Breastfeeding – Does It Really Need To Be ALL Or NONE?

I was reading the Stork Stories Blog the other day and it got me thinking – Does breastfeeding really need to be all or none? We all talk about the benefits of breastfeeding and we try to convince moms-to-be of them too – but is SOME breastfeeding better than NO breastfeeding at all?

The short answer is YES!! Any amount of breastfeeding that you do is good for you and good for your baby. When your baby is first born, he is getting your colostrum – which contains important antibodies to help prepare his little body for this world of ours. Even breastfeeding your baby for ONE DAY has tremendous benefits. One of my favorite breastfeeding articles was was written by Diane Wiessinger and is called “What If I Want To Wean My Baby.” It is a wonderful walk through breastfeeding from birth to toddler hood and everything in between. Diane highlights the benefits that your baby gets every step of the way. I often give this article to moms who are trying to decide if they want to breastfeed. And I also give it to moms who have had to stop breastfeeding (for whatever reason) to show them how proud they should be and what benefits their babies have gotten.

Lot’s of moms stop breastfeeding when they are preparing to go back to work. They either don’t want to or don’t think they will be able to pump at work – so they wean their babies in preparation for going back to work. What I wish more moms knew is that – THEY DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS! They can still breastfeed in the morning and at night, but bottle feed or supplement during the day while they are at work. While, I wish every mom could breastfeeding exclusively, they don’t have to! If they aren’t able to or if they choose not to -THAT’S OK!

It doesn’t have to be ALL or NONE!

I think this is such an important realization that many mom’s don’t even consider. A change in lifestyle or a desire for freedom or returning to work doesn’t mean that breastfeeding has to end. The more you breastfeed, the more benefits you and your baby continue to get. And you get those benefits even if you aren’t breastfeeding exclusively.

So what do you do if you want to stop breastfeeding while you are at work, but continue while you are at home? You will want to wean your body off of exclusive breastfeeding gradually. So slowly discontinue one feeding time and substitute that time with a bottle. Once your body adjusts, then drop a second time. After a few weeks, your body will know that you are only nursing in the morning and at night and not during the day and your body will make more milk at the times that you ARE nursing! Making breastmilk is an on-demand process, so when your baby demands it, your body will make milk and when there is no demand, your body will learn to make less milk.

What if you want to nurse during the day on the weekends, but not during the week? That is possible too, although a little trickier! The human body is an amazing thing and it will adjust to whatever schedule you tell it to. So if you want to nurse morning and night during the week and all day long on the weekends – this is quite possible – especially if your supply is well-established and your baby is a little older. You will probably get engorged on Monday morning when you go to work and may need to express a little milk to relieve yourself during the day. But the rest of the week, your body will adjust to no daytime nursing. Then on Friday, in preparation for the weekend, you will want to drink a TON of water! This is going to enable your body to gear up and start making more milk for the weekend – so Friday and Saturday – you will want to drink, drink, drink as much water as possible. After a few weeks or so of this schedule, your body will adjust and will start to make more milk only during the times that your body needs it!

Have you ever nursed part-time? What were your experiences? Please leave a comment and share them with our readers.

**Baby with bottle photograph is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License.**