If you say the word “breastfeeding” in public, watch out! Has it happened to you? If you’re around men, they tend to get kind of uncomfortable. If you say it around women, they may take sides or have very passionate opinions, either for it or against it. There seems to be no neutral ground about it. But I’m sharing ten reasons why I love breastfeeding here on the blog, even though it was hard and even though it’s not always popular or easy to share.
In my own family, my mom was a sort of lactivist in the 70s and 80s. After my younger sister and I became moms about 1 year apart, she feared sharing with me that she (gasp!) gave her baby a bottle with formula. She later shared that she thought mom and I would make her feel bad. That broke my heart! But, if we’re honest, I think she was right because of our vocal excitement and endorsement of breastfeeding as the “best option!”
We all happily get along and there are no hard feelings about the choices we made with how and what we fed our babies. Our boys are tweens now and very happy!
We could debate all day long about the pros and cons of breastfeeding; the positives and negatives, the “it doesn’t matter what you do as long as mom and baby are happy.”
I recently shared my own story of what started as a beautiful breastfeeding journey, but then took a pretty scary detour. You can read my breastfeeding story in this post I wrote for the Houston Moms Blog!
Check it out here below:
Breastfeeding Almost Killed My Marriage by Coppelia Acevedo for Houston Moms Blog
In spite of the not-quite “horror” part of the story, there are (at least) ten reasons why I love breastfeeding! Yes, to be honest, it was hard, but I’d do it all over again! (Also, thanks, Joanna Gaines, for making me want to have another baby in my 40s! lol!)
Ten Reasons Why I Love Breastfeeding
1.Gazing into your sweet baby’s face. Those are still some of the sweetest memories of nursing both of my babies.
2. Holding tiny baby hands. They’re so soft! I loved it when my babies wrapped their tiny hand around my fingers and held on for dear life. It was amazing.
3. Cuddling. Gimme all the cuddles! Even now, I’m all about cuddles and snuggles on the couch or at bedtime! 
4. Cute nursing-friendly shirts. They don’t even have to be “specialty” nursing shirts. I bought larger size tanks or camis, layered with button downs or cardigans and done! Here’s my Amazon affiliate link, in case you’re interested in checking out some tanks!
5. Cool & edgy nursing covers! My friend Mel and I found black covers with skulls that we thought were SO COOL! My 6 year old daughter to this day thinks skulls are edgy and cool (what did we do?!)
6. Feeling awe at what your body is capable of doing! (God knew what He was doing!) Here’s my Amazon affiliate link to a book that was one of my go-to breastfeeding resources.
7. Instant calm! (Sometimes all baby wants is a little mommy’s milk!)
8. Seeing baby doze off after nursing. So sweet! (Shout out to my hubby Adam for being the best daddy, keeping watch over our babies and me because sometimes I dozed off after a breastfeeding session, too!)
9. Sharing a special bond just between you and baby. (This could have been number 1 on the list. It’s an amazing bond and I’m incredibly thankful for it.)
10. ALL the health benefits of breastmilk (like this list from the World Health Organization!)
I truly hope in sharing these reasons it’s more a celebration of breastfeeding and nothing else. I agree that everyone must make the decision that is best for them and their babies, according to their particular and unique situations.
Please share your thoughts and comments below! I’d love to hear from you, if you have breastfeeding stories to share or have any questions.
Laughing (and celebrating) thru life,
Coppelia