Breastfeeding 365

Do you know one woman who breastfed her baby for one year? 365 days nonstop: her tittie in her babe’s mouth, nursing her little one for one year?  Could you call her on the phone? Text her? Read her journal?  Does she have a blog?  Is she in your family? Your sister, your own mother, mom, your cousin, your grandmother? 

Has someone actually ever done this before? Can she tell you how it feels?  Are you the only one on the planet that wants this and needs this time with your baby? What is it really like to have someone sucking on you every day, and every night?

You are so desperately needed by your baby as the primary if not the only source of nutrition.  What if your need to nurse your baby was just as great for your own health and well-being for making that gentle transition after the birth of your baby.  

We are mammals!  We provide a live birth with warm milk! We shift that fundamental foundational relationship when we substantially change and share the nature of our connection to our baby. We move from the private and hidden space of being  physically attached throughout the gestational period by the placenta.  In an instant the cord is cut and the continuous connection moves to seeing, sharing, feeling, tasting and nursing at our breast.  We enter the public space.  It’s just not calories in and calories in!  There is a compelling need for nourishment, comfort; nurturing; and soothing for emotional growth and development that takes place for both the mother and baby as a couple! 

  What did you get out of nursing your baby for one year? If you haven’t done it yet: what might you get out of keeping close to your baby and nursing your little one for at least 365 days after you have given birth. What would be the perfect 24 hour day with you and your baby?  Everyone seems to agree most days that mother’s milk is good for babies; but what is the supreme benefit for you as the mother to give your baby your milk from your breast? Is it good enough to simply supply the milk by any means necessary and be done with it?

How do you grow as a woman when you make the choice to become a mother? You are many things, but for that one year, just 365 days: being a nursing mother takes priority. You do what no one else can!  What other things must you balance to make sure that you both survive and flourish as a mother for that first year of your baby’s life?  

Some people feel we learn to love at the breast. How does this notion  feel to be your baby’s first lover? How does it feel to have your baby show loving and longing for you? It is so not a one way street.  It is a powerful symbiotic relationship that begins at the moment of conception and ends 365 days after giving birth. Can you allow yourself the gift of 365 days of breastfeeding your baby?

Please share your story.  Did you nurse your baby for 365 days in a row? What was your experience like?  When you didn’t get to nurse your baby just when you wanted to, how did that feel? Might you try to nurse your baby for just one year as an extension of your pregnancy?  It’s just 365 days!  If you had a few questions, who might you ask?  Would it help if you had some help; just a bit of support, someone to call, someone who knew what to say to give you some encouragement? We are here for you!