For so many women, having our children is one of the most memorable moments of our lives. They fill us with so much joy from the moment they are born. That tiny baby that brings out Oooh’s and Ahhh’s from everyone makes us feel so needed and necessary to their survival. What is traumatic about that? Read on.
Honestly, yes it is one of the best times of our lives, but it can also be the hardest for lots of breastfeeding mums!
25 years ago I gave birth to my first son, he was everything I had dreamed of. I was a 31 year old serving Police Officer and could handle anything. I couldn’t be happier. I would look at him in awe that something so small could make me feel so incredibly happy. That did not last as long as I would have liked. Within a few days of breastfeeding I began to feel the physical pain of his latching. It became toe-curling until my midwife noticed and intervened, helping me get him to latch correctly. All better I thought.
Wrong again! Next came the 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰! My tiny little son, who I loved with my entire being began to scream. Yes scream is the right word. His tummy ache was so bad he had no other way of letting me know. Problem was, I didn’t know what was causing it and had no idea how to stop his pain. Breastfeeding was so important to me, my mum did it, my two sisters before me did it, yet I was struggling. Even my mum had said to me, “you can’t go on like this”. Why? What was I doing wrong? I was exhausted, stressed and fractious which didn’t help.
I tried Infacol, fed it to him an hour before I thought he would be ready for a feed, taking away the element of demand feeding. I felt useless, how could a tiny little baby make me feel so INADEQUATE!
When I felt I could not take anymore, my sister sat me down and told me I was doing nothing wrong. She had experienced the same feelings of inadequacy with her daughter. Wow, what an eye opener. It did not stop my sons colic but it certainly made me feel a whole lot better about not being able to eliminate his pain. I relaxed and persevered.
After 12 hard weeks I finally figured out what was causing his tummy ache – pastry. Whenever I ate pastry he was so much worse. Anyone who says that whatever you eat whilst breastfeeding has no impact on your baby is totally wrong and I would suggest has never breastfed a child. What you eat is fed to your baby through your breast milk! Identifying what I was eating combined with his growth eventually brought an end to the misery and I swore if there was ever anything I could do to minimise that trauma for other breastfeeding mums I would, hence Mothers Love Tea for Colicky Babies arriving in the U.K.
The fact that I still say I was traumatised is an indication of the difficulty I and lots of other breastfeeding mums have experienced. I love my sons, they are my world, but I can not forget how difficult that time was.
You don’t have to struggle. You can enjoy your breastfeeding experience. Reach out, Clean Tea can help with our Mothers Love Breastfeeding Tea for Colicky Babies.
Email me at Elaine@cleantea.co.uk or visit our website www.cleantea.co.uk for further information.
Elaine.