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Breast or bottle???

Im just wondering what people have decided to do?

Im really not sure. Part of me wants to breastfeed but the majority of me wants to bottlefeed. I feel so guilty for wanting to bottlefeed (esp from midwife). I know there are benefits to breastfeeding but i was bottle fed and i am pretty clever, dont have any allergies and am not obese (all the things i was told my child would not be if i bottle feed). I just feel that bottle feeding would be better for us but i cant shake the guilt!
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Replies

  • I am going to try to breastfeed but if it doesnt work out then bottle - I have heard that it is common now for all midwives to encourage everyone to breastfeed ''breast is best'' and all that, but I strongly believe that it is everyones indivudual choice and that you won't be able to make a choice until baby arrives (if its your first and have no previous expereince of bottle or breast), you just never know what will happen...best of luck in whatever YOU decide...
    x
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  • I'm going to try breastfeeding and I hope it works out, but if it doesn't we'll switch. The reasons I want breastfeeding to work are the bonding, the immunity, the way it's tailored for baby, the laze factor (making up bottles in the night couldn't appeal less!), the weight loss & the fact it's free! I don't think bottle-fed babies are necessarily worse off at all, but think breastfeeding can give baby a headstart, esp in developing immunities.

    It's so hard to work fact from fiction & hype though eh? Go with what you feel personally but if you don't try breastfeeding, will you ever know for sure?

    Whatever, try not to feel guilty hun - you're going to do what you think best that should be good enough for any health visitor! xx
  • It's your decision. You could try breatfeeding and really take to it and love doing it. If it doesn't work out then you can resort to bottle feeding. If you go straight to bottle your milk will probably dry up very quickly after birth (as it's supply and demand) so if you change your mind you won't be able to breast feed. It's worth a try. It does hurt for a couple of weeks, but then settles down and you might start to enjoy it. I did - it's lovely knowing your body is feeding your baby. Plus you don't have to buy expensive cartons and boxes of milk or do all the washing and sterilising.

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  • U have to do wat is right for u and 4get wat other peoples opinions are. With my first i breastfed for about 5wks because that was all i cud manage and i was starting to find it very stressful, painful and upsetting for me. Although the bonding was good and Rhys got sum benefits of been breastfed for a short period i did find bottle feeding so much easier. This time round im really gona try hard to go a bit longer than 5wks, but at the end of the day u just have to do wat feels right. Gud luck with ur decision and dnt be bullied into it coz if u are then ull find it really hard. kerry xxx
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  • Blimey - after reading Princessjane's post about how to make up bottles, I really hope breastfeeding works for me & kiddo! It looks like a right palaverimage However, I'm not looking forward to the painful nipples!
    Take care xx
  • I bottle fed my son mainly because I had him at 17, 10 years ago and breastfeeding was not forced upon you then like it is now, but now at 28 I am going to try breast feeding and see what happens, even if only for a couple of weeks if it turns out not to be for me, my midwife says its the first 2 weeks that are crucial for antibodies etc.

    I to was bottle fed and managed a degree, dont have any allergies or illnesses so I dont think it does any harm if you want to bottle feed to be honest.
  • Hi i think its a personal choice. Although i did want to breast feed my son, i felt that i had to anyway, as mil was putting lots of pressure on me. I ended up bf for the first 9 weeks then had to go back to work full time due to financial reasons and found it very difficult. I am off for a year after this baby and i am definately going to try and last a little longer.
    I do think that its true about it helping baby to become immune to certain things. We had a bad case of gastroenteritis in the family a few months ago and my son didnt get any symptoms, while my sil's little girl become really ill (she was bottle fed) The doctor said this was prob because he had gained immunity through breast feeding x
  • I breastfed Millie untill she weaned herself at 10 1/2months and all being well I will do the same again. For me the benefits are huge, I am far to lazy to make up bottles, it is much easier just to stick them on and feed, and added to the cost of formula that alone is enough to swing it for me. I do think that on the whole breastfed babies seem to pick up infections less easily than those that are bottle fed. Millie has had nothing worse than a cold yet, despite both me and oh being ill with stomach bugs etc when she was little. It is a personal choice though, bfing can be very hard in the early weeks and not everybody is comfortable with it.
  • I knew from day one of being pregnant that I was going to bottle feed and told my midwife straight away! She did warn me to stick to my guns because there is a MASSIVE push on getting mums to breastfeed! I personally do not think it is fair that it is being forced on you to breastfeed because it is a choice!

