Did you ever regret formula feeding from birth?

I have no regrets at all FF my 3rd from birth. I do regret the hard time I gave myself after I had my first baby and totally failed to get her to take the breast. 2nd baby I managed for a grand total of 3 days and I really beat myself up about it at the time too. 3rd time round I was adamant to everyone (MW, husband, MIL 🙄and most importantly myself) that baby would be FF and everything would be fine and it was.

No, when a child is an adult will ot matter how they were fed as a baby, women dont have to do this endless guilt thing they just choose too

Nope!!! Do what is best for you!!

I always aimed for the first 6 weeks, so 9 weeks is not any sort of failure, quite the opposite.

Hope it goes well the next time, whatever you decide or happens.

All the baby will care about is being fed - l never even tried breastfeeding cos l didn't want to - no guilt here! My 14 year old daughter doesn't care how she was fed as a newborn!

I never planned to breastfeed my twins as the very thought of it was just a no for me. However, they were born very early and I was essentially forced into expressing milk because they had to be tube fed and I was told if I didn't do it they would have to be given donor breastmilk as they couldn't have formula. I was utterly crap at pumping due to a terrible supply and it dominated every minute of the day trying to fit it in while constantly being asked if I was doing it 8-10 times a day when it was taking me 30 minutes to even get an ounce then having to wash and dry the pump parts every time etc Also trying to fit this in with twins in NICU. I was actually left quite traumatised by it and was absolutely thrilled to hand the hospital back their pump when they reached the required 34 weeks gestation (although not inside anymore that's just how they counted the weeks) and inform them the babies, while still only around 4lbs, would be getting weaned onto formula because I wasn't doing this anymore. So yeah if anybody wants to judge someone for not breastfeeding I'm sure I would be first in line after denying it to my extremely premature infants. I feel no guilt though. I tried my best. Oh I also got horrific mastitis at around week 6 which was so awful and I was so unwell they thought I had sepsis.

The next two babies were given formula from birth and again, zero guilt and zero regrets. I still would have made that decision even without the prior experience.

I regret trying hard to BF with my eldest. I felt like I would be the worst mum in the world if I didn't and kept on trying despite the fact it wasn't working. I wish people had just told me it would have been better to give up - "it's your choice" felt like it was followed by an unspoken "and it's a selfish choice not to keep trying".

Nope, didn't want to even try. I just have been lucky as midwife asked me how I was going to feed and just pointed me towards the room to get bottles from. Even my health visitor never said anything.
You do what's right for you and never mind what anyone else thinks. It's your decision, your baby, your body

I think you've nailed it here, do whatever works for you.

Literally no one looks at their children and thinks "I breastfed/formula fed them".

We as humans remember negatives more than positives in general so we will most probably remember the hardships if triggered. A lot of people here remembering the hard times they had.

Do what is best for you, considering a fed baby is the best baby. Don't be a martyr and push on because your loved ones also want you happy. Aim for what's right for you and baby will be happy with whatever decision you make. In a couple decades there will be so many more things to think about when looking at them, what they ate really won't be one of them!

I regret it still - because I entirely internalised the message that I had failed if I couldn't.

But in terms of nutrition, not at all. And I LOVED the fact that DH and DM and anyone who wanted to could feed them, that I could be away from them if I needed, that I could sleep through the night as needed. And all mine were happy and calm and thriving. I loved all of that bit of it, I was sad for myself, even though I technically understood it's not actually true.

Just go with the flow. If he has a bit of boob in the hospital and it goes smoothly then you can always just take it one day at a time and see how you feel, take the pressure off.

I believe you. I had a full term 8 pound healthy baby who refused to bf. Literally pulled away screaming. Not one single mw could get him on the breast properly. After a long journey to conception I was devastated.

In the blue file for DS2 I wrote ‘baby will decide’ in response to the question on feeding. He was born by cs and although he tried to latch there was little help and I just ff almost right from the start.

The two of them (25 & 17) are walking adverts for formula. No regrets at all.

No.

Do whatever you want but both my kids had CMPA and formula made them extremely sick. The dairy free formula is full of crap, it's thin and causes reflux and tastes like gym socks so I was glad I had started BF so I could continue to that (I wanted to combi feed at first).

It sounds like this baby isn't here yet so maybe don't rule it out yet.

I found BF with my second easier than formula as toddler needed a lot of attention. It was much, much easier to whip a boob out when/wherever needed.

