This is why I breastfeed

If you are a mother or mother to be, I am sure you have been overwhelmed with the current "Breast is Best" campaigns. Or at least I was. And while there ARE many, many benefits to breast feeding (immune system, supposed higher IQ, etc) those are not the reason I choose to breastfeed my babies. My reasons are much more self serving if I am being honest. The added bonus is the benefits Sadie (and Sophie) receive from being breastfed babies. And if I am being really really honest, I don't know if I buy into the whole higher IQ thing (which is a whole other post) so the only benefit I really care about is the immune boost.

So here is why I choose to breastfeed:

1- Lets start with the most superficial one: Weight Loss. It's been said that when you nurse your baby weight just melts right off. Well guess what? It does. Breastfeeding burns anywhere from 500-700 calories a day. Do you know how long it would take me to burn 500 calories at the gym? I would have to run for approximately 1 hour and 4 minutes! Instead, I burn it by sitting on my ass on the couch and watching TV. Guess which one is more appealing?

2- Sticking with the theme of Weight Loss, I also don't have to diet (aka watch my calorie intake). In the 2 months since having Sadie, I probably eat MORE than when pregnant since I am not longer restricted to the GD diet and I still lost all my baby weight and then some. In fact, I wore a skirt yesterday that I have not fit into since before I was pregnant with Sophie.

3- Bottles are my next reason. I hate them. Specifically, I hate washing them. Now, I don't get away from this completely because I do work but the number of bottles I have to have clean for each day is drastically reduced by nursing. I only need 3 a day. And believe me when I say that is all I ever hand wash at one time. If I wasn't nursing I would use 8 a day. No thanks!

4- Speaking of work, I pump when I am away at work. Which means 3 times a day I get a break from work. Normally, other than my lunch, I would probably not take any actual breaks during the day. But since I have to pump when Sadie would normally be eating, 3 times a day I get to retreat to my own little office and take a break from my computer screen. I just sit there and play on my phone and let the pump do the work

5- Leaving my house is easier while nursing as well. I don't have to worry about how long I will be gone and if I brought enough formula to sustain my chunk of a kid. I really only need myself and maybe a nursing cover if I remember to bring it. I always have an endless supply of food on hand with out any extra work from me.I like it when things are easier on me!

6- Instant cry stopper. Nursing isn't just good for food. It is also good for comfort. When Sadie cries, I nurse her. 9 time out of 10 she calms down and stops crying. It is definitely my go to because crying babies are no fun.

7- This is probably the #1 reason why I breastfeed. SLEEP! I am not a nice person when I don't get enough. I love my sleep. I would sleep in every morning if I could. I would go to bed early every night and I would take at least one nap every day if my schedule permitted it. Now, I have heard that breastfed babies don't sleep as long of stretches as formula babies do. I wouldn't know. This is because when Sadie gets up to eat in the middle of the night I simply bring her to bed with me, latch her on and promptly fall right back to sleep. Since she doesn't cry I assume she eats and falls back asleep too. I usually wake up about an hour later with her using my boob as a pillow. When I was dealing with PPD a few weeks back before I got medicated, I contemplated stopping nursing. I was going through all those emotional and didn't like feeling tethered to the baby and was having a hard time feeling like me. I thought to myself, if I quit nursing then others could feed her and I could get out of the house. The one thing that kept me holding on was that I didn't want to give up my nightly nursing. Mostly because I didn't want to get up and actually have to fix a bottle while Miss Sadie became even more awake because she was hungry. I'm glad I held on too because it's worth it.