Is there any difference between FF & BF babies in your opinion?

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I FF my first but now thinking about BF for my second. I wonder though from people's experiences on here, what difference in any did you see in a FF vs BF baby?

I'm not wanting to start a controversial thread, fed is best and I don't judge anybody for how they decide to feed their child. I just want opinions.

I've 3 kids. Breastfed first one for three months and hated it. Put him onto formula.

Breastfed the following two kids for at least a year.

Absolutely no difference in how often they get sick. If anything, the first one gets sick the least. The first child also is a higher achiever at school, reached all of his milestones early while the other two were late with everything. Breastfeeding was very painful and stressful at the start.

However, once established, I loved it with the middle and youngest child. It just felt instinctive and 'right', otherwise I wouldn't have bothered!

DC1 is 14 now. She was BF until 15months and didn't ever have formula (even though we tried sometimes!). She was at primary and now at secondary with a boy from our NCT group who was was FF from being just a few hours old. Other than some initial colostrum, he was never breastfed.
They got exactly the same mark in the 11+; he was the fastest boy in their year at primary & she was the fastest girl; they continue to be in the A teams for various sports at secondary; both are fairly easy going kids who seem pretty popular which developing the usual teenage moods at home.
As babies, the massive difference was that my friend could just leave her DS with her mum, mother-in-law, cousin etc and go out for a few hours and not worry about whether her DS needed a feed. That was less of an issue for me than it might have been as we had no family near by so there was no one to leave DD with anyway!

I have 3 DC. Oldest DS was Bf for 15 m, DS2 had BM for 3 months but had such severe colic and refused boob went onto formula. DD is still feeding at just over 2, i miss my boobs being free at night.

I didn't notice any difference between my DS1 and DS2, they are similar in terms of health, my oldest BF son is very tall and a bit overweight, whilst DS2 is skinny as anything I would have thought it would be the other way around.

I myself was a FF baby, and never had one drop of my mum's BM. I personally don't get ill often wasn't a sick baby particularly and was perfectly content. My DD is the same and she was and is BF, not sick a lot, and no known issues. You do what makes you and your family happy, others thoughts are not your concern, youll likely feel guilty no matter what - the joys of motherhood huh!

I don't believe it makes as much difference to the baby as they claim. I think it's easier on the Mum to FF & sometimes that can be positive for a baby as other people can help out. It's not all consuming. I think FF probably sleep longer too.

I think in populations with access to clean water, the apparent risks of bottlefeeding are statistically negligible. There is very, very little difference in outcomes between breastfed and bottlefed babies in the developed world.

Some studies have suggested small advantages to breastfeeding, but these are conducted with large sample sizes and any statistics generated do not apply to individuals. That’s not how it works.

I breastfed my daughter for ages. Anecdotally, the main advantages I think (and this can only be my opinion!) it conferred on her were perfect teeth (the action of breastfeeding is important in jaw formation etc.) and a remarkable take-it-or-leave it attitude to snacks, etc. She has a natural willpower (that I do not and never model to her 😀) that I suppose might have come from the self-regulation involved in breastfeeding.

I do wonder if, given what we’re now learning about the gut biome and the problems with ultra-processed food (which formula milk is), whether there might be something worth thinking about there… But the gut is also elastic and heals itself so I’m sure that any possible issues are eliminated when a baby starts eating a normal, varied diet.

Breastfeeding does offer protective factors to baby, both short and long-term. It also reduces risk of some cancers and other diseases for mother after breastfeeding over a certain time.

Can only offer as a Mum of one-had to stop BF at 10 days as I was seriously ill and hospitalised, put on various drugs. ÐD thrived, got through the usual childhood illnesses fine, developed absolutely fine.

Truthfully I think it depends, totally helpful I know!

Some FF can be overfed and then some find it hard to get them off the bottle (but both of these are pretty easily mitigated)

I breastfed mine, flogged a dead horse to make it work with my first due to how much it was drummed in to me on ‘the risks of formula’ BUT truthfully a lot of the benefits of breastfeeding are over stated quite a bit.

That being said, my second was cmpa who didn’t react through my milk but actual formula made him projectile vomit. So in those instance breastfeeding is better than formula. There are dairy free formulas but it can take a while to find the right one. But on the other side of the coin, there are babies with really complex allergies that react through breastmilk that is simply too difficult for, so then formula is best.

so to answer your question. It depends. Early doors it’s an opportunity for mum to have a break and sleep and have someone else feed baby. Think there was some research that debunked FF babies sleeping longer

My eldest was FF and is autistic and has never achieved much academically, he went to a special needs school. He is very healthy and has never been seriously ill. He's a bit overweight and has a junk food habit, but he's never been interested in alcohol or drugs. Quite lazy and never walks anywhere.

DC2 was breastfed until 4 years, fairly bright but not enough for top selective schools, also rarely gets ill. Very skinny, quite fussy with food. Agile and likes some sorts but hates walking.

