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The work of feeding babies
In my backyard, I have 2 robin nests with babies. The one nest that I can most easily see from my kitchen window has 3 baby birds, who are looking pretty old now and I suspect they'll be flying away from the nest soon.
I was feeling sorry for that poor mama robin; it looks like all she does is feed those babies. Flying away to find food, then flying back into my apple tree to feed 3 rapidly growing and very noisy mouths. Then I realized that this is probably what nursing looks like to non-nursers. When our babies are very little, we ARE constantly feeding them. When we are looking at what the mama is doing, it always looks like she's feeding. I don't notice the mama robin when she's feeding herself, I only notice her trips in and out of the tree. I think that is what people are noticing when they see a mother & nursling - nursing, feeding, nursing, feeding!
And while it can sometimes feel like quite a lot of work, when I think back to the newborn time, it doesn't seem that bad. Mama robin, she doesn't know any different, so she just keeps on flying to and from the nest.
I can understand now why people are so quick to offer bottles when they don't really understand (or have the patience for) how breastfeeding operates. It really does look like a lot of work. But the investment is worth it.
Penny
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Tuesday Tip: Breastfeeding in hot weather
When it hot outside questions mothers...
Jun. 18 2013 read more
Comments
Milky Way blog
Beautifully said Penny. Just these past weeks, I too have been watching our own nesters in our carriage shed, and their parenting, constant feeding, and the Mom and Dad partnership never cease to amaze me. They have my full respect and admiration, as do our Human Moms.
Thank you for such a moving and thoughtful piece.
Melissa Munro
Motherlove
One evening a baby robin, we think on its first flight from its nest, landed in our pool. My son scooped it out, very wet and cold, brought it into the house and we all wondered what to do next. We decided to make a nest in a box with a hot water bottle to warm up the bird, feed it a little lightly cooked egg with an eye dropper (looked that one up on the internet as baby robins only eat protein and we didn't want to mush up a worm) and hope for the best. My five year old grandson was spending the night and I told him that the bird may not survive. I placed the box in the bathroom and lo and behold, by morning there was a baby robin flying round and round the bathroom! The most heartwarming part of the robin's recovery, however, was when we took it outside to the front deck. There on the deck railing was a mama robin, quite frazzled and agitated. I held the robin up in my open hand, and much to our amazement, the mama robin took flight and the baby bird followed her. We mothers - feathered or human - really are filled with a motherlove that never gives up!
Busy for a short time
Hi Penny, Thanks for sharing that nice story to remind us that the time of intense need is short. I see new moms and think how brave they are to be so busy, then remember that I was that busy too! But only while the kids were little and it doesn't seem hard when I think back on it.