    So heed the advice of my midwife - dont be bullied and stick to your guns if it is what you feel you want to do!!!!
  • I'm planning on bottle feeding yet I am feeling so so guilty about it. My ex midwife was truly shocked and appalled when I said I didnt want to breastfeed, will have to see how the new one reacts when I see her! we went to my husbands parents for dinner on saturday night and the subject came up and I said I wasnt going to breastfeed and I may as well have announced the baby had 2 heads! They were so shocked and tried to persuade me otherwise but my husband was really good, he stepped in and explained all the reasons why we wanted to bottle feed and defended me. They eventually shut up about it but they still arent happy with it, his dad keeps making "funny" remarks about how draught is better than bottle but I refuse to be forced into something I dont want to do. me and my 3 brothers and 2 sisters were all bottle fed, as was my daughter and we're all fine!
    xxx
  • I am planning on breast feeding for as long as possible, agree with bedhead about being too lazy to make up bottles and the cost involved with bottle feeding. Plus my sil breast fed her first for a few weeks and her 2nd for a year and the youngest is hardly ever ill however her oldest seems to catch everything going bless him. However if I can;t breast feed then I will have to accept that, this is something that I have really thought about as both my mum and sister had trouble brest feeding but think I will feel better knowing that at least I have given it my vest shot. Saying that though this is what I feel is best for me and not everybody is the same therefore don't be bullied into doing something that you are not comfortable with. Tammi xxx
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  • i agree, i want to breastfeed but thats my choice and if i cant then i am not going to be bullied by anyone into something i dont want to do. but im a stroppy cow and you will need to be strong. i was breastfed briefly and i carry more weight than i should!(thats a polite way of puttin it,lol). it is your body and choice and baby would rather have a bottle and be content than for mummy to be so stressed with a decision shes not happy with. xxx
  • When i went to the ante natal class, the midwife who was quite old and very set in her ways said that even if a woman is dead against breastfeeding when she comes in, they will still try to push her to change her mind. I thought this was terrible, the last thing you need when youve just had a baby is someone in youre ear. Im going to give it a go but if i dont like it, i wont. Its my body and my baby, its not up to some midwife who is obviously very much up her own ass.
  • thats terrible xxtashaxx, stick to your guns, il be likely to tell them to f**k off if they nag me!!il try but im not gonna depress myself by beating myself up if i cant do it. xxx
  • I am going to bottle feed and from the very beginnig when i had my first child nearly 6 years ago i knew breast feeding wasnt for me due to personal reasons of my own, i have bottle feed both my children and this one will be to and they are happy and healthy and clever not obese and the only allergy is my daughter has asthma which her father has also and he was breast feed. I dont feel guilty at all as its my choice and what has worked best for me so stick to your guns and dont feel guilty its your choice and what you feel is best for you.
    vikki xx
  • It does seem at the moment like every single magazine i open is extolling the virtues of breastfeeding, and i feel like if i don't breastfeed, i would be made to feel incredibly guilty about it. As it is i'm a first timer and i'm going to try, but if i can't i wont, simple as that. I don't understand why people (media, midwives, doctors) can't be a bit less biased about breastfeeding, it seems so unfair to those that can't or don't want to, it's their body at the end of the day. Must be some government initiative, maybe other European countries have better figures than us and they're playing catch up. Whatever it is, i feel like they aren't really thinking about the fact that it's a very personal thing, and not something that people should be made to feel like they have to do xx
  • Please don't flame me, this is just my take on it: why wouldn't someone try breastfeeding? It is after all what they're there for - it's natural and it's free, and doesn't being a mother mean your body belongs to someone else by definition? I'm sure midwives wouldn't be so pushy about it if they didn't genuinely think it was the best thing for baby. I think I will feel guilty if I don't at least attempt it.

    I haven't had a baby before so have no experience of how difficult it can be, though I'm pretty well-versed in what the usual problems are and of course if it's not working out for whatever reason then the best thing is to switch to formula - I'll do that myself if I don't get on with breast feeding.

    Please don't hate me! - I'm not knocking anyone for their choices, I'm just interested to know what reasons people have for choosing not to, apart from having run into problems with it.

    12+1
  • I'm certainly going to try breastfeeding but I agree that it should not be something forced on mothers. I do believe the hype but that doesn't mean you are damaging your baby if you bottle feed. It's hard not to feel judged in this climate of "breast is best" but you need to be confident in your decision to use bottles.

    My midwife told me that I will be quizzed in the hospital about the benefits of breast feeding. Apparently someone comes round asking each new mum to name two benefits to the mother and four benefits to the baby. I have already decided to be a stroppy cow and refuse to answer! I will tell them that I am not a performing monkey who has to prove anything to anyone and that it is my choice whether or not I breast feed. I have not just decided to breastfeed because of a list of benefits I've been told about or read about, I'm just trying to do what is best for me and my baby. And that can be just as true for women who bottle feed...

    My actual reasons for wanting to breastfeed are that I want to experience it for myself and I don't want to have to make up bottles all the time. I'm not thinking about the reduction in my chance of getting various cancers. I would like to think it can reduce the chances of allergies and illnesses and obesity in my child, as well as making him more intelligent, but I'm not counting on it! I was bottle fed too and again I have two degrees, no allergies and am generally pretty healthy. Maybe I'd have been superhuman if I was breast fed!
  • im goin to bottle feed i think, i just dont feel roght about breastfeeding but who knows things may change once the baby is born.
  • I really hope I can breast feed - to be honest the thought of making up all those bottles, now one at a time, sounds like a pain in the ass to me! I will try persevering for as long as possible and go to classes if necessary but if it's impossible I'm going to try not to beat myself up about it and switch to bottles. x x x
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