Moomysmilk

🙈🙈🙈

Keeping a tiny human fed while forgetting I’m human too. 😅

Imagine hearing your baby cry and doing absolutely nothing.

Not because you’re unable to respond.
Not because your baby is safe in someone else’s arms.
Not because you’re asleep.

But because a sleep expert, book, or influencer told you that responding is the problem.

For thousands of years, mothers survived by responding to their babies. A crying infant wasn’t considered manipulative, spoiled, or in need of a lesson. Crying was communication.

Yet modern parenting culture often expects mothers to silence their instincts and convince themselves that comforting a crying baby is somehow harmful.

If your baby cries and every part of you wants to pick them up, that’s not weakness.
That’s not creating bad habits.
That’s not ruining your child’s future.
That’s biology.

The real controversy isn’t that some mothers choose sleep training. The real controversy is that we’ve normalized telling mothers to ignore their own babies and then act surprised when it feels completely wrong.

Your baby isn’t giving you a hard time.
Your baby is having a hard time.

And your instinct to respond was never a problem to begin with.

Some say pumping wasn’t breastfeeding.

So mothers who wake up every 2 to 3 hours to pump through the night aren’t breastfeeding?

The mothers who spend hours attached to a machine while everyone else sleeps aren’t breastfeeding?

The mothers who plan their entire day around pump schedules, wash endless pump parts, track every ounce, and carry coolers everywhere they go aren’t breastfeeding?

The mothers who sit beside their babies in the NICU pumping drop by drop, praying for enough milk to nourish their child aren’t breastfeeding?

The mothers who return to work and pump in supply closets, break rooms, and cars so their babies can continue receiving their milk aren’t breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding is not defined by how milk leaves the breast.

Breastfeeding is the act of nourishing your baby with human milk produced by your body.

Direct nursing and pumping may look different, but both require sacrifice, commitment, time, and love.

Some mothers nurse.
Some mothers pump.
Some do both.

None of those journeys are “less than.”

If your milk came from your body and fed your baby, you breastfed.

And no one gets to take that accomplishment away from you.

💛 To every pumping mom who has ever felt excluded from breastfeeding conversations: You belong here too.

Sounds about right. 🙈

A hungry baby nurses.
A tired baby nurses.
An overstimulated baby nurses.
A scared baby nurses.
A sick baby nurses.
A teething baby nurses.
A baby who simply wants their mama nurses.

One of the most surprising things about breastfeeding is that it isn’t just about feeding.

It’s comfort.
It’s connection.
It’s regulation.
It’s reassurance.

When the world feels too big,
the breast is often a baby’s safest place.

So if it feels like breastfeeding fixes everything right now, you’re not imagining it. For many babies, it really does make almost everything a little better. 🤍

Did you know that some studies have found a link between SSRI use during pregnancy and delayed milk production after birth?

Research has shown that mothers taking SSRIs may be more likely to experience delayed lactogenesis II, meaning their milk takes longer to transition from colostrum to larger volumes of mature milk.

Before anyone jumps to conclusions, it’s important to understand what the research actually says.

These studies show an association, not “proof” that SSRIs *directly* cause breastfeeding problems.

In fact, depression and anxiety themselves are also associated with breastfeeding challenges. Researchers have found it difficult to separate the effects of the medication from the effects of the underlying mental health condition.

What we do know is this:

- Some mothers taking SSRIs may benefit from additional lactation support in the early postpartum period.
- Delayed milk production does not mean breastfeeding won’t be successful.
- Many mothers taking SSRIs go on to establish a full milk supply and breastfeed successfully.
- Protecting a mother’s mental health is an important part of supporting breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is influenced by many factors, including hormones, birth experiences, infant feeding behaviors, maternal health, and mental well-being.

The goal isn’t to create fear around medication.

The goal is to provide evidence-based information so mothers can make informed decisions and receive the support they deserve.

Knowledge empowers. Support matters. Mental health matters. Breastfeeding support matters. 🩷

People say breastfeeding is natural, then expect babies to follow a schedule.

The funny thing about that is that nature doesn’t work by the clock.

No other mammal checks the time before feeding its young. No newborn arrives with an understanding of “every three hours” or “only five minutes per side.” Babies are biologically designed to feed frequently, seek comfort, stay close to their mothers, and nurse for reasons that go far beyond hunger.

Sometimes they nurse because they’re hungry.
Sometimes they’re thirsty.
Sometimes they’re tired.
Sometimes they’re overwhelmed.
Sometimes they simply need reassurance that their safe place is still there.

Yet mothers are constantly told that if a baby wants to nurse “too often,” something must be wrong.

If breastfeeding is truly natural, then we have to acknowledge that babies were never designed to read schedules. They were designed to communicate their needs, and nursing is one of the ways they do that.

A baby who wants to nurse often isn’t manipulating you.
They aren’t developing bad habits.
They’re doing exactly what human babies have done for thousands of years.

The problem isn’t that babies don’t follow schedules.

The problem is that we’ve forgotten what normal infant behavior actually looks like.

Motherhood is the only job where people expect you to work 24/7 and then criticize how you do it.

Breastfeed longer. Wean sooner.

Stay home. Go back to work.

Hold your baby more. Don’t spoil them.

Discipline more. Be gentler.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about what a mother should be doing, while very few stop to ask how she’s doing.

The truth is that motherhood is a never-ending job. There are no clock out times, no lunch breaks, no vacation days, and no performance reviews that tell you you’re doing a good job. Most mothers spend their days making hundreds of decisions, carrying invisible mental loads, meeting everyone’s needs before their own, and wondering if they’re getting it right.

Yet somehow, despite the exhaustion, the self-doubt, and the constant criticism, mothers keep showing up.

They show up at 2 AM.

They show up when they’re sick.

They show up when they’re overwhelmed.

They show up even when nobody notices all the little things they do every single day.

So if nobody has told you lately, you’re doing better than you think you are.

Your children don’t need a perfect mother.

They need you.

The mother who loves them, comforts them, protects them, and keeps showing up day after day.

And that is more than enough. ❤️

Some people hear “breastfeeding is beneficial” and somehow translate it into “formula-feeding moms aren’t good moms.”
Those are two completely different statements.