I’ve had three…my eldest (formula fed) is the healthiest and brightest of them all (not that I would ever tell them that lol). He is also very sporty and tall. He is a poster child for breastfeeding…except he wasn’t lol.

middle child was exclusive breastfed for 1.5 years and has lots of dietary / digestive issues.

youngest EBF for 2.5 years and has asthma and rashes, also is a picky eater and doesn’t eat a great diet (loves junk food).

same story myself and my brother (I was FF, he wasn’t).

I have no regrets FF my eldest. Apart from
breastfeeding being incredibly painful with him, the FF meant my partner could get much more involved and bond with him. I could get a break. That didn’t happen with the other two, I was on my knees by the end with all the sleepless nights

DD was stuck on me post CS while I was high as a kite / out of it and was dry nursing as my milk didn’t come in. She was then FF due to screaming blue murder much to the disgust of the MW and assistants who kept making loaded comments

Only regret I had was trying to persevere with breastfeeding for so long. Had the most awful midwife in hospital who made me feel like shit and pretty much accused me of not trying hard enough. Funny how every time I called for help (as I had been instructed to do) he showed zero interest and ignored me. Put on my notes that I wasn’t trying so when the night shift feeding specialist saw this she wiped the floor with him as she spent almost her whole shift with us trying everything. I will never forget how he made me feel.

Yes & no.
I'm a ftm to a 5month old boy. Was considering give breastfeeding a go and wanted to give baby colostrum when born. When he was born he got a tiny amount but there was v little there. I then formula fed from the off and honestly I don't think my mental health would have coped with breastfeeding.
My husband can help when needed (or someone else) I was in hospital after baby was born and was so glad I had chosen formula as I don't know what I would have done.
On the other hand I also feel I've let my child down by not breastfeeding, as all I seem to see is these militant people, often women, on social media dismissing anyone who hasn't breastfed regardless of circumstance as not caring about their child. Personally I don't care how anyone chooses to feed their baby, it's none of my business. If I have anymore children I will formula feed again.

Nope; I have two sons age 7 and nearly 2. Bottle fed both from day 1. Both healthy, clever, chatty and thriving. Eldest is at the underweight end of healthy but that’s genetic (my husband is also long and skinny with not an ounce of fat on him), not how he was fed.

Not for a single second. I honestly don’t think it makes any difference on an individual level, in fact I’m pretty sure research suggests this. For me, the minimal health benefits weren’t worth DH not being able to feed the baby, my boobs being ruined, all the pressure on me at nighttime etc.

I absolutely get the trauma, we had latch issues, blood sugar issues and ended up blue lighted back to NICU at 3 days old with eldest. It was really horrific. That said due to a very supportive NICU nurse and a wonderful health visitor I did end up breastfeeding him into toddler hood with initial formula supplements.

Second I was more open to seeing how the land lay, she latched immediately, fed strongly and bottle refused from day 1 despite a tongue tie. Theres no right or wrong answer but I found it quite healing when some things that had been catastrophic first time round were easy second time round.

Priorities your mental health! For me that meant having a bash at breastfeeding and thankfully it went well. If for you it means not even going down that route do that! Breastfeeding is a particular type of hard work even when it goes well, or it was for me anyway, very physically demanding. But formula feeding is hard work in a different way, organisation, planning for hot water access, extra washing and sterilizing. Ultimately breastfeeding suited us better.

I had a terrible time with DS1 and switched to ff after a few days. I believed that I wasn’t cut out for bf. When I gave birth to DS2, he was deliver onto me, turned his head and latched on immediately! The midwife said she’d never seen anything like it. He was an absolute dream to feed, no problems at all, and always slept brilliantly. I fed him until he was 15 months. Then DD came along and she was a nightmare! I managed 6 weeks before I gave up, I was on my knees.

My point is that we are made to feel like successful breastfeeding is down to mothers. I strongly believe it’s down to babies. My first wouldn’t latch on. My third would feed for 3 minutes, fall asleep and wake up for another feed 20-30 minutes later. It was completely unsustainable. (She’s actually 21 now and still a grazer, and only ever eats 20% of a meal). Yet I had the same breasts with all of them.

You may have a completely different experience this time around. It might be worth considering trying it for at least a day or two and see how it goes. You can always go onto formula if it’s not working out.

No.
The thought of my nipple in someone else's mouth makes me cringe.