DC3 was breastfed until 4 years, got into superselective schools and rarely gets ill. Eats anything, is a healthy weight. Sporty and active.

None of them have ever been to A&E, and I've never had any kind of cancer which apparently breastfeeding is a protective factor for.

Breast fed both of mine. Oldest 11 months - caught every virus that came by. Youngest 19 months never had an ear infection until he was 24.

I think BF babies are ill less often/less severely generally speaking.

Only difference for me was FF kept hunger at bay for longer so more sleep for all but extra prep work and sterilising created more housework plus it does work out quite expensive. I haven't noticed a difference between growth, health, susceptibility to colds etc so I personally think whatever is best for you is the best option.

FF babies generally on a bit more of a structured routine earlier - because of timed feeds as opposed to feeding whenever.

My experience of my FF versus family BF, and it is purely anecdotal.

Mine savaged their bottles slept like troopers. I could tag team with their father so if they were teething we both still got sleep.

On balance mine got a lot less bugs but mine are less tactile with other children.

We found it easier to have "me" time because they weren't relying solely on me.

I was able to go and have my wisdom tooth removed 10 days post delivery that involved a brief hospital stay so baby was less distressed ,- though counting this as me time is generous 😜.

So having read some of the other posts - mine were formula fed only after breast feeding just not working for us. My first baby wouldn't take a bottle from anyone but me. So when people would stay - great you are broke feeding you get a break - would be like no .... plus he wasn't in a routine and we fed on demand. So that could be 2 oz at 10 followed by another oz at 12. So routine at all.

But then his little brother - once we moved to bottles - slept 4-5 hours as a new born at night after a bottle. That baby seemed to understand feeding and I went with his cues.

All babies are so different. My second baby (so far) has been the only baby to go to out of hours at the hospital due to illness and the first baby never has antibiotics

My son is exclusively breastfed. He had RSV recently and briefly got very ill with it. He was in hospital having trouble breathing and there were talks of putting him on oxygen (this never actually happened). The next day he was completely fine and was discharged. My health visitor said this was likely down to my breast milk boosting his immune system. I don’t know if that’s true or not. However I do know formula fed babies who were much sicker for a lot longer with the same thing.

My eldest l BF for two years.. First 8 months that's all she had no food no water.. just BF on demand. weaned at eight months..
Second only managed 3 Months due to horrible circumstances ( and l feel guilty to this day) Eldest is 40 and never had health problems.. lovely slim curvy figure. Good job.. three sons she breast for a year each.
Youngest is 31.. had health problems all her life on and off.
Meningitis when 9 months.
Asthmatic.
Tonsillectomy and aneroid out age 9 that went badly wrong.
Braces on teeth age 11.
As a young adult..PSOC.
endometriosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis.
POtS.
I could go on.
I was a member of La Lechè.
Would choose exclusively Breast fed all the time.

Bf have more of a bond with mum, ff sleep longer stretches.

Endometriosis cells are found in babies. Nothing to do with breast feeding.

There is definitely a difference at population level for health. But personally for me my bf babies never cried, like really never.....a boob solved everything for a long while! I used to listen to next door neighbours baby crying loudly while was next to me sleeping!

Both mine had breastmilk but one from the breast and the other from a bottle. The bottle fed one stuck to a perfect routine and slept through the night from 2 weeks old. He was by far the easier baby. Nightmare toddler.

BF baby was clingy in the extreme. Had to be on me at all times and didn't sleep for longer than 39 minutes until he was a year and a half. Nightmare baby but excellent toddler, never had a tantrum and spoke conversationally from 18m. He's exceptionally clever annoyingly easily distracted.

The draw of just shy of 2 years without periods is enough of a draw for me regardless of the effort involved. Though if I was doing it all again I would pump again, much preferred bottle feeding.

I was formula fed and my brother was breastfed for 6 months.

Probably not linked but my mum said the only difference as kids was one of us got more stomach bugs and the other got more colds.

As adults there is no difference, both very healthy. No allergies/eczema/asthma.

I pumped milk for my DC1 and it was exhausting. DC2 has had a tiny bit of colostrum then gone straight to formula. No guilt. And if my DH couldn’t help with the night feeds, I would never sleep.

Bollocks do breastfed babies have more of a bond with mum!!!

I’ve had/have an amazing bond with both my babies.

The benefits are at population level. So you're not going to be able to draw any conclusions by looking at two individual babies. Congratulations on your pregnancy and do what works for you OP. If you want to try breastfeeding, speak to your midwife and make sure you know where to go for support and advice when the baby is here. There is lots of good information online but nothing beats being in a room with someone who can see you and your baby and help you with whatever is going on. I'm glad I breastfed because in the long run it worked out easier for me and mine, but there were many tricky days each time around.

Every baby is different. Trying to work out "differences" without a massive sample size is useless. Anecdotally, I BF three children. All fairly healthy, bright and responsible adults now. The one who had some formula feeds from an early age (one a day) achieved best academically but suffers very badly with eczema and asthma. I don't assume any correlation.