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Today is all about breastfeeding, specifically direct breastfeeding! We are talking about the pros and cons of directly nursing your baby.
There are no rules to this or anything like that. We are just talking about moms that rarely use bottles of breastmilk or formula.
We are not talking about good or bad as far as nutrition, we are talking about practical advantages and disadvantages.
When you go into breastfeeding you can choose to do so primarily directly if you are with your baby the majority of the time. If you are going to be away from your baby often for work or whatever reason, then this is likely not the route you will take.
If you do not want to get stuck directly nursing your baby until they are weaned then make sure to introduce a bottle.
Ok, let’s get into the BEST parts of DIRECTLY NURSING your baby.
BEST Parts of Directly Breastfeeding
1. No Washing Bottles
I love not washing baby bottles. Have you ever been to a new parents’ home where you see bottles everywhere?
They are on every end table, coffee table, and in every room.
The sink will be littered with clean and dirty bottle parts and pieces everywhere.
I find it very overwhelming!
Washing bottles is a huge task when you are a new parent that is exhausted, overwhelmed, and sleep deprived.
For me, this was a huge win with direct nursing my baby. We had very few baby items in your kitchen if any. That was one room that did not get taken over by baby items.
2. No Washing Pump Parts
I am not here to tell you how to feed your baby. I am just saying that by directly nursing a baby you get to skip the task of washing pump parts. This, just like washing bottles, is a huge chore.
Now if you are a mom that has to return to work pumping may be necessary for you and that is ok. I am here to advise the stay-at-home to keep up with directly nursing their baby to avoid washing pump parts. It is soooo nice!
3. Pride in Feeding Your Baby
I am not here to shame bottle feeding via pumped milk or formula. Baby needs to eat and that may mean more or less work for you as the parent.
I will say though that during postpartum and all those endless days and nights of caring for a young baby I did feel proud of myself for breastfeeding.
It was a positive feeling during a very trying time.
My body first created this baby and then my body was solely responsible for nurturing this baby.
It made me feel very useful. It made me feel important.
Those feelings were helpful in getting through the postpartum period.
4. Less to Pack for Outing
I loved directly nursing my baby because all I packed in the diaper bag was a burp cloth and nursing cover.
I still had the typical diapers, wipes, extra outfits, etc.
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But as far as feedings I did not need to pack or measure formula. I did not need to have bottles and water available. I did not need to thaw, and transport pumped milk.
Directly nursing your baby means you always have milk with you and available at the right temperature.
As long as I had a nursing cover, I was comfortable feeding my baby anywhere and would be comfortable giving them a bottle of milk.
5. No Stress of Measuring or Temperature
When my baby was 4 months or 8 months I couldn’t tell you exactly how many ounces they drank in a sitting. I just nursed them until they were done.
I didn’t have to make bottles and guess how many ounces were just right for them.
I feel like this is a positive to breastfeeding that gets overlooked.
As parents, we have to make so many decisions and we question ourselves. Are they getting enough milk? Do I need to add an ounce more? Are they spitting up because they are getting too many ounces?
When creating bottles of formula or thawing frozen breastmilk you may be concerned about giving baby milk at the right temperature.
With direct breastfeeding, this is a non-issue. I never had to worry about the proper temperature.
When it comes to nighttime feedings in the early months direct breastfeeding is beneficial for these reasons. I could walk straight to my baby and immediately nurse them. I did not have to make or warm up a bottle of milk.
They did not have time to wake up more fully.
I could nurse them right back to sleep, give them a quick burp, and crawl back into bed. I did not have to deal with a bottle during the night. I also did not have to deal with dirty bottles in the morning after a hard night.
These are my 5 positives to directly nursing your baby. Next, let’s jump into the negatives or the worst parts of directly nursing your baby.
WORST Parts of Directly Breastfeeding
1. Never Getting a Break
As a direct breastfeeding mom, I did not worry about using the bottle …like ever, so my baby became dependent on me. They would not take a bottle.
This meant I was my baby’s primary source of food during the first year of their life. This meant I did not often get a break away from them.
I had moments to run to the store or do a few errands while my husband cared for them at home, but I couldn’t be gone for too long. It got a little easier once solids were introduced too.
It can be emotionally and mentally tiring to be so attached to your baby and not get long breaks to be away.
2. Complete Dependency
As I said before, my baby was very attached to me. The first 6 months they were completely dependent on me. No one else could fill that role, not even Dad, because they wouldn’t take a bottle.
3. No Plan for Emergency
This was one reason I regretted not introducing the bottle. When I was about 2 months postpartum with my second child I ended up in the hospital with an infection.
This put a huge amount of stress on my husband.
He did his best to get our 2-month-old to take the bottle and brought her to see me at the hospital as much as possible for her to nurse.
I believe I was admitted from Friday to Monday. I had my pump with me in the hospital to maintain my supply and sent milk home with my husband when he came to visit me.
Luckily we only live 5 minutes from the hospital.
Honestly though, it was quite stressful. I felt terrible knowing he was struggling to get her to take a bottle.
If you directly breastfeed primarily, I would recommend you still do the occasional bottle to keep that as an option.
4. Body is Still Committed
If you breastfeed your body is not your own. You are sharing it. Now sharing it is beautiful and a privilege, but it can also be a lot.
You went through growing that baby in your body, giving birth, and now sustaining them with breastmilk.
You still have to think about them all of the time in relation to your body. Are you wearing breastfeeding-friendly clothing? Can you make sure to be back home in time to feed them?
You are still very attached to your baby via your milk supply.
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This isn’t a bad thing of course. You are naturally going to be with your baby the majority of the time. However, after having a baby you change. You become a mother. You are finding yourself in this new role, but it can be difficult when you still have a baby attached to you.
5. Relationship with Spouse/Children
A negative to directly breastfeeding is the impact it has on relationships.
My nursing our baby prevented my husband from giving bottles. That was of course our choice, I recommend you pump and have your spouse do bottles periodically. By directly nursing though he did not have the opportunity for bonding with our new baby in that specific way.
When we had our second baby, I felt bad at times because a lot of my time went to our newborn which was hard for our toddler at times.
I couldn’t pass the baby off to dad or grandma when they were hungry, it was on me to feed them.
My husband was definitely the primary caregiver for our toddler when our second baby was little and frequently nursing.
Now I do want to end the negatives by saying we all have good and bad days with breastfeeding. These were the issues I ran into on the bad days.
I had more good days than bad. I do not regret my breastfeeding journey at all. I loved it!
I would recommend the occasional pump and bottle feed though for a break if you need it and the ability for the baby to be ok in an emergency.
Conclusion
I loved breastfeeding. I particularly loved direct breastfeeding and avoiding time wasted washing pump parts and bottles.
I would for the most part take the same steps in my breastfeeding journey with only a few tweaks.
Below this article, I will link several breastfeeding articles. These are personal experiences that I want to share to help other moms.
If you prefer videos check out my YouTube channel
Check Out My Articles
The Haakaa: a Simple, Affordable, and Effective tool for Breastfeeding Moms
The Top 17 Advantages of Direct Breastfeeding Over Bottle Feeding
Help and Support for New Moms During the First 2 Weeks of Breastfeeding
A Guide to The Four Stages of Breastfeeding and How It Gets Easier Over Time