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too much focus on breast feeding?
hey,
just thot i would have a bit of a moan about the fact that all info relating to feeding is all one sided - all towards breastfeeding - feels abit forced upon you
firstly well done to all brave mums giving it go - i'm not against brestfeeding - its just not for me - which is fair enough cos everybody is different
but what t i dont get why was my first midwife class A WHOLE HOUR talking about purely breastfedding? yeah i get they have to promote it - but i;m sick of hearing about it - you get about 20 leaflets promoting it in your freebie packs - there are posters and adverts everywhere promoting it - so we are very aware of it
surely my class would have been more beneficial talkin about feeding in general - they could have mentioned breast and botttle - as some mums change to bottle at a later stage, they could have talked abou sterilising bottles - some mums may be using bottles as they are expressing milk - they couldve also talked about how much milk/food a baby needs at different stages -would have so much more interesting
just thot i would have a bit of a moan about the fact that all info relating to feeding is all one sided - all towards breastfeeding - feels abit forced upon you
firstly well done to all brave mums giving it go - i'm not against brestfeeding - its just not for me - which is fair enough cos everybody is different
but what t i dont get why was my first midwife class A WHOLE HOUR talking about purely breastfedding? yeah i get they have to promote it - but i;m sick of hearing about it - you get about 20 leaflets promoting it in your freebie packs - there are posters and adverts everywhere promoting it - so we are very aware of it
surely my class would have been more beneficial talkin about feeding in general - they could have mentioned breast and botttle - as some mums change to bottle at a later stage, they could have talked abou sterilising bottles - some mums may be using bottles as they are expressing milk - they couldve also talked about how much milk/food a baby needs at different stages -would have so much more interesting
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Replies
I think we had a whole 3 hour class but you could ask about ff if you wanted.
Also I don't really feel 'brave' it's not like breastfeeding is some strange thing to be doing!
thistle - I know where you are coming from re: it being a short amount of time. I think the point babymama2b was trying to make was the lack of balance. I completely agree that an hour is not long enough (we also had a 3 hour session). However, for me, talking about the theory was only a tiny part and was of limited help to me. The most valuable part was after the girls were born, spending time with the bfeeding counsellor. I think this is invaluable and I was very grateful for the support I received from her. I just hope that everyone who needs the help of a bfeeding counsellor is able to access one as easily as I was.
Also, sorry to disagree, but for me personally, breastfeeding was a brave step for me to take. It was a very hard, physically and emotionally draining time trying to feed 2 prem, very slow feeders who had not had the benefit of immediate skin to skin contact and who had not developed the sucking reflex before they were born. It wasn't easy. I am very happy for those mums whose babies didn't have the tricky start mine did and who are able to breastfeed from birth very easily but this isn't the case for everyone. There were many days when I felt like giving up (I lasted 3 months) and I think, amongst other things, bravery was definitely involved. It's not a strange thing to do (and I don't think babymama2b was saying this unless I misunderstood?) but sometimes it's not always the instantly positive experience for mum and baby that it is often portrayed as.
I'm certainly not against either breast or bottle feeding. I mix fed the girls for 3 months. I just wanted to provide another point of view
I too think that an hour is to short an amount of time to spend talking about feeding, whether it be bf or ff as it's such an important part of looking after your baby, if not the most important part. We never touched on ff in our antenatal classes due to the huge emphasis on bf. What about those mums who cannot bf? It's just assumed that you will be able to and that it will be easy and natural. We never even discussed sterlising/making up formula feeds etc. Yes, we could have asked but at my NCT class when someone suggested supplementing with formula they were practically ushered out of the room. There does need to be a bit more balance.
I think the balance was in the other direction for so long that some people really still see it as a strange activity. This is based on my personal experience of people questioning my choice. I'm guessing all the emphasis on bf now is to try to counteract all the advertising of previous generations, when ff became more heavily promoted and popular.
Of course noone should be ignored or made to feel bad for not wanting to, that's just unhelpful.
Sorry my original post was so short and snappy, i should maybe have explained a bit more!
