Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs
Through the weekly and daily devotionals you can be constantly encouraged in your great role of parenting, the highest career in the nation. You can also stay updated on what's happening with the Above Rubies ministry.
FOR THE NURSING MOMS
Are you currently nursing your precious baby? What a beautiful season of your life. I know there are many older moms like me who would long for the joy of nursing a baby again. For moms who have been nursing babies for years, it is so much part of your life. However, there may be new moms who are still conquering the challenges of nursing. Be encouraged, dear young mommy. You’ll soon get the hang of it, and it will be like breathing. If you are having a few challenges, don’t give up. Keep pressing through. It will be worth it all for the joy of nursing your baby.
Remember, this is who you are. You are a nursing mother. When Jesus answered the challenge of the Pharisees in Matthew 19, He said to them: “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matthew 9:3). The word Jesus used for female was different from the usual word that is used for women in the New Testament. It was a word that means “to su.ckle a babe at the breast, a su.ckling mother.” This was God’s plan from the very beginning of time. Your body was created for this very purpose to feed your baby at the breast.
Embrace who you are, lovely young mom. Nurse freely. There is a big difference between mothers who bottle feed and those who nurse from the breast. Formula forms a hard curd in the baby’s stomach and takes longer to digest and therefore the baby can wait longer before the next feeding. But breastmilk forms a very soft curd and your baby is often ready for another feed sooner than you think.
Please understand this most important point. Nursing a baby is not only for the purpose of giving food to your baby. Nursing your baby is life-giving to the body, soul, and spirit. You not only nurse your baby for food, but for comfort, satisfaction, and solace. Read Isaiah 66:10-13.
You may wonder why your baby wants to su.ck all the time. It’s not to drive you crazy. It’s not even for the purpose of a pacifier. The su.cking instinct that God gives to your baby has many purposes.
1. It keeps your milk supply going. The more your baby su.cks at the breast, the more milk you will make. Some young mothers are very concerned they will run out of milk. No, you will never run out of milk if you nurse frequently, and that means during the night as well. That’s normal breastfeeding. The only way you will run out of milk is if you lessen the amount of nursing.
2. Your baby will be comforted. You are satisfying much more than a physical hunger. Your baby su.cks for soul comfort too. Instead of pacifiers, cuddlies, and even headbanging, your baby will be totally satisfied.
3. You will have natural amenorrhea. The more your baby su.cks at the breast the more likelihood it will hold back your cycle. In countries where mothers have no idea of our western way of life, they mother instinctively. They nurse their babies often during the day and sleep with them at night and consequently often have up to three years’ spacing between their babies.
4. And the greatest blessing of all. You will be filled with oxytocin and prolactin, the hormones God gives to the nursing mother. Oxytocin is the bliss hormone, the hormone that calms you and eases stress. Prolactin causes you to become more and more motherly and a powerful protector over your baby. Don’t try to wean your baby too soon. Make the most of these glorious hormones. Feed your baby as long as your baby wants you. Enjoy your calming hormone for as long as you can. It maybe two years. It may even be three years or more. That’s normal.
So, lovely mommies, sit back or lie back and relax. Nurse your baby whenever he or she needs you. It’s such relaxing motherhood. It’s glory. It’s delight. And that’s just what the Bible calls it in Isaiah 66:11.
Be blessed abundantly as you live in the glory God intends for you,
Nancy Campbell
