Breastfeeding, A Wonderful Way To Show Your Love
When it comes to talking about breastfeeding, we could write about techniques, schedules, opinions, types of milk, nutrition, ages, complications, benefits for the immune system, our nipples, hormones, diet… But right now we are going to talk about how you show your love through breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding a baby is a wonderful way to show your love, an act of bonding between ourselves and our child to whom we want to offer everything. As Laura Gutman says, breastfeeding becomes simple once we realize that it is like making love.
At first, mothers and their babies need to get to know each other, connect, understand each other, and communicate. They should avoid putting pressure on themselves or rushing and try to put aside their expectations, advice they have received, and preconceived ideas about breastfeeding.
In order to breastfeed without any pressure, we have to reconcile the idea that it does not matter how long we do it for or how often, as long as the mother and her child understand each other. One day, their head will rest a little higher, another day our arm will hold them a little lower and at some point we may have to stop because we feel uncomfortable.
The point of breastfeeding is not only to give the baby food, but also to give them affection. This is a very important point. If we become obsessed with a desired outcome and want to adapt our babies’ sucking reflex to our expectations, we will end up hindering the first step towards breastfeeding.
When a baby is born, their sucking reflex is so alert that they only need to be placed near their mother’s nipple to be able to search and find it. This learning process is magnificent and the connection we feel with them right now truly feels like magic.
The fantasy of breastfeeding is that it is seen as a huge joy that makes a mother’s smell, heartbeat, warmth and voice keep pace with the rhythm of the baby getting their food.
In order for us to be able to enjoy the beauty of breastfeeding, we need time and privacy.
Once a mother and child get to know one another, a woman can find herself enraptured watching her little one suckle. This phenomenon is so intimate and so timeless that it requires privacy in order to be enjoyed.
The baby needs stimulation and communication with their mother, just as the mother needs to emotionally connect with her child. It is extremely important to give greater emphasis to love than to technique while breastfeeding, because it will be the first emotional imprint that marks our relationship with our children and the basis for the rest of this relationship.
In the event that we cannot breastfeed our baby, we must also pay attention to their facial expressions, gestures, touches and noises. Those little behaviors are their first attempts to communicate with us and tell us what they need.
The important thing to remember is that by breastfeeding we are offering a warm, full, and willing connection. Without rushing and without stress, because besides producing milk for them we will be able to give them a beautiful imprint of love during this first life stage.
For a child, their mother is always their favorite shelter and the most special emotional support. So we must enjoy this, because it would be absurd to deny them the breast because they have already been fed or because it is not a good time.
Love is not a passing feeling, love is an immense sensation that every mother and every child wants to be surrounded with. When a baby wants food, they also want warmth, affection and shelter, just like a mother does when she feels the need to hug her little one.
Since babies don’t know how to say “I want love,” they express it in characteristic ways at every stage in their development. That is why we only have to keep our eyes and our hearts open in order to understand that breastfeeding is above all the best way to show your love.
