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Yet more conflicting advice on Breast feeding

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  • Thank you MrsSetters. I didnt reply to this thread for praise (although it is always nice! lol) but just to show the emotional effect bf can have on someone who CAN do it physically, and how society can make us feel about it. Like I say, FF would have helped me continue BF had I been willing to try it but even supplementing made me feel like a failure. (I know im not - its taken a while but I know now I needed to FF to help my boys and the 7 weeks was a really good start)
  • Hi, I'm no breastfeeding expert so won't comment on that, but from my experience at work (I have a science background and work in government) I will echo what some others have said about 'be careful what you read in newspapers' PARTICULARLY the Daily Mail! Newspapers tend to pick up ONE scientific study (and often write an article that does not even reflect accurately that research). Government advice is based on a whole load of research and the scientific experts look at exactly what the researchers were doing, focussing on, any limitations of the research etc. One study never PROVES anything it adds to a complex picture. I would really like to be given a pound for every laughable 'scientific' article the Daily Mail have written about my area of work!!!!
  • Sorry if I'm repeating what someone else has already said as I haven't read through all the posts on this, but I felt I had to put my two-penneth in!
    When I heard this on the news this morning I said to hubby - who commissioned this research - the formula companies?!
    Also, humans have developed over thousands of years and breast milk is part of that development - if it was rubbish NONE of us would be here today as we'd have died out as a species ages ago!
    I'll still be choosing breast over bottle.
    xx


  • And MrsS yes your right, the chances of me not been able to bf are VERY slim. I think im just in the 'how am i going to look after this little human being, im sure to fail' stage.

    You will be just fine. Honestly! If you are worried about breastfeeding being hard, maybe look up contact details for your local La Leche League ahead of time, pop along to a meeting and actually watch some breastfeeding happening - it's something we don't see as much these days. Also ask if your hospital has a lactation advisor that will be on hand at the hospital to give advice. Thirdly, advocate for yourself, and if you feel someone is pressuring or being rude, tell them so! If you make it clear that you'd like some non judgmental support, that you WANT to BF, but their attitude isn't helping, it puts you back in control.

    And if you choose to FF, in possession of all the facts, don't feel guilty for that decision. I'd always recommend speaking to a breastfeeding helpline before deciding to give up though - like I said, so many things that people think mean they 'can't' breastfeed are actually misconceptions, or small problems easily overcome. If a mum really wants to FF and feels it's right for her, then she's making the best decision for her lifestyle. It just makes me sad to see women who want to BF give up because of lack of support or knowledge.
  • I understand what you are saying daisymoocow, but it isn't quite as simple as that. What the study was actually saying was that in the case of a few specific health benefits that the gap wasn't as big as previously thought, it doesn't touch on any of the other benefits of bfing
    The fact is that the media report everything it the way that suits them best. 70 years ago we wouldn't have been having this conversation because formula didn't exist. Then along came the formula companies with their big budgets, they bribed the health professionals into thinking formula was superior, advertised like crap and within a few years convinced us as a nation that only 'poor' people bfed, and that formula was a status symbol that people aspired to give their children. We are now left with a society which sees formula feeding as the norm and bfing as a bit weird. I have a lot of sympathy for anyone who feels pushed into bfing, I do believe that everybody should be free to make their own choice, but look on the bright side, at least you only get pressure from a few midwives for a few weeks. I've put up with 18 months of people telling me that how I feed my son is wrong, that they don't agree with it. I've been stared at, glared at, tutted at and generally looked at like I have an infectious disease. Once he was 6 months it was perferctly legal for anyone to tell me that I had to stop feeding him, I could be asked to leave restaurants, cafe's, public places, all because my son was hungry. Stupid articles like the one in the Mail do nothing but provide more amunition for the idiots that think there is something wrong with bfing.
    xx
  • BH, I have not bf my dd in public for the past year (she has just turned 2) for fear of 'bitty' type jokes. Even though the WHO recommends bf for at least 2yrs.
  • I stopped feeding in public at about 11 months for exactly the same reason. Barney is a big lad, who looks older than he is which didn't help!
  • If I'm honest, I think society's attitude to bf in this country leaves a lot to be desired, and I'm afraid it comes across on this this forum all too often. I'm not over-keen on the phrase breast is best (I already said I don't like ff mums to feel guilty), but I hate it when people say 'happy mum- happy baby' - to me it implies that there is something miserable and self-sacrificing about bf - and if you do it you will be unhappy!!!! I have been soooo happy bf'ing, I adore it! But if that article was to be believed (which I don't think it is!) then it is all for not that much benefit!

    I mean some mums do have to work at establishing bf'ing - it took me 6wks to get completely comfortable with it with ds1 (and I shed some tears)- but it was so worth it! Bf'ing my 3 is one of the things I am most proud of. But tbh, it shouldn't be something to be proud of - it should just be the natural way to feed your baby.

    Sorry, rant over.
  • have to say that on the whole i think that article is a load of tosh, it doesn't actually seem to be saying anything? other than that breast milk is still better so seems a bit pointless......following up bedheads comments i wld like to add that having been on both sides of the fence (mixfed ds til 7 months) there seems to be no right, no matter how u feed the other 'camp' (for want of a better word) tut, and whisper etc. i joined a breastfeeding group and it happened to be on a t a time when ds had a ff at that time of the day, the woamn whop runs it tiold me i wasn't allowed to ff him there! i had to either feed him before i went or feed him outside, still angers me as had someone tolde her to go outside to bf there wld have been an uproar, then when i finsihed bf completely i wasn no longer allowed at the group as it is bf mums only and unless ur a bf peer suporter ur no longer welcome. but then on the other side my 'friend' (we've since fallen out and no longer have contact hence the ') came round to visit once when ds was 6 months (still mixfeeding) and he had his ff that was due at that time and she said to me 'oh i'm so glad u didn't bf him, its getting abit weird now, creeps me out abit, maybe u shld stop' !!!!! it was in my own f***ing house, and even it wasn't, i'm allowed to feed my child as i see fit, be it ff or bf, and that applies to everyone. i believe the majority of women that ff have given bf a go, but due to lack of support and mis information they move to ff, partculalry when it comes to those who stop down to 'lack of suppl' cos they cld only express one oz at 2 weeks....or people nagging that the baby shld be sleeping thru so they move over to ff thinking that will solve it....but all in all baby gets fed, i still believe bf is better (nutrition wise) but if a mum chooses otherwise for herself and her child then thats up to her, as long as she has done so not based on articles like this, which are quite obv picking and choosing bits that help further there case, it does not contain all the info needed for a properly informed desicion.

    hope i haven't offended anyone, as thats not y intention at all

    but really, what sort of a nation are we living in when i'm considered creepy for bf my 6 month old baby in my own house, the mind boggles

    xx
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