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Breastfeeding Expectations – Mothers Unite!

Breastfeeding expectations

Motherhood is hard.  Especially since so many of us mothers have unrealistic expectations of ourselves.  Such as having a spotless home, cooking from scratch for every meal, having perfectly behaved children, blah blah blah.  Even without those expectations, it’s hard.  We have these tiny people who look up to us for everything, who we have a responsibility to raise.  Why don’t we give ourselves a break?  Give ourselves some realistic expectations – and some realistic breastfeeding expectations? That seems fair.

Breastfeeding can be hard.  Some of us are blessed to be able to nurse with minimal trouble, while others have to really invest lots of extra time in order for their babies to have breast milk, whether it’s from the breast or from a bottle.  Some mothers just are not able or willing to make that investment.  Some mothers are just flat out unable to nurse their children.  That’s fine.  Ultimately, you need to do what’s right for your baby.  What’s right for your baby is that they are fed, either by breast or bottle.  What’s right for your baby is that you love them, whether you breastfeed or bottle feed.  What’s right is that we mothers are there to help each other, no matter how we feed our children, no matter what differences there are. Not all of us will give Junior a “milkshake,” but all of us should be willing to go to the end of the world to make sure that our children know that we love them.

So let’s stop comparing ourselves to others, start judging our successes by a different measure, and stop judging each other because we do things differently. A mom giving her kid a milkshake doesn’t make her a bad mom.

What breastfeeding expectations did you enter motherhood with? How have those changed?


Melissa Mendez is the blogger behind Cloth Diapering Again, her blog about cloth diapering, parenting, and going green.  She is married to an amazing man, with whom she has three children.

 

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