Really its about making the best desion for you and your baby so there should be qual time spent on both methods as what fits one wont fit all.
xx
i fully appreciate that for someone who definately does not want to breastfeed then sitting thru a talk , no matter how long, solely about that will be tedious, but perhaps at ur next class make it known that u wld like more info, help advice on ff and they shld be happy to oblige u, however it is their job (as government has told them to do it) to promote breastfeeding, so they will no doubtr end the convo with 'give it a try first' but thats kind of in their job description now, its not the midwives or even hospitals plugging it, their just doing what they've been told to do by the big chiefs in westminster. hope u get some info that is helpful to u, as ur midwives are there to help, so just ask them. xx
I don't breast feed because I never produced milk, I had through the pregnancy decided not to but when AJ arrived I decided to try. I tired for 10 days and got no support really other than 'keep trying', well whats the point on a baby sucking on an empty bottle as it were??? My poor boy was screaming because he was so hungry.
There should be a balance in classes, I agree, plus most places off specialist breastfeeding classes seperately.
Its always going to be a hot topic, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the main thing is a happy, healthy, well fed baby, however that may be xxx
Breast feeding is gr8 but not always pracical or possible and other alternatives should be taught.
Sxx
unfortunatey i had a baby boy who just liked to suck!!
So i decided id rather give him a dummy than have him on the breast alll the time just for comfort, an orthopaedic teat is fine!!
youll find that because a breastfed baby has to take in a huge mouthful of your breast when feeding that a smaller dummy may fall out!!
dont believe everything your midwife says! some things are very true, but go with your own instincts!!
Unfortunately I was not able to go to antenatel classes. (they are here for people over 34 weeks and by that time I was in hospital.
My hv when she came around the first time was really happy I was breastfeeding but said straight away.'there is nothing wrong with bottlefeeding and if at some point you feel you have to switch because breastfeeding becomes to bad, don't feel quilty about it'
Also after bottlefeeding for 2 days another midwife wanted me to try again with the breastfeeding, she stayed and lectured me for an hour about it.
I wish they would have evened things up at antenatal as well, we had 3 hours on breastfeeding, nothin on ff!
I recently had someone point out the benefits of breastfeeding to me in the street, i replied how my lo has had a cold once and recovered quickly and never had any other problems, every breast fed baby i know has been ill with a sore tummy, wind problems, and colds they took ages to get over. A couple have skin problems too. She wasn't impressed and walked off!!
xxx
I had my 2nd baby 1 week ago and really wanted to bf. With my dd I managed to bf for 2 weeks but they were the most stressful 2 weeks of my life, she lost 12oz in weight in the first 2 days so I had to express and top up with EBM and I carried this on when I got home after 5 days in hospital topping her up with extra feeds. At 2 weeks old after spending 4 hours on the sofa with her feeding on and off and hearing her tummy rumbling I got out the formula and had a contented baby. But I took a year to get over this switch mentally as I felt like I'd failed my baby and had the hv trying to get me to bf again etc but my husband was totally supportive and it was a joint decision to move her to FF.
This time around I want to give bf another go and done so much research myself on bfing and latching on and positions etc that I thought yes I've got it it will work. Well my baby boy latched on lovely, but he took 20 mins before he started to suckle then he was away. After 24 hours though he stopped sucking and was getting frustrated at the bresat so I decided to express and then try and latch him on again but he wouldn't so I asked the mw for a bottle of formula and he took 20mls straight away and his rumbling tummy stopped. I had an awlul mw that day and I was so emotional as I didn't want to experience what I did with my daughter so I took that early decision to switch. Unlike 2 years ago Im happy with the decision and I can look and read about bf and not get upset.
The awful mw said to me, my problem was that I believed I couldn't make enough milk for my son but this wasn't the case as my milk has come in and I'd be able to feed triplets!!!! She kept telling me it wouldn't happen again what happened with my daughter and that she wanted a happy mother. I told her that I wanted a happy baby that wasn't hungry and if he was getting fed by a bottle of formula and was happy and full then that was the way it was going to be.
Yes breastfeeding is lovely to do if you can do it but it's hard and not every baby or mother can do it and unless you have the support to do it it's very difficult. A different mw said something that has stuck with me when I came home last week. She said that babies are tiny newborns for such a short time and it's so important to enjoy them and for mummy to be happy and baby to be content and feeding well, that is so true, my dd is 2 years old and that 2 years has gone so quick and Im not prepared to loose 2 weeks of my sons life getting hung up on whether to bf or ff. He's a gorgeous little boy so happy and content and thats all that matters to me.
Sorry for long post. But I feel better for getting this off my chest.
Gem.xxxx