A mother recently shared her experience with ecological breastfeeding.
“My daughter and I have a beautiful breastfeeding relationship. I am still following all of the 7 standards, and I love nursing her so much. She is steadily gaining weight and looks and acts both healthy and happy with nothing but exclusive breast milk. Before and during my pregnancy, I heard so many breastfeeding horror stories that I think I was really paranoid in the first few months of her life. However, now I feel that I am trusting myself and my own intuition as a mother and allowing us to have our own pattern without feeling that I need to abide by so many different pieces of advice or recommendations in terms of frequency, etc. She and I nurse very frequently because that is our pattern. I have stopped counting diapers and feedings obsessively and tried to read her needs rather than focusing so much on the numbers. She is so beautiful and seems to be thriving so I have a lot more confidence now.
Thank you again for all of your advice and kind words; they really made a difference in my peace of mind. I have also really enjoyed the resources you recommended and feel so much more confident in breastfeeding and gentle parenting as a result. I will definitely keep charting and send in my chart if I have any further questions or if we have trouble conceiving our second child.
As far as the baby-wearing wrap, I absolutely love it and sometimes she isn’t content anywhere else but wrapped against my chest! It is a lifesaver during Mass and going out to restaurants, etc. She loves being a part of everything I’m doing, from dishes to laundry to walks to gardening, and she regularly naps in the wrap. I really love and agree with this concept of exterior gestation and it is completely aligned with eco-breastfeeding.”
Sheila: Baby-wearing is not one of the Seven Standards but I found a variety of carriers helpful when taking walks, doing certain activities, shopping, etc. with the baby.
Next week: Advantages of baby-wearing.
Sheila Kippley