Bottles vs Breast
I didnt know which of the forums to post this in so apologies if it's in the wrong area... I didnt want to post in the bottle or breast one and have to re-post in the other! lol
So I am thinking about when my baby arrives, what do I want to do with regards to feeding. I like the idea of breast feeding and giving our baby the good nutrients that are associated with breast feeding but I also have my reservations - 1. I have heard from friends etc that breast fed babies can often be hungrier meaning more demand for feeding 2. I would like my husband to take part in the feeding of our child as I think it is important bonding time 3. We may want to have our LO looked after by my parents from time to time and obviously I wont be on hand for feeding. 4. I have one of my nipples pierced and am currently secreting already - the pierced nipple is producing far more than the unpierced one and as such I dont know if this means I will have less ability?
What are your experiences/advice in this area?
Replies
Agree with puddy, baby doesn't care as long as it's fed. I couldn't bf Caitlin and only managed 2 weeks with Lexie. Bloody hard work lots of poos, feeding every hour, I fed her for 3 hours one night at 1.30am whilst in hosp, sore cracked nips, hats off to anyone who can do it! Do what's best for u n don't beat urself up if u don't/can't x
I had a nipple piercing but as it happens I couldn't breast feed as baby wouldn't latch on and because of c-section milk didn't come through for a week and in the meantime I developed mastitis which was so painful, so made the decision to bottle feed. I was really keen to breast feed but as it turns out, i'm glad I formula fed as OH can do feeds too. Our baby seems happy and healthy and I don't regret not being able to do it, I think its personal choice and don't let midwives sway you, do what is best for you and your baby! X
Thanks for your lovely advice girls. I knew I could rely on you all
I think I will at least try, even if its just for a few weeks but will also formula feed at the same time.xx
Hi,
Glad I have seen this as I am also torn about what to do....I like you want to give it a go but am also worried about the things you are worried about....that it will be too demanding and that my OH won't get to feed as much as he would like. He has also raised this concern with me himself so he obviously wants to bond with the baby via feeding etc.
Has anyone combined both from birth? I haven't really done any research on this as I am only 13 weeks but it is something I want to think about and weigh my options up.
LH am I right in thinking that you do or did both with your little girl? Does she easily go from breast to bottle? How old was she when you introduced a mixture?
Thanks x
i tried to breast feed my son, it was hard to start with as he wouldnt latch on, they left me alone and said just hand express! i was not sure what they ment at all being a first time mum, then they said i had to feed him or i couldnt leave the hospital so i asked for a bottle and they said NO! in my notes i said i want to breast feed, so i got took from the main hospital to our local maternity unit where my midwife was waiting for me, in tears i told her what had happened and she told me to got home and she would be up in an hour or so, when she arrived she helped me loads, and my little one was drinking fine, he was very hungry baby tho and when i got rushed back into hospital 4 days later i dried up with in hours so i went to bottle, this time i will try breast again but will have my own bottle supply ready! xxx
I was speaking with a colleague yesterday who's DD is 2 in April. She said from the outset she had always wanted to bottle feed and her MW and the hospital were very supportive of her decision. I hope that I experience similar if thats what I choose to do. My colleague said that a happy mum is a happy baby and for her personally, she wouldnt have been happy if she had been made to breast feed against her wishes.
Yes hun I did both, lex was exclusively bf till day 2/3 where she screamed till 3:30am I couldn't take it no more so gave her 1 bottle, then had 1 bottle a day increasing to 2 to 3 to exclusively bottle fed at 2 weeks. She switched between nipple n teat like a dream (i still use different bottles now) and she had a dummy from 2/3 days old too think as I introduced it so early she just took to it really well. Now she having a growth spurt n feeding every hour (4oz thickened formula) I KNOW i made the right choice n refuse to feel bad about it! x
i love this thread!! i get so cross with what i term breast feeding nazis my mum was horrible when dd1 wouldnt latch and made me feel awful as my sister didnt have any problems. im of the opinion what makes mum happy makes baby happy and im glad to find like minded people. every time im asked if im going to breast fedd i steel myself to go into battle about it but i have to say ive been pleasantly suprised so far.
