As a grandmother and a LLL Leader, I have had to learn to allow the new parents to find their own way.
February 25, 2025
I am sitting at my desk looking at the digital picture frame with photos of my sweet grandson. Galileo is my first grandchild and who knows, maybe my only grandchild.
I have been involved in La Leche League ever since my first child, my daughter Courtney, was a baby- today is her 47th birthday! I became a La Leche League Leader shortly after my daughter reached her first birthday and have continued to be an active Leader all these years.
I had four sons after I had Courtney. All of them nicely spaced three years apart which I credit with luck and breastfeeding.
As you can imagine, my husband and I were delighted when our son told us that we were going to be grandparents!
This is not my daughter in law’s first baby. I asked her if she had breastfed before and she said she had not. I told her that I would support her decision whatever it was. She knows that I am an LLL Leader, so she is aware of my leaning toward breastfeeding.
As the baby’s birth got closer my son and daughter-in-law put together an online baby registry. When I saw “baby bottles” on the list my heart dropped. I was sad.
La Leche League came to my rescue. I told a long time LLL friend and grandmother to many babies about my feelings. I love her answer. She said, “I’ve been riding that train for a while”. Her grandson was not nursing and never had. She assure me that it would be alright and we just have to learn to keep our feelings to ourselves. So many of my friends have taught me the expression that many of us have holes in our tongues because we have to bite our tongue so often.
As the birth got closer, I mentioned the bottle feeding to my son and he told me “She’s going to pump”. Wow, that was something. I am sure my son was responsible for making sure his son would get breastmilk.
When Galileo was a couple of weeks old, my husband and I babysat so my son and daughter in law could go for her postpartum checkup. They left me a bottle of pumped breastmilk. Oh, I was so tempted to put the baby to my breast. I was curious to see if he had any idea what to do. I restrained myself. I gave him a bottle and we did fine.
We don’t live close to each other, so don’t see the baby as often as we would like.
All five of our children and their partners and spouses came home for Christmas this year. Meeting the baby was a big draw!
My daughter in law told me that she pumped for about five and a half months. Pumping was getting too arduous, and her milk was drying up. I told her that she did a wonderful job, and I was pleased and impressed that she stuck to it as long as she did.
My grandson is 8 months old now. He is a chubby, beautiful little boy and he is sprouting his first two teeth.
I truly believe that through all of the LLL work I have learned to be accepting and meet the parents where they are. How great is that!
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