Mommy Lesson #1: Smacking

After my milk came in, Ev and I had an amazing nursing session. I actually wrote "amazing!" on my nursing notes it was so incredible. It just went beautifully, and I was so proud of both of us. The next time feeding rolled around, I got a little cocky about my milk being in (and Everett being such a champ eater), so I let him do a lot of smacking in the process. I'd read this wasn't good, but I thought, "what's the problem? He's getting milk, it's not an issue." Boy, was I wrong. An hour or so later, the little guy had become inconsolable. We tried everything to get him to settle down, but he wailed at the top of his lungs for hours without fail. We'd never seen him like this. Our little guy hadn't so much as fussed to this point, so we were pretty much freaking out. There is an incredible helpless feeling that arises when your little one feels miserable and you can do nothing - and to know that you caused his pain. I figured out very quickly that my letting him go the entire nursing session smacking was the reason for his misery, and I can tell you we will never allow smacking again! My bad behavior will not cause him pain again!