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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Quick poll - were YOU breastfed or formula fed?

231 replies

FFFS · 15/02/2011 20:24

If you were formula fed, you are probably, thick, fat and/or dead/on your last legs by now.

If you were breastfed, you are probably highly intelligent, with supermodel looks and are 125/going to reach 125 (but only if you were EBF until you were 16).

AIBU?

Yes, I know a thread about a thread but I could not resist.

OP posts:
atthecarwash · 15/02/2011 21:11

I don't think I was FF...I think it was diluted Ideal milk that I got, popular in the 70s. I have a degree, postgrad, am slim and fit. Go figure;)

LaWeaselMys · 15/02/2011 21:13

oncemai - that is exactly what happened with my mum, although she somehow managed to reestablish bf after weeks in hospital which must have been awful. Even in late 80s I think the pressure to bf must have been huge for her to feel like she had to do that.

hellymelly · 15/02/2011 21:14

Formula fed (and six weeks prem).I was sent to a different hospital from my mother and put in an incubator Sad.I have allergies and whilst I am the chubbiest I've ever been,I have been thin my whole life until dd2,who is three (I'm 47).And I'm not fat,just fatter than I'm used to being.I do wonder about the allergy link though.I'm still bf my three year old.

scaryteacher · 15/02/2011 21:15

Formula fed, degree educated and 45. Overweight as I live in Belgium and live on chocolate> have an auto-immune disease, but that was caused by pregnancy!

Mum couldn't bf as she had inverted nipples. I ff ds as I wanted to and the bf evangelists had their nipples so far down my throat about it that it pissed me off. Also, ds was in SCBU for a while and was being fed through a NG tube, and the nurses used formula. If I'd waited to learn how to bf I'd never have got out of hospital. 10 days in was enough.

nannyl · 15/02/2011 21:18

was exclusively breast fed til 11m when i had cows milk from a cup!

I have a degree

also as a child had multiple food intolerences, eczma asthma and hayfever!

Merlotmonster · 15/02/2011 21:20

how do people know this?! have you asked your mums or did you know already ?

Iwishiwasasleep · 15/02/2011 21:21

I was neither FF or BF. I was spoonfed Complan as I had a cleft lip and palate and that's what they did at the time. I'm a bit overweight but quite intelligent and apart from a prolapse and a twitch in my eye when I'm stressed I'm quite healthy.

hairymelons · 15/02/2011 21:21

I'm one of 6. We were all bf, some of us had formula too. We were probably all weaned by 12 weeks but that's another thread.

There are 2 doctors, a lawyer, an oxford phd student, and me Grin so mostly not thick. However, we all have variations of eczema/asthma/allergies etc., one of us is v overweight and 2 have Crohn's disease. All of which proves very little.

I didn't see the thread being referred to (thankfully) but I do wonder when we are going to stop scrapping over this Sad

Yes, bf support could and should be better. Yes, there are certain health benefits associated with bf. But formula is a perfectly acceptable substitute

Katy1368 · 15/02/2011 21:26

My mum claimed she exclusively BF me until 3 months. Then I came across a photo of me at 10 days old showing her bottle feeding me! When pushed she claimed it must have been water as it was July and hot - but the liquid in the bottle is clearly white!! I think she has a selective memory...

manicbmc · 15/02/2011 21:27

So, in conclusion, bf is great if you can/want to but there's nothing wrong with ff either. Who would have thought it? Grin

pranma · 15/02/2011 21:28

I have no idea :)

Mishy1234 · 15/02/2011 21:33

Both my brother and I were formula fed. Mum did say that she was advised by the MW to bf, but was heavily influenced by her mother who had a bad time bf (repeated bouts of mastitis) and advised her not to.

I do think she regrets it now, having seen me bf 2 of her grandchildren. She sees it as a good thing from a convenience point of view rather than from a health perspective, so I don't think she feels guilty (at least I hope she doesn't).

I don't think my brother and I have suffered because of it.

jenniec79 · 15/02/2011 21:36

I was an SMA baby.

I'm a size 10 surgeon now.

I sometimes wonder if I'd have taken over the world by now if I'd been BF, but back then it wasn't made a reasonable option for mum while I was in SCBU.

peppapighastakenovermylife · 15/02/2011 21:36

Confused Anecdotes and cases are of course fascinating. But they do not mean that BF or FF is right.

It is about risk. And Averages. You could drive around your whole life not wearing a seatbelt and be fine but someone wearing one might be killed

On the whole a FF has a greater risk of different health problems. This is a world away from saying they will get health problems or even that it caused any health problems they did have.

So the message should not be that FF is no different to BF but that we should support womem to BF if they can. But certainly not demonise them if they cant.

Formula fed by the way - bit fat but got a PhD Grin

Original poster
FFFS · 15/02/2011 21:39

peppa - this thread is not about what's right or wrong! I stated earlier in the thread what my intention was.

OP posts:
peppapighastakenovermylife · 15/02/2011 21:44

No - I am agreeing with you! I cannot stand the negative attitudes towards mums who FF often without choice. Effort should be directed to better support. I was just responding to a few comments on here.

pointythings · 15/02/2011 21:45

BF for 6 weeks, then FF (my poor mum, she was told to weigh me before and after every feed - they must have been trying to make her milk dry up!

I'm decidedly overweight, have an IQ of 155 and a degree so go figure.

I also BF my DCs for 13 months because I had buckets of milk and am obstinate (my GP said so, in a nice way - it must be true Smile.

One of them is stick-thin, the other is solid but ideal weight, both are even cleverer than I was at that age.

Conclusion: I need to stop reading research papers on BF.

fatlazymummy · 15/02/2011 21:46

I think I was BF for 1st 6 weeks then FF. Mum isn't alive though so can't ask for any more details.
I am reasonably intelligent, very healthy but am overweight. I was slim until about 10 years ago and gaining weight is totally my own fault. I just eat too much.

pointythings · 15/02/2011 21:55

And Peppa I so agree with you - I have a friend who really, really tried with both her DCs but ended up mix feeding by six weeks and three months respectively - and beat herself up over it.

I have very little time for people who won't even give it a go (unless there is a genuine medical reason - wanting to go out on the piss/it's gross/wanting my body back are not valid) but that's a tiny minority.

It's not at all the same as trying, finding it hard and giving up. If it weren't for the brilliant midwife who showed me the rugby hold at 5 days in, I'd have given up too - it was agony, my DD1 was made by Dyson. And I had buckets of milk (we are talking embarrassing fountain displays here) so hats off to anyone who struggles.

BelleDameSansMerci · 15/02/2011 22:09

FF and am slim, gorgeous, modest, clever, etc. No allergies, asthma, etc. Suspect, however, that much of this is due to being "peasant stock" Grin

mitochondria · 15/02/2011 22:11

Breastfed.

scottishmummy · 15/02/2011 22:11

as suspected you all are bonnie.irrespective of how fed

skiphopskidaddle · 15/02/2011 22:12

bf. Oxbridge first and within normal weight range (just :)) No allergies, very strong constitution.

shinydiscoball · 15/02/2011 22:15

FF - highly intelligent porker Blush but I'm pretty stunning Grin

A1980 · 15/02/2011 22:15

A bit of both but mainly FF. I have two degrees and am a solicitor. For all the difference it makes when you're an adult....