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1. How much your wardrobe is effected
Unless your going to be a recluse, you will need to feed your baby while your out of the home. You also won't always be in the homes or company of family. It's much easier to be discrete and feel comfortable breastfeeding in public if you have clothing whereby it's very easy to expose your nipple - and discrete such that all that can be seen is a child's head against your chest. Doing it this way I didn't feel the need for covers. Honestly - I find covers difficult to use. But perhaps since I didn't see the need- and I didn't use them - that's why.
Everything seems difficult the first time, and by the 3rd or 5th time you wonder what you worried about in the first place.
2. How much it does affect the relationship between baby and Dad.
From mothers eyes and perspective, breastfeeding exclusively does mean that your up at night sorting the kid out - and there's no point for two people to both be up at night for this activity - 2 sleep deprived people does no one any favors - hence what ends up happening is that one person can very easily end up doing everything once they've figured out and mastered the kid.
The witching hours were bad - when she would scream and carry on from 17:00 til 22:00 and I would be certain it wasn't milk and it wasn't poop in the diaper or whatever it was. Perhaps, looking back, it was all the milk I was consuming causing her tummy issues. But, that being said, surely and certainly she'd eventually took less time to settle and I'd either turned her into or figured out she was a motion junkie, and I got the knack. But that was from experience. Of battling the battle (alone) and not giving up.
3. How easy it is
Once you get the whole thing sorted all you have to do is zip your little nipple zipper and pop her on.
It's easy until about 3 months and they realise there's a world around them. Then all they want to do is look at said world. Until they get Hangry and then after you've forced their cranky whingy mouth to suck, 10 sucks in they realise oh yeah, I am hungry, and they feed better - feel full - and promptly fall asleep.
Ruining the "eat, play sleep" routine you'd been working on up until that point.
4. How you need to really plan when your going to have alcohol if your not going to have any whilst breastfeeding (which you really shouldn't). It just becomes so easy to nurse baby when they're tired or grumpy or whatever for a "quick fix" - when you should be waiting 2 hours because you've had a drink. So it's easier and better to leave the baby at home when I want to have a drink, and be away from her.
Also, how much I miss alcohol. I rarely drank before - but I like the taste. Just a sip will do. The guilt factor isn't great, however so.
To me I suppose, it's like any diet - any restriction - when you can't have it I miss it more than when I can choose just to have a little.
5. How "tough" your nipples or nerves must get through the process -
In quotation marks because if you feel them with your fingers they aren't any "tougher" or harder than they were before. Almost as though I'd lost sensation or perhaps my brain has been conditioned to block out the sensation. ... Slowly slowly the baby gets bigger and slowly slowly they chew harder and harder until when they're 5 mo old and your thinking about starting solids and they munch on your finger (?teething maybe) and you realise. shit baby, you have quite a suck on you.
6. How amazing it is
The pride, and joy that you get from watch a child be nourished purely off the back of your hard work and skill.
It's quite a feat.
Unless your going to be a recluse, you will need to feed your baby while your out of the home. You also won't always be in the homes or company of family. It's much easier to be discrete and feel comfortable breastfeeding in public if you have clothing whereby it's very easy to expose your nipple - and discrete such that all that can be seen is a child's head against your chest. Doing it this way I didn't feel the need for covers. Honestly - I find covers difficult to use. But perhaps since I didn't see the need- and I didn't use them - that's why.
Everything seems difficult the first time, and by the 3rd or 5th time you wonder what you worried about in the first place.
2. How much it does affect the relationship between baby and Dad.
From mothers eyes and perspective, breastfeeding exclusively does mean that your up at night sorting the kid out - and there's no point for two people to both be up at night for this activity - 2 sleep deprived people does no one any favors - hence what ends up happening is that one person can very easily end up doing everything once they've figured out and mastered the kid.
The witching hours were bad - when she would scream and carry on from 17:00 til 22:00 and I would be certain it wasn't milk and it wasn't poop in the diaper or whatever it was. Perhaps, looking back, it was all the milk I was consuming causing her tummy issues. But, that being said, surely and certainly she'd eventually took less time to settle and I'd either turned her into or figured out she was a motion junkie, and I got the knack. But that was from experience. Of battling the battle (alone) and not giving up.
3. How easy it is
Once you get the whole thing sorted all you have to do is zip your little nipple zipper and pop her on.
It's easy until about 3 months and they realise there's a world around them. Then all they want to do is look at said world. Until they get Hangry and then after you've forced their cranky whingy mouth to suck, 10 sucks in they realise oh yeah, I am hungry, and they feed better - feel full - and promptly fall asleep.
Ruining the "eat, play sleep" routine you'd been working on up until that point.
4. How you need to really plan when your going to have alcohol if your not going to have any whilst breastfeeding (which you really shouldn't). It just becomes so easy to nurse baby when they're tired or grumpy or whatever for a "quick fix" - when you should be waiting 2 hours because you've had a drink. So it's easier and better to leave the baby at home when I want to have a drink, and be away from her.
Also, how much I miss alcohol. I rarely drank before - but I like the taste. Just a sip will do. The guilt factor isn't great, however so.
To me I suppose, it's like any diet - any restriction - when you can't have it I miss it more than when I can choose just to have a little.
5. How "tough" your nipples or nerves must get through the process -
In quotation marks because if you feel them with your fingers they aren't any "tougher" or harder than they were before. Almost as though I'd lost sensation or perhaps my brain has been conditioned to block out the sensation. ... Slowly slowly the baby gets bigger and slowly slowly they chew harder and harder until when they're 5 mo old and your thinking about starting solids and they munch on your finger (?teething maybe) and you realise. shit baby, you have quite a suck on you.
6. How amazing it is
The pride, and joy that you get from watch a child be nourished purely off the back of your hard work and skill.
It's quite a feat.
