Celebrating World Breastfeeding Week

This week is World Breastfeeding week (August 1-7th). I saw this post on So Fawned and was inspired to write a little here too. In fact, I had a similar incident happen just this week, so I thought I would share it.

I ride a lot on buses these days, not only because I have no other mode of transport and because it's much better for the environment, but also because I really enjoy it. But Leela has always had the interesting habit of wanting to nurse whenever we are in any moving vehicle and buses are no exception. As soon as we sit down, she asks for 'baboo!' and simply insists on it!

I normally don't mind breastfeeding in public at all, except sometimes I can feel a tad self-conscious - ESPECIALLY when I've had to take a sideways facing seat at the front of the bus with the entire bus passenger audience in full view! I've never had comments before, but it does make me wonder if it's making people uncomfortable, or curious even. This is more so now that Leela is a toddler as it is pretty unheard of around these parts to breastfeed beyond maybe a few months (if at all).

So the other day, off we went on the bus to Narberth and quickly got many admiring looks and friendly chats to Leela from some dear ladies who were sitting opposite us. Sure enough, maybe 10 minutes after we left town, the cries for 'baboo! baboo! BABOO!' started, with Leela gazing up at my hopefully. The usual chuckles from co-passengers ensued as they thought she was just being cute and had no idea what a baboo was. At first, I blushed and tried to show her things out of the window or some other distraction. In the end I gave in and discretly allowed Leela access to her baboo.

I waited, wondering if the ladies would go quiet or mutter something to each other.

And they did, but audibly.

One said to the other 'oh, she wants to breastfeed! Isn't that lovely. It's so natural. That's wonderful.'

After Leela finished, the lady leaned over towards me and said 'it's so lovely to see you breastfeeding, really!'. I was so touched and felt proud, as I always try to, of the choice I made to breastfeed.

It's not always fantastic though, as over thepast couple of days Leela has been teething and so has been nursing for comfort a HECK of a lot. My nipples feel pretty sore at times like these, when I feel like there's more time on the nipple than off! I remind myself that it will pass and the soreness will go as it always does. But even in that pain, there is something wonderful. I'm so happy that I can sooth my daughter so easily, so effectively when she is in considerable discomfort. It's amazing. I can't imagine my life without a mothering 'tool' that is so simple yet 100% guaranteed to ease even the worst suffering. I can manage the occasional discomfort if it allows me to have such a wonderful bond with my child. Isn't she worth that?

So finally, here's a list of a few more breastfeeding highs I've had since Leela arrived. There are so many moments, but here are a few:

• My first moment after Leela was born, when the midwife complimented her as a 'natural'. YES! Well done Leela (big proud mama moment!)
• The first time my great friend Moishe saw Leela when she was a few days old - I was nursing her - to which she exclaimed - 'Wow! That's a good latch!'. That made me smile and feel super confident!
• When Leela first gave her Teddy baboo! In fact, now she does is pretty regularly with any toy she loves. She started doing it with a car recently and then asked her Nanna to give the car baboo, to which she laughed 'what, you think there's petrol in there?!'
• Whenever Leela refers to her own 'baboos', she says 'baboo' (points to one nipple), 'baboo' (points to the other nipple) and 'baboo' and points to her belly button. Very cute.

I'll finish by just adding that breastfeeding has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. It has given me enormous satisfaction knowing that I'm giving my daughter the very, very best start in life. It's such a gift. I'm a firm believer that nearly every single woman out there is capable of successful breastfeeding, given the right support and environment for it. These things are crucial. I also had the added incentive of doing it for my travels to India as I couldn't imagine trying to bottle feed in such conditions. I had to succeed, so I made every effort to. It can take a LOT of effort, but believe me, it's worth EVERYTHING. Yes, it's tough at times (it was especially for me at the beginning), but given time, support and encouragment (plus a constant internal reminder that what you're doing is great and best for baby in every way) it's possible. And it could be the most amazing thing you've ever done. Period.

That's all for now. Happy World Breastfeeding Week!