The Breastfeeding Quirks That No One Talks About

Every mama has a favorite part of motherhood. Some love the gestation phase (or parts), some live for the baby shower others, like me, love breastfeeding. My daughter weaned about 6 months ago and it is one of the only things I miss about that time in her life. I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding, especially among black women because of our low numbers when compared to other racial groups. I truly loved breastfeeding but there are some downsides that no one really talks about. There are lots of ‘pain points’ but I’ll just highlight a few that I have personally dealt with.

Parts of Breastfeeding that No One Talks About

– Bleeding Nipples: In the beginning, most mothers and babies don’t know how to properly latch. Prior to becoming a mom, I never knew that there is a right and wrong way for your baby to latch on to your boob. I also didn’t know that them latching the wrong way is very painful and allowing them to do so too many times will result in cracked and bleeding nipples. Seeing literal scabs on my nipples broke my brain. This is when I discovered nipple shields and haven’t stopped talking about them since.

– Constant hunger: breastfeeding for me, and lots of women, means constant hunger. I swear, I was always eating or snacking while nursing. I had snacks by my bedside, on my infant care cart, and in my nursing bag for work. I was always eating. This is because BF takes a lot of energy. Women who are nursing should consume an extra 500 calories a day but I’m sure I ate a lot more than this.

– Sagging boobs: This has been a real sore spot for me. After breastfeeding the first time, I noticed that my breasts were very saggy and deflated. Most women see some sort of permanent change from pregnancy/breastfeeding. Some women’s feet get bigger, hips spread, or are left with stretch marks and loose skin. Some women are lucky to end up with fuller breasts while others like me end up with some missing. If any of these apply to you, you aren’t alone girl. We are here.

– Weight gain/ Loss: The same goes for weight gain and loss with breastfeeding. I believe BF helped me lose my baby weight, this is one of the often cited benefits of nursing. But what they don’t tell you is that you’ll gain all of that weight back and more once you stop nursing (if you don’t maintain healthy eating habits). For a few months after I stopped nursing, I just kept on eating like my body was still in that hunger-crazed lactation state. My scale quickly reminded me that things had changed.

– Mastitis: This is a special king of hell that most lactating moms experience. I more so dealt with this while commuting and pumping at work. A meeting going on long or not being able to step away from work in time leads to engorged breasts and sometimes clogged milk ducts. This is painful and can sometimes lead to body aches, fever, chills, and overall sickness. Other times you can get an infection. Pumping does help but you baby will be the best way to get the clogged duct out. After a good nursing session, some tylenol and a nap should help the other symptoms.

– Tiny teeth: I actually was warned about nipple biting by my mother in law back when our firstborn started growing teeth at 5 months. She said to me “She will bite you” and it literally blew my mind that this tiny, precious baby that relied on my boobs for food would betray them like that. And she was right. I don’t remember when but she did bite me a few times and it was awful.

– Clingy Baby / Clingier mommy: The bond BF creates is beautiful. Being the source of nourishment for your tiny human, sacrificing so much to be able to provide them with milk, and literally making the world stop so that you two can have your nursing moment is what makes BF such an amazing journey. All of this mother nature and alone time creates a very powerful bond. There will be months where your baby doesn’t want to deal with anybody else besides you. No one else matters. It can seem overwhelming, and you will be exhausted, but you won’t want your baby to leave your sight. The bond is so powerful.

So, Should You Still Breastfeed?

There are lots of complaints I could make about breastfeeding, but this is by no means to say that I regret it or would not recommend it. It’s the opposite actually. I consider breastfeeding to be one of the most important things I’ve done for my daughters and our relationship. There were plenty of times that I wanted to give up. I didn’t know if I would make it to the 1-year mark with my second daughter but I’m so happy I sucked it up and kept pushing for her. The simple fact is, even if you breastfeed for 1 or 2 years, it is such a short time compared to the span of your 70-80 year life. It might seem like this part is dragging on and you may wish for it to be over soon but, even without wishing, it will be. You can only be pregnant so many times, you will only nurse for so many months, they will only be little for a few years and then that time is over forever. Even though I had to deal with cracked nipples and being bitten, I wouldn’t change a single decision I made along the way. I have way more good breastfeeding memories than bad.

Breastfeeding Yelp Style Reviews

Here are some Breastfeeding Yelp reviews from my followers. Read our grievances, laugh, feel seen, and then get back to nursing mama! You can do this!