Nursing at the Speed Limit
Maria V. H.
OK USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 19 No. 9, July-August, p. 131
My daughter Marta's howls
filled our small car. Sitting in the back seat next to her, I nudged
a pacifier into her mouth. She promptly spit it out. Next I offered
her my finger. She sucked on it once, so hard I thought she would pull
off my fingernail. Then she pushed my hand away. I knew that determined
look on her face. She wanted Mommy's milk and only Mommy's milk. But
we were zooming down the freeway, half-an-hour from home, with nowhere
to stop and nurse.
Frantically I tried to remember
what I had read about breastfeeding safely in the car. My book even
included a drawing, showing a mother bending herself into all sorts
of interesting contortions to make her breast reach the baby's car seat.
I laughed at the picture when I first saw it. I never thought I'd actually
try anything so crazy.
Over my baby's screams, I
shouted to my husband in the driver's seat, "Are there any pillows
in the car?" The book had said something about supporting myself
with a pillow.
"What about your sling?"
he shouted back. "Couldn't you bunch that up under you?" The
sling worked even better than a pillow, being more flexible. I had discovered
still another use for my most essential piece of baby equipment. Someday
I'll write a book, "101 Uses for a Sling." With a little experimenting,
I found I could reach our baby easily.
Marta looked baffled when
she saw my breast coming toward her from such a strange angle. But being
very smart, and very hungry, she figured out what to do. Soon the only
sounds in the car were her contented sighs as she nursed. When we got
home I offered her the second side, and we settled in for a much-needed
nap.
Marta and I had battled our
way through plenty of other breastfeeding challenges, including a difficult
cesarean birth, thrush, plugged ducts, and food sensitivities. Through
it all, I kept the free samples of formula stashed in the back of the
closet just in case. Now I finally knew I could throw them away. If
I could breastfeed at 65 miles per hour, I could do anything!
Last updated Friday, October 27, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:03 UTC 2007.
