MY BREASTFEEDING JOURNEY - WHAT HAS HELPED ME

I have been breastfeeding for three years straight, I breastfed Winston up until he was 18 months and I breastfed Evelyn up until she was 18 months and I am currently breastfeeding Floyd. I never planned to stop breastfeeding once the kids turned 18 months, they both naturally weaned off and they both happened to be 18 months old. When I was pregnant with Winston I always knew I was going to breastfeed only because I thought that's what you do - Formula was never an option and it wasn't because I was against it or I think formula was bad, I just thought you only give formula to your child when they were over a year old and so I never looked into it.

My breastfeeding journey with Winston was good, apart from the first two weeks (grazed nipples - something you do not what to go through!) and other then that he fed really well, latched on without a problem and overall everything was good. My breastfeeding journey with Evelyn I felt constantly drained, I don't know if it was because I had two under two and I was breastfeeding both of them at one stage or it felt drained from breastfeeding. When Evelyn was roughly 6 months, she started to use me more as a dummy and that was when I started to get over breastfeeding but I just dealt with it and let her naturally wean off me, even though I constantly felt drained and I was over breastfeeding.

I stopped breastfeeding Evelyn a month before Floyd was born, so I was still producing breast milk in my right breast. The first day Floyd wasn't latching on as well as the other two did and when he did latch on, it felt like he had teeth! He latched on so hard, my nipples bled. On the second day my right breast had 'engorgement' and both of my nipples were grazed - I couldn't sleep at all because I was in so much pain and I was extremely uncomfortable. Five days later - Both my nipples are healed, my engorgement breast has gone down and he is starting to feed really well and more breastmilk is coming through.

I have made a list of things I swear by and that helped me a lot in the beginning of my breastfeeding journey and what is currently helping me through it - I hope some of the things that helped me can help you.

Cabbage -

My number one must have. What cabbage does is it helps naturally sooth your aching/swelling breast.

Tip - Buy a whole cabbage (because you will be going through it like crazy) and refrigerate it because it must be cold, and place a leaf in your bra and change it over after 1-2 hours or when you feel like you should.

Water -

Remember to drink lots and lots of water, and always stay hydrated!

Nipple Cream -

Nipple cream was something I really relied on when I had Winston and Floyd, my nipples grazed with both of them and nipple cream was my life saviour. The brand I use is called 'LANISNOH', I highly recommend this brand. After using the product my nipples would heal after 2-4 days and I would apply it after I showered and whenever I felt like I needed it.

Lactation Cookies -

I was a bit hesitate on trying lactation cookies because I didn't quite understand how a cookie can help with my milk supply but after doing my research, I settled on a brand that had great reviews and I thought would be best for me. The brand I settled on is called FRANJO'S KITCHEN and not only did it help boost my milk supply, it is so delicious! You must try out their 'CHOC CHIP LACTATION COOKIES'.

MAMA BODY TEA - MAMA'S MILK -

I am going to be honest with you I am not a tea fan, I have never been a tea drinker and I know nothing about tea. What drawn me to MAMA BODY TEA was seeing other mum's posting images of MAMA BODY TEA on instagram and so I decided to check out their page to see what it was. When I saw they had a tea that would help boost my milk supply, I was immediately interested and had a read on how it works and after reading other mum's reviews, I quickly jumped on the tea wagon.

It has helped my milk supply, my left breast had no milk coming through at all and after drinking three cups of the BREASTFEEDING - MAMA BODY TEA I started having milk come through! As for the flavour, like I said I am not a tea fan and I quite enjoyed the flavour.