What are the troubles of breastfeeding? 5 sad things about breastfeeding

I have been a wet nurse for 15 months. Looking back, I feel that breastfeeding requires tremendous persistence and perseverance. I don’t know how I, the lazy me before I became a mother, did it (it is true that a mother is strong). There are a lot of sad things on the road of breastfeeding, and there are a few things that I think are really hard and I want to share with you.

1. Milk chasing pressure

I think the initial milk-raising period is the most difficult period in my breastfeeding journey. I should have rested well after giving birth, but in addition to taking care of the newborn, I also had to express milk regularly. It was like living an extraordinary life. Outsiders may never understand how hard it is, and they always say: Ah, the child is going to sleep, so you should go to sleep quickly!

Please, when the child goes to sleep, I have to express milk. After expressing milk and washing the bottle, it’s almost time for the baby to eat. How can I rest? ? Because I was under too much pressure at that time, I often woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that I had overslept (I would get up in the middle of the night to express milk to increase milk), but I might have only fallen asleep for half an hour. Others will "inquire" about your breastfeeding progress: Do you have milk? Is the baby full? Do you need to supplement with milk powder? You are already worried about increasing milk, and this type of question is simply the last straw that makes the mothers collapse.

So I also implore everyone here, don't provoke the mother, please give more positive encouragement! The mother is already under great pressure because of the major changes in her body and mind after giving birth. Your nagging or talking too much can really kill people (it can be yourself or the mother, I'm not kidding).

2. Milk blockage

It is annoying to have less milk, and it is annoying to have more milk. When the milk production starts to increase, the mammary gland may become blocked. I believe all wet nurses have experienced milk blockage. The hard lump that cannot be removed no matter how hard you massage it may develop into mastitis after several days of entanglement. Not only will you have a fever and take medicine, but the milk supply that you have worked so hard to catch up may also decrease, which is another blow to wet nurses.

3. Time of being pinned down

When I go out, I have to rush home or find a place to feed/express milk when the time is up. Especially for new breastfeeding mothers, they have to do this cycle every 2-3 hours, which completely deprives them of freedom. Sometimes they just don’t go out. Even if there is a nursery when you go out, you often have to queue up (I sincerely hope that there will be more social resources for nursery equipment). The feeling of milk swelling to the point of bursting must be understood by breastfeeding mothers (tears)! I remember one time I went from Diamond Hill to Tsim Sha Tsui, and when I arrived at Harbour City, I thought I was saved, but the nursery was full, and I really waited until I almost cried.

4. Changes in breast shape and poor nipples

When you embark on the journey of being a wet nurse, you are destined to accept the ups and downs of your breasts. Your breasts grow from small to large. Of course, you will be a little happy at first about how good your figure becomes, but it is really scary to grow too large. Take my own example. Even though I haven't completely lost weight after giving birth, I am still considered thin. It is really scary to have two big breasts. Especially when the milk is swollen, it is really embarrassing to wear tight clothes (I really feel embarrassed), and wearing clothes becomes very restrictive. After experiencing the period of big breasts that grow and shrink, when the baby starts to strengthen and the production starts to decrease, the breasts that were stretched out will become smaller in an instant. In addition to becoming loose, it will also sag, making you feel that it is smaller than before giving birth.

The nipples are even more pitiful. Although I have gone through a period of adjustment, sometimes I would still be bitten by the little Tyrannosaurus unexpectedly, especially during the teething period. Many times, I screamed in pain.

5. Society’s strange eyes and lack of understanding

The incident of a taxi driver filming a breastfeeding mother that has been making headlines recently, it is understandable that some people still have a lot of misunderstandings about breastfeeding, and think that it is a very shameful thing?

Breastfeeding is a lonely road, and people may question whether breast milk can provide adequate nutrition for babies. Why are breastfeeding mothers so "fragile"? Because breastfeeding requires a lot of effort (chasing milk, expressing milk, inconvenience of going out, etc.), and hearing gossip from others is even more uncomfortable.

I also heard from friends that although breastfeeding is allowed during working hours, it is only for one year, so do I have to give up breastfeeding? Or colleagues start to feel resentful about breastfeeding mothers having extra time to express milk, but breastfeeding mothers don’t want to do that either. Who wants to spend so much time expressing milk and feeding milk every day? My colleague helped me calculate it, and I felt a lot of grievances in my heart.