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breast feeding

Hi ladies,
When i had my daughter i tried and tried to breast feed but had a bad experience in hospital(young nurse tried to help was very snappy i ended up black and blue and in tears emily woulnt take to it)

well this time i have said i want to try again but the closer it gets im thinking other wise think deep down im doing it cause i didnt with emily and i feel bad.

really dont know what to do its getting to me a bit
emma 27+5 xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Replies

  • Awww sweetie, please don't get upset over it! I was the same with you, my 2nd lo just would not latch on and screamed constantly, turns out i wasnt producing any milk, so we switched to formula and never looked back. This time around in the beginning i was literally in tears whenever i thought about breastfeeding because i'd convinced myself it would happen again. What i've decided now (for the sake of my sanity!) is that i will give breastfeeding a go, but have also bought bottles and formula, and will do part breast part bottle right from the start, so that i know baby is at least getting something and hopefully my milk will come in eventually if not straight away. You have to do whatever you feel happy and comfortable with, your baby will be happy as long as you are! xxx
  • bumped, because its not showing my post! Grrrr to BE!
  • hi lynz-81,
    thanks for that i may do the same wasnt sure if you could part breast feed and botle feed that makes me feel loads better.
    thankyou so much
    emma 27+5xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • I breastfed david for 5 weeks and unlike katies lo davids had a cold since birth, i dont think it makes an ounce of difference, as long the baby gets the colostrum i think you do what feels best for you
  • Well according to my health visitor you can't do both because baby gets confused, but i'm going to anyway! At the end of the day you know your baby better than anyone else, it worked for my first son, he wanted feeding every hour and by the time he was 4 months it was getting too much so i topped him up with formula and never had a problem switching him back and forth. I'm hoping i won't need to do both and breastfeeding will just come naturally, but i dont want to put myself through what i did last time, listening to my baby scream because he was so hungry, so am just planning ahead if that makes sense! Oh and i agree with the others, my oldest had exzema, food allergies and is always picking up coughs colds and stomach bugs, my youngest is rarely ill, so i dont think breast is always best! xxx
  • I have heard that you can't do both as well - because of "nipple confussion" but I think it's a load of rubbish. Babies are born wanting to suck afterall. PLUS I know LOADS of people who have sucessfully done both (although sometimes it has taken a little perseverance to get things going!) If you are worried try using Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottles, as these are boob shaped - to make it easier for bubs,

    Also - if you give top up feeds you may find that your own milk supply goes down (your body doesn't know about the formula feeds, and thinks it is producing enough) so make sure you express any excess as soon as your baby has finished (you can then give that at the next feed). As long as you are properly "empty" each time, your body should start to produce more and more milk. Well in theory!

    Either way - don't worry about it because the baby certainly wont. Just take it easy and see what happens!
  • I didnt breastfeed as I was much younger when I had my daughter and didnt like the idea of it. My mum has had 6 kids she didnt with any of us and said that if I didnt want to, then I shouldnt feel pressured to do so.

    My daughter is now 7 and taller than average and has only ever been ill three times in her life. She is healthy and is very clever so formula milk did her no harm.

    My husband would like me to try breastfeeding this time and I may try it but only if I feel comfortable to do so. If I dont then I wont do it.

    Do what you want to do, your baby will be fine with whichever way you decide to feed it.

    xxx
  • I mix fed with my first lo as my milk came in so late (and even then no matter what I did I hardly had anything for him). I had no problems and used the tommee tippee bottles closer to nature, it means you can express with them too.

    I don't think it is always 'natural' for some women, no matter how much people may say that to you. I felt like a complete failure having to top up with formula with my first lo and am still worried now that I will have the same problems again but I'm not going to give myself such a hard time about it. I will do my best to bf but I'm not going to let my baby suffer if I'm not producing enough milk.
    Also check out this video on breastfeeding, it has given me loads of useful tips to hopefully make it a bit easier this time http://www.mybirth.tv/video-play.cfm?id=112

    Good luck xx
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