Look at your baby with milk around their lips, with those beautiful sleepy eyes, as their eyelids softly flicker and as sleep overtakes them, they let go of the nipple and you see milk dribbling from their mouths. You, beautiful mama, have just given another meal of liquid love. May this heartfelt truth be enough for you to keep going.
I remember now with great humour, when at night I would take a bath and off would come the maternity bra and the breast pads. Immediately my nipples would spurt milk, and as my toddler was in the bath with me, he would be coming at me open-mouthed, trying to catch the fountain of milk and eventually land on my breast.
I also attended toddler swimming classes. Afterwards, in a changing cubicle, I would strip him of his costume and get him into his clothes. However, the moment he saw my breasts it was feeding time. He would latch on and I would get myself changed while he would feed until he fell asleep. The “ahhhs” from people when I came out with a sleeping tot: they didn’t know I was doing gymnastics in the cubicle, getting myself out of a wet costume, drying myself and getting dressed again with a toddler holding fast his rightful position on my breast.
Or the time as he was growing older and walking around a store in my town, he had a meltdown and demanded “booby”. I picked him up and laid him across me whilst still walking around the store. To my amazement, a lady walked by and commented how sweet, that he had fallen asleep in my arms. It wasn’t even in her mind that he was feeding.
There are so many happy memories for me, and I have no regrets. I did not take the advice of others, I listened to my child.
I also listened for when it was time to stop. He chose when. It was a slow process. Little by little there was a letting go.
So remember this and be heartened. Full term breastfeeding means YOU CAN FEED YOUR BABY/CHILD FOR AS LONG AS YOUR CHILD NEEDS IT. Not society, not relatives, not professionals, but your child.
Enjoy every precious moment, you are ensuring a lifetime of love flowing around your child’s body. Let teeth start to emerge, do not be afraid, trust. Let the months go by, let the years go by.
Let the love for your child be all the guidance you need. You are filling your child with liquid love.
Blessings to every mother, blessings to those who can breastfeed and the mothers who so wanted to but couldn’t for medical or other reasons. Blessings to all.
Sally Saint is a mother to an amazing 7 year old son, woman, healer, artist, walker of this path of life. She is passionate about natural parenting as it is in line with parenting from the heart. Her life has given her many experiences and she wishes to share and support others on this path. Her website is www.sallysaint.co.uk.
