Comments on: The Breastfeeding Challenge

By: Monique

Monique — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 10:53:37 +0000

Proud of all the moms who made changes to their habits. Although I do not use my phone while nursing, I do wear it in my pocket. Close to her head so changing that immediately!
Not distracted by my phone, but I do find it challenging to keep my focus now my 9 month old baby is turning into a active adventurist! Especially at the end of the day, she just wants to play and look around. I struggle with the insecurity that comes with this. I am constantly thinking and busy with negative chatter in my mind “is she drinking enough? Will she be able to sleep? What can I do to calm here? I can’t seem to calm her down! “ Etc etc
I did a little experiment and wanted to share my experience: I wanted her to drink as much as she could in the two minutes of focus that she currently has and I just focused and visualised my milk flowing into her mouth. Like a strong solid stream. And you know what happened? It happened and felt so strong that my baby actually got so much milk that she choked at first as she had to work harder to keep up. That never happens! So THAT is the power of 100% attention!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Wed, 01 Jan 2020 21:02:29 +0000

Hi Janet!

Thanks for all of the work that you do – it’s so important and game-changing. I’m pregnant with my first child currently and am familiar with your work as I read a great deal of it when I became a step-parent six years ago. Of course, I want to use the RIE approach with our new baby as well!
I love the idea of keeping your attention on your baby while breastfeeding, spending time with them, etc. However, I have pretty severe ADHD and am not able to take medication while pregnant, nor will I be able to when breastfeeding. As such, holding my attention to one singular thing, even my child that I adore, is a challenge that is not always achievable or realistic for me. Do you have any suggestions on how to ensure that my baby knows I’m there and am mindful and focusing on them, while I’m also focusing on other things too? I’m all for not using my phone, but I was wondering if listening to an audiobook or podcast could work (I use this a lot for when I have to sit still or remain on task already) – essentially I’ve found that I just need to distract the part of my brain that is distracting me from what I want to focus on. Any tips would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

By: Hazel Cassidy

Hazel Cassidy — Mon, 18 Mar 2019 12:49:01 +0000

I never used my phone or watched telly while breastfeeding – my daughter is now 18 months old. And you know what she is and always has been the most efficient feeder. I always put it down to not having any distractions while feeding. My daughter never fed for longer than twenty mins on each breast (mostly just ten mins on each) and she emptied each one and was able to go for about 2.5 – 3 hours as a newborn without another feed. And of course as she got older and better at breastfeeding she was soon going 4 hours without a feed. It made night times much easier and meant we settled into a routine very early on. I might just be lucky – I do think she is the most relaxed child but again this could be down to our use of RIE from the very beginning. Thank you Janet (and Magda) – without your wisdom I suspect things would be very different.

By: Julia

Julia — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 02:59:57 +0000

In reply to khope. I don’t think so, but it’s nice of you to think of a way to be inclusive! I bottle feed but I keep my baby close to my breast while feeding and try to foster as much of the connection as possible, so I wanted to read this post knowing there’d be something there for me too!

By: janet

janet — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 04:47:06 +0000

In reply to Marika Ouellet. Aww, I love that, Marika. Thanks so much for sharing. You're a wonderful parent!

By: Marika Ouellet

Marika Ouellet — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 01:51:50 +0000

Ok so I read this after my baby was asleep tonight but I’ve been on my tablet the past few nights and the baby wouldn’t fall asleep while nursing as usual. Tonight, I closed it and told him “I’m right here with you” and he fell asleep almost instantly.

Definitely never going to use it again while nursing!!!

By: Surya

Surya — Sat, 20 May 2017 10:58:50 +0000

Awesome felt so me while reading your post .very well expressed and put into words kudos !!

By: Nina

Nina — Sun, 07 May 2017 10:49:19 +0000

YES YES YES! Already for 7 months I am enjoying to breastfeed my daughter, and right from the start I intuitively detested my slight addiction and use of my phone while breastfeeding. I started off with throwing my iphone out of reach if I caught myself with it. For me it’s a meditation. I solely focus on my daughter, to BE with her, SEE her, enjoy feeding her, nursing her, spend time with her. Time flies, it’s a cliché but true. I don’t want to miss it by being half present and half inside some facebook or whatsapp distraction! I love this challenge, although for me by now it is ‘normal’. 🙂

By: Marie

Marie — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:23:52 +0000

As my baby grew older, I noticed he would get restless if I used the phone while feeding him. Now I use the quiet time when he feeds (we are down to one feed before bedtime) to meditate – he sleeps much better.

By: janet

janet — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 14:28:50 +0000

In reply to Emily. Wonderful! Well done, Emily!