My friends nan is a bf nazi, she actually fell out with her when she stopped bf her son at 4 weeks. She was 19 years old ffs all family living in Spain so needed all the support she could get. My mws at hosp and at home and the hv have been great bout me bottle feeding think cuz Iv been so ill since my c-sec, but I did hear in the delivery ward one mum ask for a bottle n she was tld no u have to bf, they made her cup feed her baby till he would latch on. Think it's so wrong x
it really is one of my biggest bug bears when it comes to having a baby. you have so much pressure to braest feed. i was asked at my booking in app what i was going to do i think i said combine which is my plan still but even so!!! i find there is lots of pressure but not much support. i think its unfair that hospitals dont even supply machines where you can buy milk and try and make you breast feed. also super markets are not allowed to put offers on formula and boots wont let you buy it with points in fact possibly you dont get any points if you do buy it. all books and litriture you get when pg has a paragraph on bottle feeding and 6 pages on breast!!! and dont even get me started on the whole dummy debate lol
Swear by my diddles lol Caitlin went off hers at 8 weeks but Lexie loves hers and finds it really soothing. If it works n they like it let em have it lol x
my older two loved there dummys but the younger one refused to have it and sucked her finger and thumb thing is i could take the dummys away but cutting off amelies thumb would probably be frowned upon lol.
Oh I'm glad you ladies are in agreement that it's personal choice over BF. I have spoken with my hubby and he seems happy with my decision that I will try and bf and if I can, I will combine bf and bottle from birth.
Its funny you ladies mention dummies - I had this question to DH the other day as to whether we should buy some or not and his reaction was "Well, what else could you use" as though it was the normal thing to buy. I cant remember if my niece was using one at 11 weeks old and I dont seem to think my nephew did but I have been told by my Mum that she used one with me and I've no issues with my teeth etc. I think perhaps we will buy a few to have in our starter equipment and see how we go.
Thanks again ladies for your interest and support in my question - I am part of a local group who are bit "alternative" and I'm sure if I posed the same question there, they would be horrified to think I would do anything BUT BF!
Hi ladies,
I always said that I wouldn't get stressed about bf-ing and if I wasn't able to do it I would just go onto the bottle and not care about what people thought. In reality I became very stubborn and determined to feed my LO. I too hated the BF nazis and hated the way women felt pressured to feed even if it wasn’t for them. When Annable was born, she wouldn’t latch on and had to go to SCBU for the night as her blood sugars dropped. I felt like a complete failure that I couldn’t feed her myself. Nobody pressured me but I put a lot of pressure on myself as I really wanted to make the decision as to whether to fed or not, I didn’t want it to be made for me. So in the end I fed her with a cup and syringe until my milk came in and then spent a week trying to get her latched on, I was readmitted to hospital with mastitis but was determined to carry on feeding through out. To cut a long story short, I got a lot of help from my local milk spot and breast feeding midwife and was successfully able to feed Annable for a whole year.
I have no regrets, and think that the help I received was amazing. I loved the time Annabel and I had together and how we bonded. It was hard, really hard and at times I was a total mess, I would have advised myself to give up had I been watching a friend go through the same thing, but I just couldn’t give up.
I just felt a total failure. I really never expected to feel the way I did and would have told someone else in this situation to ‘stop being silly’, I can totally understand why people give up and why people carry on even when it is the hardest thing to do. Help is available for whatever decision you make. You will have local MIlk spots/breastfeeding cafes and you can always call the Breastfeeding Network national helpline.. They will support you in whatever decision you make. The research show that breastfeeding has an abundance of benefits for your LO so obviously health care professionals have to promote this and always will offer the case for breastfeeding. BUt ultimately you have the right to decide and the right to be provided with support and help to do whatever you think is best.
My advice would be that you need to be relaxed and don’t feel pressured to give up or continue but to go with your own instincts. Don’t forget that once you have a baby you will be filled with hormones and emotions so you may surprise yourself with how you actually feel. Even if you can feed for just 6 weeks the health benefits for baby are amazing, but equally if you can’t you can still provide your baby with love, skin to skin contact and be a fantastic Mum. Just don’t put pressure on yourself see how you feel once your LO comes and take it from there.
Thanks Nicola for sharing your experience.
I think I will aim to breast feed but also to combine with formula to allow me some degree of "freedom" and also for my husband to take part too, however, I am aware that my opinion or ability may change once this LO comes along.
I guess I was just worried people would think me awful for not wanting to exclusively breast feed. Thanks again for reading my thread and reassuring me that I am perhaps not alone x