There are a ton of reasons why mothers should breastfeed; however, there are reasons not to breastfeed as well. Granted, a lot of those reasons deal more with convenience than anything, but it’s important to know both sides. I’ve been wrestling with the idea of discontinuing Ian’s breast milk, but I haven’t made a decision yet. Either way, here are my thoughts.

Pro-Breastfeeding
One of the main reasons I like breastfeeding is it help you lose the baby weight faster. Seriously, this is not a myth. Ian was born about 4 weeks ago and I’ve already down to 205 lbs. I was 217 lbs when the doctors weighed me back in July 2006 when we first found out I was pregnant. I’ve lost 12 lbs more than I initially had! My ultimate goal is to get below 180 and if breastfeeding can help me do that, I’m going to try it.

I’ve also heard that breastfed babies are less likely to die of SIDS. Anything I can do to try and prevent this from happening to Ian, I’ll take. Like I’ve said before, there is no way to prevent SIDS, if it’s going to happen, it’ll happen; but if there is anything I can do to reduce the risk, I’m all for it.

Breastfeeding is so much cheaper than formula. A 25.7oz can of formula is $23. Granted, that makes about 31 – 6oz bottles, but if you’re lucky, that’s a weeks worth of formula. Although, I have thought about this, and if it only costs $23 a week for formula, than that isn’t too bad considering that Jesse and I can spend that on one meal. However, Ian is only taking about 4oz of formula at the moment and that amount is going to start increasing soon. I mean, they don’t make those 10oz bottles for nothing, right.

There are a bunch of other reasons why to breastfeed, these are just the top three in my opinion.

Pro-Bottle Feeding
It takes half the time to bottle feed Ian as it does to breastfeed him. I can spend 40 minutes to breastfeed him or I can spend 10-20 minutes giving him a bottle. At 3am in the morning, how much time would you want to feed him?

I know how much he is getting. For all I know, he’s only getting about 3oz of breast milk out of me, but if I just gave him 4oz from a bottle, than I know he’s getting 4oz. There is no guess work to it.

It can be very inconvenient to bare a breast depending on what you’re wearing. Tank tops and yoga pants have been my fashion statement since Ian was born. It’s a lot easier to feed Ian in a tank top than a pull over shirt. Button down shirts are fine, but not to wear around the house.

The Boppy
If you’re going to breastfeed, I strongly recommend getting one of these. I know I know, a pillow that you already own would work too, but it wouldn’t work as well. The thing the Boppy has going for it is that it’s a lot thicker than a lot of pillows. If you have the same problem I do (large breasts), then you definitely want to get one of these. Breastfeeding is not luxurious, it can literally be a pain in the back. Since it does take a while to breastfeed, you want to make sure you’re comfortable and holding an 8lb baby up to your breasts will get tiring after awhile; so you’ll get in the habit of bending over a little so you can rest him on your legs or knees or on the pillow. By having the Boppy, you don’t have to bend over as far. Sorry if I’m sounding like a commercial, but I’ve used a pillow when my Boppy wasn’t nearby and I found that I was having to bend over more so Ian could eat and I could still be comfortable (although honestly, it’s not really that comfortable bending over, but it’s more comfortable than holding him to my breast for a long period of time).

The other nice thing about the Boppy is you can still use it after you have switched over to formula. It can also be used for tummy time and as a recliner for Ian. Obviously not at the moment, but once he outgrows the one he has now, I’ll still be able to use it to help prop him up or to give him leverage while he’s on his tummy. It’s very versatile. Alright, I’m done with the advertising. :)

In conclusion…
I’m still breastfeeding and the plan is to continue until Ian is 6 months old or starts getting his teeth in. There are definitely times when I think this will be it for breastfeeding, but I can’t get past the positive aspects of it. If it’ll help me get to the weight I want to be, if it’ll help reduce the chance of SIDS and allergies, etc etc, than I’m going to keep doing it. The reasons going against breastfeeding just do not stack up against the reasons for breastfeeding. So for now, I’m going with the sore nipples.