Got milk?

These are only a few of the breastfed babies I know. I found out the hard way 5 1/2 years ago learning to breastfeed start from before the birth of the baby. For five excruciating weeks, I was dealing with nipple confusion because no one told me not to use a baby bottle to feed a newborn if I wanted to breastfeed exclusively. Not that I didn't have any knowledge about breastfeeding. I was an expert in theory. I subscribed to Babycenter to keep track of my unborn baby's progress. I read up on breastfeeding online, even viewed the video on how to latch on a baby to breastfeed. However, looking back there are so many things I would have done differently if I'd known where to get breastfeeding support.

1. Not to use baby bottle as it leads to nipple confusion.
2. Not to express too soon as the milk supply will get erratic (over supply!)
3. To cuddle and hold my newborn as much as possible and not be afraid of spoiling the baby.
4. Attend breastfeeding support group meetings to meet other breastfeeding moms. Nothing like actually seeing someone breastfeed.

What I know I did right was to read up a lot, whether online sites or books. A couple of books I found very helpful, not just on breastfeeding but on pregnancy and childbirth in general, were "What To Expect When You're Expecting" and "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding".

There are several online breastfeeding support groups in Malaysia, eg, Blessed Mums and Mymomsbest. There are also less formal groups like SAHP where I hang out.

There is never too much information. I found out that I needed to gather as much information as possible from all resources. However, I needed to sieve through what work for me and what don't.

After fumbling for 5 weeks with Laura and going through every possible hiccups with getting breastfeeding right with her, I went to see a Lactation Consultant, Christine Choong. Christine sat, listened and watched how I was holding and nursing my baby. Then she guided me through the proper hold and positioning of my baby. Suddenly, it all worked!

Christine helped me when I faced hiccups with nursing Adam too. Just when I thought nothing would go wrong, having breastfed Laura for 28 months and provided support to lots of moms who faced breastfeeding challenges, I found myself facing challenges nursing Adam 'coz he was born with a tongue-tie. I was devastated 'coz I thought I won't be able to nurse Adam. Fortunately, with support from my online buddies and Christine Choong, I was able to. Adam is going to be 29 months old soon and not showing any sign of weaning.

My son had his first taste of bowling a few days ago. He is quite good at it too. Laura started talking at 8 1/2 months and spoke in complete sentences by the time she was 1 1/2 years old. Do I think breastfed children are smarter? Without meaning to sound biased, I do.