breastfeeding

Pros: food is always ready, at the correct temperature, and free. Cons: you have to dress accordingly, it can hurt, you can't eat everything you'd like (/medication/beauty products)

Pro- you always have milk ready to go for baby, it’s a great way to calm a fussy baby, milk changes to meet baby’s needs, lower rates of post partum depression and some cancers for mom. Con- it’s physically demanding, there’s a learning curve for mom and baby so it might be difficult in the beginning, problems like clogged ducts, mastisis can happen, pumping can be time consuming

Also take a breastfeeding class and look for local breastfeeding groups. Support and information make a huge difference.

Pro: free, always available and always ready, the cuddles are amazing, it has significant health benefits for you and baby, you will never need to worry about calling your baby - just give them the boobie, it can significantly improve baby weight loss (definitely did for me), gives you mega endorphins, pumping means after the first 6 weeks or so you can share out the feeding duties if you want to. Also, when you finally stop, you feel like a superhero. Cons: hurts a bit at first, you need to get over the anxiety of having your boob out in public (took me a couple of months but then I didn’t care), it’s very tiring. Sometimes it feels really hard being solely in charge of all of your baby’s sustenance, but those feelings eventually pass and you just know you can do it. I’d read up on what to expect and how to combat any issues before they arise so you’re prepared 😊 I breastfed my bubs until he was 14 months, full time until 6 months then cut down gradually until he didn’t want it.

It's free, convenient, always available, it also adjusts for baby's needs including, antibodies. It's such a powerful parenting tool, poorly - boob, tired - boob, upset - boob. It is demanding, it can be hard work, it's all on you, unless you want to pump but then that's an extra thing for you to do. I'd recommend finding a local breastfeeding group to go along to and speak with other mums. Highly recommended la leche league!

Highly recommend reading the positive breastfeeding book, so full of down to earth truths from day one, gave me such a good understanding of what to expect, what’s normal and when to worry.

I recommend watching the Milky Way documentary (it’s free with ads on Amazon), get the womanly art of breastfeeding book, and spend some time on the le leche league website. What’s a pro/con for me might not be for you. But these things helped solidify my decision to start and continue breastfeeding. Good luck 👍🏾

Pro - you burn 500 calories a day 🤣 no more needs to be said

The main reasons I'm planning to breastfeed: No cost of formula No need for bottles No need to sterilise Can feed baby whenever, wherever, no preparation needed (I do plan to pump so my partner can feed baby too so I will need bottles and to sterilise buy that's a personal choice for me) Your body naturally produces the milk to feed baby to provide them everything they need