It’s World Breastfeeding Week which means we’re celebrating the absolute awesomeness of our milk machines!
Breastfeeding is such an incredible experience but it’s also unbelievably difficult and can be a source of stress and shame for so many of us. It really is a full-time job, especially during the first few months when you feel like you’re constantly rotating between breastfeeding and expressing.
We have plenty of resources on Mum Central to help you with every step of the breastfeeding journey including:
- Real Mums’ Breastfeeding Questions Answered
- ROUNDUP: Best Breastfeeding Products for Mums
- BREASTFEEDING TIPS: 9 Things We All Worry About When Breastfeeding
However, this year we wanted to turn our attention on our own Mum Central readers. Rather than celebrating breastfeeding, let’s celebrate ourselves for overcoming so many obstacles to feed our babies.
There is a lot of negativity out there, both for not breastfeeding long enough or for breastfeeding too long. For breastfeeding in public or for choosing to feed with a bottle.
Seriously, we cannot win.
Haters gonna hate. Mummas gonna feed their babies.
So, this year we’ve collated all that negative speak into one post. Comments our readers have submitted that have left them rolling their eyes and probably feeling a bit shit. Comments we’ve probably all heard once or twice ourselves and comments that make breastfeeding even harder than it already is.
Feel free to read some of the negative comments our mums have received regarding their breastfeeding journey.
Then feel free to raise your glass high and toast those haters because it’s your body, your baby, your breastfeeding journey and they can all go root a boot.
Cheers to us, mummas, this week during World Breastfeeding Week, and every single other week, whether breastfeeding or not. We’re doing what’s best for our babies and we’re doing it despite the stupid comments out there.
Mums Speak: The challenges that come with breastfeeding
But then there are the positives
Ladies, these are only some of the comments our readers submitted. But now let’s take a minute to celebrate the little wins and the positive things about breastfeeding.
Like when you finally manage to express more than 30ml into a bottle!
Or when bub actually latches properly for the first time.
When you manage to massage a big egg out of your milk duct BEFORE it turns to mastitis.
When you accidentally squirt your partner in the face with milk during sex and you both end up in fits of laughter.
How about when your baby finally takes a bottle and you can sit back and watch your husband’s eyes well up with tears as he gets to experience feeding his son?
Or how about when your toddler looks up at you in the middle of a feed and lets out a cheeky grin, as if to say, “Thanks Mum, you’re the best.”
And when you decide it’s time to stop and realise that, hey, you’ve got your boobs back again. Sure, they look like stepped-on pancakes, but, hey, at least they’re back!
These are the breastfeeding moments that matter. No one really talks about them but these are the ones we should be celebrating.
Happy World Breastfeeding Week mums. Don’t forget to take a moment today to congratulate yourself on your feeding journey, regardless of whether you breastfed for three days or three years.
