reminding us all that there is no right or wrong!
Isnt it crazy how those babies can always prove us wrong?! Thank you so much for your sweet words amd your support here!
Same. Same. Same. I cried and cried when my husband wanted to give my daughter a bottle of formula because it just wasn’t right in my mind. I HAD to make all of the milk and I didn’t want him using my stored up supply. I was so greedy with my supply and hard on myself about effectively feeding her. Fast forward to when she was about 2 weeks old, he snuck her a bottle of formula when I went to take a nap and I felt so betrayed! But he only did it so I could keep sleeping and guess what?! She slept a longer stretch too!! It was a game changer and my
Life was never the same after that. FED IS BEST! I’m a NICU nurse and I preach this every day at work but when it came down to my own, giving her formula felt like I was failing. But when sista is hungry, feed her!
I couldnt agree more! Fed is best!! Crazy how we are usually the ones to put the most pressure on ourselves!
I am nursing my twin boys who are now 16 months. We are down to once a day in the mornings now. I know our nursing journey is coming to an end soon. In the beginning nursing was so hard! They were such little babies and needed so much help. One of our boys needed a nipple shield for weeks. It is one of the hardest and best things I have ever done.
It is such a bittersweet phase! You sound like such a strong mama for going through that! Thank you for sharing amd for following along here!
Gah I love this! It’s insane the amount of pressure we put on ourselves. I nursed our first 6 months… then with my second I planned to nurse the whole year bc I felt bad about just deciding to stop with my first only bc he was so distracted and took forever to nurse. Second baby was my WORST experience.. she could not latch on right.. I was convinced I could get through it and poor thing was so skinny, we made it BARELY to 4 months when I decided to give her formula bc I wasn’t making hardly anything for her and had the hardest time! Also suffered from some PPD and anxiety. But in the end it was best for her and my mental health! Just had my 3rd baby 5 months ago and I had all the feels of anxiety of him taking to nursing or not..(especially since my youngest are 15 months apart) it’s been so great so far! I have feelings of not wanting to nurse sometimes… but then I remember how badly I wanted this and love it again. Haha but having been on both sides I couldn’t agree more with however you feed your baby doesn’t matter. Whatever is best for YOU and your mental health AND your baby. Thanks for sharing I love following you! ❤️
Thank you so much for sharing Alex! I love this community we have where we can all kind of realize we are not alone! You do you is the very best advice! Thanks for your support here!
Thanks so much for sharing! I can completely relate to your first baby too! Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves? The thought of cracking the formula open made me feel like I was the worst mother until I did it. It was by far the most calming moment of my life ( not to be too dramatic!). Thanks again and love you blog!
Seriously Alexis! Why do we do that as moms?! So glad I am not the only one! Thanks so much for your kind words!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I can totally relate to this and feel many women can but the problem no one wants to talk about it in fear of feeling like a failure or being “mom shamed” which is so sad. I have two little girls, 2yrs old and 7weeks, and so far both have been completely different as far as nursing. With my first, I like you felt such pressure to nurse and bought it would just happen so naturally and easily and when it didn’t I felt like a failure. I also had the bleeding nipples and mastitis but came to find out my daughter had a tongue tie. After we had that fixed it was so much easier but she self weaned at about 10 months so I pumped and supplemented with formula until she was one. Now my second was completely different definitely had that soreness the first few weeks but since then it’s been a piece of cake and she’s a much faster nurser. Every kid is so different and like you said the best thing is fed and it doesn’t matter how that happens. Thanks for your honesty and openness 🙂
Oh thank you so much! You are ao sweet! I try to stay real around here and always want my readers to know we go through the same challenges and are here for each other!
I pumped only for my first, my second only nursed and now we are expecting our 3rd. I have already let everyone know that I will do what I want to do this time. It has already taken the pressure off of me. I know most of the pressure we feel is from ourselves, but man people love to offer unsolicited advice when you are caring for your own baby. Obviously, you did great as you have a beautiful family!
Way to be strong and tell them you are doung you! Love that!!
My baby will be one on August 9th. I so badly wanted to nurse her exclusively to a year, and always thought it would be so simple and easy. I had problems from day one. I had no colostrum and a baby that wouldn’t latch. To make a long story short, it took me an hour and a half for each feeding for about the first 2 weeks. I’d get her to latch with a shield, then we’d shove a little tube in her mouth (while latched) that was connected to a syringe of formula or milk, and gave her eat that way so she was still stimulating to help my milk come in. Then I’d have to pump, and whatever I pumped we put in a syringe for the next feeding… exhausting! Thankfully I made it through that, and was able to get her off of the nipple shield around 2 and a half months. When I went back to work at 12 weeks, I was then pumping 2-3 times at work trying to get enough milk, and towards 8 months I was only getting an ounce or two. After all of that I still felt so guilty about not making it to a year nursing, we stopped at 10.5 months.
This mom gig is not easy right?! Thank you so much for being so open amd sharing hour story with me! Its nice to know so many out there can relate!
Nice post kailee! I liked your nursing bra! I wanna buy this!
Thanks so much!!
Thank you SOO much for your openess and honesty. I wish I had read this when I had my first little one and think every new mom should read this. I nursed for the first few months then exclusively pumped until my little one was 14 months. Combined with 10 months of sleep deprivation it had me really rundown and I wish now that I would have just supplemented with formula from time to time to give myself a little break. We do put a lot of pressure on ourselves and mom-shaming unfortunately is all too common (from both genders) but ultimately the best thing is to do whatever makes for a happy, healthy baby and momma. Thank you again for sharing this! xoxo
Thank you so much for your sweet words! I totally agree that we put up with the judgement from others and ourselves too much and we just need to do what works best for our own personal situation. Thank you so much for following along and sharing!
Thank you for opening up about your experiences! I am nursing right now and am in desperate need of a good bra! I am going back to work and am going to need to pump. Is there an electric and/or manuel pump you would recommend? Thanks again!