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The Breastfeeding Classes That Saved Me

After a nightmare experience with my first baby, I knew Breastfeeding Classes were in order to try to make breastfeeding less traumatic. Here are the breastfeeding classes that saved me and made nursing my second an absolute breeze!

Sharing Pieces of Parenthood

When I opened up about our infertility journey I had no idea that it was going to be the gateway drug into parenting blogging. I always thought I’d only ever write about marriage. However, infertility was such an integral part of our marriage for so long it just came naturally.

Then parenthood was and is so all-encompassing. It just felt so inauthentic to not share the ups and downs of parent life while we still navigate date nights and marriage. So here I am, almost four years into this parenting gig, writing posts I never thought I’d write and share publically. If my blog had superlatives like a yearbook, this post would be one that I would have once voted “the least likely topic to write about”.

Breastfeeding Journey

Breastfeeding always seems like such a hot button topic. I’m a firm believer that fed is best. I’m an infertility warrior that didn’t trust her own body for years, and I wasn’t sure my hormones would pull through and even let breastfeeding happen.

I’ve seen so many friends want to and not be able to. I have friends who breastfeed each baby for years and are given condescending looks and comments about being too crunchy. You’re shamed if you feed in public, shamed if you used bottles, and it’s just one of those things that people seem to have so many feelings about.

Onlines Breastfeeding Classes.

When Breastfeeding Doesn’t Work Out As You Hoped

There’s a full spectrum of it all, and I’m a firm believer in you do you. You do what works best for your health and your baby. And if breastfeeding didn’t happen for you or the way you hoped it would, I salute you for any effort and for knowing what’s right for your family without a shred of judgment.

Because I almost didn’t make it the first time around. I had every reason to quit. And oh my word do I understand that sometimes it just isn’t going to work and sometimes people stop for very good reasons!

Breastfeeding Problems

But I have felt for years I should share my experience with breastfeeding in hopes that it can help even one person struggling. Because I’ve been through one hellish experience and one fantastic experience, and there’s one thing that made all the difference between the two.

For me, it was knowledge. I went into my first go around having taken birthing classes, reading everything about labor and delivery, and feeling so prepared to bring a baby into the world. But I had very little knowledge about nursing. Actually had almost zero knowledge about nursing. Consequently, that lead to a rough experience that left me crying in pain the first month of my baby’s life.

I have circulation problems, and those manifest themselves in nursing in the worst way. It takes a while for my milk to come in, and it takes a while for my body to letdown. Not a big deal now that I know that, but in the first few days, it’s particularly rough to make colostrum come and my oldest child was just starving.

Newborn Latch Problems

I didn’t know how a correct latch worked, I just knew they should latch. Newborns are like little piranhas ready to latch but need a little training. If you let them go on their own, the latch is almost always wrong, which leads to a lot problems. I’ve had friends tell me about nipple detachment, damaged tissue, and raw painful bleeding for weeks. I had the latter. Every latch after the first few days of damage hurt for almost a month.

I often broke down crying, and the baby would have to wait a minute or two for any milk to come thanks to circulation problems. He’d rip off crying and screaming, I’d cry in more pain and emotional distress, and it was all just a hard time in my life.

I honestly don’t know how I got through it, minus the fact I really wanted to make it work, and I just kept forcing myself to try every day.

Breastfeeding classes online.

Figuring Out Breastfeeding

I’m happy to report after a month we dropped the nipple shield, my body started to heal, and my baby learned to latch like a champion! The pain went away, he learned to be more patient, and nursing became a positive experience. Which was a good thing, because for the first six months of a baby’s life you may feel like all you do is sit on a couch or in a chair and feed them.

Finding Breastfeeding Classes

About three months into nursing successfully I found an Instagram account run by a lactation consultant and was drawn to her tips and stories. It was how I was spending most of my days, and it helped me feel so much less alone. This particular girl has a course you can take all about breastfeeding basics.

And at this point, I entered an Instagram giveaway and won the course! I was ready to take breastfeeding classes, even though I felt like we were through the hardest part.

Even though I felt like I knew what I was doing, I watched the course just to be sure. The entire thing was mind-blowing! I couldn’t believe how much I didn’t know. There were so many moments of “Wow if I’d have seen this before my first baby, I wouldn’t have had a month of tears and pain!” I was in shock just how informative and useful it was both medically and practically. It was a tool and resource I think every new mom should see!

I continued on nursing having a positive experience. We made it for 14 months successfully, and no one was more shocked by that statistic than me!

Online Breastfeeding Course

Online Breastfeeding Classes That Made All the Difference

With baby number two, I went in knowing this could go either way. I had a lot more knowledge. However, I also knew I had circulation issues. I’m pleased to report we got the latch down correctly instantly with my second. I watched the Breastfeeding Basics online breastfeeding course a month before baby. Then I watched it again a week before, and again while in labor as a review. I owe the awesome latch to the course!

Because of my knowledge and confidence, I was able to talk to the hospital lactation consultant and ask about circulation problems. She showed me how to massage to get better circulation faster. It worked! Everything went faster and smoother with baby number two.

Sure there’s a bit of an adjustment, there always is, but I couldn’t believe the difference some knowledge and relativity made for me!

Excellent online Nursing Classes.

Nursing Class: What to Expect in Breastfeeding Class

For this online class, I watched chapters that walk you through anatomically what is happening. It also goes through how to get started, how to troubleshoot breastfeeding problems, and what to expect from pregnancy to weaning. There are videos showing just what to do for visual learners. I loved reading, hearing, and seeing step by step practical information.

The class took just over an hour to complete. It was the best time and money spent to make nursing so much easier with my second child!

Online Breastfeeding Classes

I now gift this class as a baby present to close friends and family. Its something I recommend to everyone who asks in person! I’ve had friends go through it and get to the bottom of issues so quickly they are able to fix them before there’s more pain or overwhelm.

I’ve heard breastfeeding described as the most unnatural natural thing. And truly, it’s amazing what knowledge scientifically and emotionally can do to save anyone from that hard transition trying to figure it all out!

So if you’re someone who found this post because you’re having issues with nursing, or your someone who is an expecting mom or knows an expecting mom, I can’t recommend this online breastfeeding class enough! It got me through two babies! It gave me the tools to know my own body. And it empowered me to successfully nurse my babies.

photos by: Photography Hill

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One Comment

  1. Mom Succeeds says:

    Great information! I wish I had known about that online class when I had my kids because my experience with breastfeeding wasn’t good at all 🙁 But I will share it with other moms!