On the topic of breastfeeding immediately after circumcision, I can share
what I have seen and experienced.

In all the religious circumcisions that I have seen or been a part of
myself (4 sons), I have always seen the baby put immediately to breast
after the procedure- as soon as the penis is taken care of, (gauze,
whatever)  and he is wrapped up in a blanket . The  mother takes the baby
to a quiet room, away from all the guests, and sits with the baby and
nurses him for as long as she needs to. I am hearing of more and more moms
unwrapping his clothing and having his body directly on her skin as well,
which seems to help afterwards (and almost always, no?) . Her presence
among the guests is not considered essential, and everyone understands that
she has more important things to do right now .....The baby also gets to
suck on a few drops of wine as part of the ceremony when it is over, which
often seems to help them sleep a bit.
I imagine that when the circumcision is done on the 8th day, as usual, or
later for medical reasons (weight, illness...) the baby has already had the
first week to become aquainted with his mother and her breasts, and as Jan
wrote, they know " that it is a wonderful place to be."
Perhaps if the baby has had a difficult first week as far as breastfeeding
goes, and has not yet breastfed "happily," then we might see a similar
scene as described by some of the posters, in which the crucial beginning
of bfdg is disrupted by another major event. (*No intention here of
discussing circs- yes or no*)
I have also been present at a few ceremonies in which the baby was bottle
fed by choice, and seeing the baby get a cold rubber nipple after the
circumcision was very unnerving for me. Him all wrapped up  in clothing
etc, with the only skin contact being.... none!

Are all the breastfed babies in the world lucky, or what?

Sincerely,
Jennie in sunny, rain-starved Israel, where the Sea Of Galillee is below
the red line. Send over some rain clouds!

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