We’re all in this together!

“Welcome to the Milk Mama Diaries Carnival (February). For this month, we focus on back to basics. Participants will share advices – either the best breastfeeding advice they received OR/AND the best breastfeeding advice they can give to new moms. Please scroll down to the end of the post to see the list of carnival entries.”

If you think breastfeeding is between a mom and her child, I’ll prove you otherwise. When we got pregnant, I made the decision to breastfeed knowing its health benefits and the amount of money we could allot for other things than formula. My husband was cool about it (especially the financial part) but the rest of the family, well, they were a bit apprehensive. No water?! No bottles?! No vitamins?! How will the baby survive?!

Being the nerd that I am, I read and read articles and blog entries regarding breastfeeding. I surely learned a lot! We also attended Breastfeeding 101 at the Medela House (where I diligently took down notes!) We then shared these pieces of information to the rest of the family. I could’ve made a brochure or newsletter but they might think I’m going nuts (but I now think it’s a good idea!)

Fortunately, everyone embraced the idea. My MIL bought me clothes suitable for breastfeeding, some aunts shared websites that talk about breastfeeding, my BILs knew the tell-tale signs when the baby wants to nurse. My dad got me malunggay chips and my FIL always sent viands with the miracle veggie in it. Whenever we will eat out, they would always make sure that we are seated where I could breastfeed comfortably. You get the gist… 🙂

So my advice dear mommies, get everyone involved in your breastfeeding journey! The more they know about what’s going on, the more that they’ll be supportive and sensitive. Share what you know to the people around you and your baby. Be upfront with your plans. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” holds true, even with a breastfeeding baby 🙂