Did you ever regret formula feeding from birth?

Yes I felt bad that I didn't try harder so with my 4th I threw everything I could at it and my milk still dried up by week three. As much as breastfeeding experts would have you believe that this can be avoided I genuinely think it just happens naturally to some people. I didn't feel as bad after that because I realised it probably never would have worked anyway.

No regrets at all xx

What other people felt is irrelevant.

You talk about stress and trauma and not enjoying your baby - it sounds like (apologies if I’m wrong) you maybe slightly regret trying for so long to breastfeed your first. You don’t need to go through that again.

On the other hand, you know more now. So if you are thinking that maybe it will be different this time and are already worrying you might regret it, you might feel better saying “well I’ll try it for literally a day or two, but I’m not putting up with all the hell I went through last time so I’ll switch to formula the second I get even a hint of feeling like it’s not working”.

I breastfed my DD for 10 days and hated it. Latching on wasn't a problem, in fact she was like a bloody limpet and she sucked like an industrial strength vacuum cleaner! My nipples ended up bleeding at every feed and it was so painful. It got so that I dreaded feed times and instead of the relaxing, bonding experience it should have been I was so tense, wanted to push her away and was in tears with the pain.

The relief when I switched to formula was immense and feeding became a lovely time for me. It was probably far better for DD too because her mum was finally relaxed; she certainly didn't care where her food was coming from.

My only regret is not switching sooner.

Nope. Wanted to breastfeed but no strong feelings either way. Born on a Friday evening, couldn't latch but persisted and used syringes for colostrum. No access to infant feeding team until the Monday, by Sunday night he was on bottles and formula with some expressed milk (1-2 feeds a day) for about 4-6 weeks. It's a bit of a blur!

Can honestly say I never thought about how i fed DS1 (ff from a few weeks) until I got some nasty comments from MWs about it.

then didnt think about it again until i was pg with DS2 and experienced terrible pressure to BF and then had shitty comments again from MWs about FFing when I did manage to BF DS2 (2 years!)

Then didn't think about it again until I joined MN and saw how common nasty comments towards FF was on here.

Dont regret it at all though. Seems weird to regret feeding your baby 🤣

Not at all, it was a brilliant decision. Having had godawful births, it was great being able to entirely opt out of night feeding for a bit. A luxury to be able to focus on my own rest and recovery for that time.

That being said, everyone's different.

I BF for a bit, as long as they get colostrum I don’t see any issues except it’s more costly and faffy. My best friend literally wasn’t prepared to do any bf at all, and didn’t listen to any comments from anyone
honestly, it’s up to you and you alone

Couldnt establish bf’ing in hospital and it was the only thing stopping me from being discharged so i went straight to formula as i was desperate to go home!🤣 I suffered with PPD/PPA and i think formula feeding was a saving grace - allowed me to share the night feeds with my husband and hand baby over to relatives for a few hours to give myself a break for the sake of my own mental health.

Never, happy mum = happy baby. You do what’s best for you.

This happened to a friend's little boy too and he was admitted into hospital because he was literally starving. She felt so guilty over giving him formula despite it literally saving his life. The pressure and guilt she faced was ridiculous and completely ruined her introduction into motherhood.

I find this conversation really interesting, as I work in BF but mostly see mums who are struggling to BF and all that comes with that.

As a caveat, before I get jumped on, I don’t care how a baby is fed - I care about supporting mum in the right way for her, if that’s wanting to stop BF or how to be pain free/help baby get enough. I support people to make a choice that works for them.

As someone else has already said (or alluded to), having difficulty with BF your first doesn’t necessarily mean you will with your second. Often milk comes in quicker with a second baby, and hopefully you’ll have an easier start with this one. You never know, this one might be easy!

Good luck with your new baby 🥰

Whatever happens, it will be a different experience. That I can guarantee! I also had terrible PND with my first and it completely disappeared when my second was born.

Really would like a third now!

I BF mine, but I very much went into it with the attitude that I'd just take it one feed at a time and wasn't really wedded to doing it long term! I was pretty committed to them getting colostrum but beyond that didn't have any strong feelings.

As it happened I ended up BFing for ages but if it hadn't worked out I'd have switched to FF without a second thought. It just happened to feel easier to carry on so I did.

So my advice is, BF while in hospital (if you can) because it's frankly easier than dicking about packing formula etc. But once you're home, do whatever works for you.

I tried BF. Couldn't believe how painful it was. After a few days, a kind midwife took pity on me in the middle of the night and said "I'm not supposed to say this but remember there's more than one way to feed a baby". I was so grateful to her. Looking back, im quite annoyed there was so much pressure to BF

The more thats being learnt about gut health would make me want to BF, but the start is the hardest part so it'd be tough to commit to that for a short period for me. I'd definitely try and get as much colostrum pre birth to supplement as long as possible.

So sorry you had to go through that. The constant guilt trips if you don't breastfeed are so dangerous because women will actually let their child get so ill because they think formula feeding is some kind of failure. Even if breast is best, I think they all need to stop treating FF women so poorly. Not everyone can bf and not everyone wants to. The mothers decision is valid whichever way they choose. Hope your little one is ok now😊

There’s a lot of martyrdom around breastfeeding and I think people put unnecessary pressure on themselves (and others) to be able to do it. I didn’t do it with either child because I wanted DH to be equally responsible for everything. I didn’t want to deal with pumping or mastitis or having a baby on me constantly. I wanted to go out without worrying whether we had enough milk or about having to freeze it. I’d have spent any amount of money to make the baby stage easier and being able to pass baby off to DH and relax is non-negotiable. Breastfeeding would have made my life infinitely harder.

I tried with the first and fourth but I really hated it and was miserable . I got cracked ripples and my first baby vomited blood , I didn't connect the two so was terrified and called the GP . He came and was really condescending, treating me like I was just a stupid woman for not realising . Forth child I tried again but he was losing weight so was recommended to bottle feed , this was the 70s . I have no regrets , bottle feeding was far less stressful and both ds are over 6 ft and healthy .

Many people I know never even thought about trying BF and FF from birth. It wasn’t something they even considered. They definitely never felt regret. They don’t remotely place a value on BF so why would they be bothered. One of them I’m thinking of has a PhD in the food science area and works in that field. Never even considered BF, just not her bag.

I breastfed for a few weeks and then quit. DD has always been extremely robust, she’s often the only kid standing after a flu goes around. Don’t even think about it anymore.

Nope. I do hugely regret breastfeeding until my child was a failure to thrive, 2nd centile after having been born at the 75th (and 91st for length). Cheers HVs and breast is best brigade!

No. Struggled and made myself most unhappy the first time round. With the second I was quite ill and never tried at all.

I tried bf first but it was too painful and he couldn't latch properly. Gave him formula straight away in the hospital rather than keeping on trying because I didn't want my baby going hungry whilst I kept trying to force breastfeeding. I've got zero regrets at all. Don't tie yourself up in knots over it. Many babies are formula fed and there's no difference in children because of how they were fed. To be honest I'm glad he was ff because though bf may be better for baby it sounds like hell when they're toddlers and refusing to give up the boob. Neither are better than the other. FED IS BEST

Not for one second.