to think nearly all the mums I see are bottle feeding?

[newmumma2015]

Not judging those who can't breastfeed but when taking my new born out the past 3 months I've only seen one other mum breastfeeding. Are you all hiding?

"Mortified at my squirty boobs and the jets of milk that spray far and wide."

Just remember, in previous times your squirty breasts would have been considered a suitable subject for public art.

Who cares? I don't care how anyone feeds their child. It's their own business.

but think mums who ff from birth awful can't get my head round it a baby is such a precious thing more important than anything you have to do your best for it surely

Bollocks. Don't be such an arse.

I formula fed my three from birth. I wanted to. In fact, I only have one regret about breastfeeding, and that was ever letting myself be talked into trying it with my eldest. It ruined our first week and reinforced to me that my original decision to bottle-feed was the right one.

AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL MUM HERE, AND PROUD OF IT.

It's not really their own business though is it. Women should be able to breast feed with actual breasts wherever they want. It being 2015 and all.
If you never see another woman doing it though you feel odd and embarrassed.

"Who cares? I don't care how anyone feeds their child. It's their own business."

I don't care about the lack of crossings for hedgehogs on the M25, but I understand why other people do, and don't think that them caring about a lack of hedgehog crossings is a sign of bad character.

Nicole my point is that of breastfeeding was as vital as some say, there would be a much more noticible difference in people who were breastfed vs people who weren't. As it stands, where there is evidence breastfeeding is beneficial it's not the liquid gold some people seem to think. There are far more important things

but think mums who ff from birth awful can't get my head round it a baby is such a precious thing more important than anything you have to do your best for it surely

But that's because you think breastfeeding helps keep babies from getting sick. Most people who choose not to breastfeed don't believe that breastfeeding makes any difference regardless of what advice they're given by the NHS.

Everyone is entitled to ignore or disbelieve health advice. It's our prerogative as a parent.

Fucking hell, is there any touchier group on mumsnet than people who bottle feed their babies?

"Nicole my point is that of breastfeeding was as vital as some say, there would be a much more noticible difference in people who were breastfed vs people who weren't."

What nonsense.

If the link between lifestyle choices and morbidity and mortality was obvious, why the feck did it take medical researchers 50 years to persuade the public that smoking was dangerous? Why did doctors recommend smoking (as helpful for nausea) and eating vast quantities of liver to pregnant mothers for decades? Why were mothers recommended to put babies to sleep on their fronts until the late 1980's?

"As it stands, where there is evidence breastfeeding is beneficial it's not the liquid gold some people seem to think"

The suggestion that people think breastfeeding is a 'golden bullet' which cures all ills is a very annoying straw man argument which is used as a stick to beat breastfeeding advocates with. I don't know ANYONE who believes that breastfeeding is a guarantee of good health. However, I have heard the accusation that people believe it's a guarantee of good health 100's of times on mumsnet.

Fucking hell, is there any touchier group on mumsnet than people who bottle feed their babies?

Yep, breastfeeders.

OP ignore the hoopla

It isn't encouraging to feel in a small minority in any activity, is it?

Hopefully if the midwife is aware of falling BF numbers, then she'll also be aware of support groups etc.

Good luck

No, Nicole. The comment from andcake is because she cannot imagine any other situation than her own. Most ff mothers are very much doing the best for their babies as are most bf mothers. Health is not one factor. Women have testified on this thread about their experiences and reasons for different kinds of feeding. Everyone, it seems, is entitled to ignore or disbelieve the experiences of mothers, it's our prerogative as judging mothers. Not good.

Other way round here - lots of breastfeeding mothers. I was quite embarrassed to bottle feed as I stood out.

"Fucking hell, is there any touchier group on mumsnet than people who bottle feed their babies?"

No, and actually, when midwives are discussing feeding choices with pregnant women, one of the things they ought to encourage them to consider is how much the convenience of bottle feeding may be offset by having to spend the next 50 years diving for the off switch of the TV every time a new study is published showing the breastfeeding to have important benefits, and feeling a bit emotionally uncomfortable when the subject of breastfeeding crops up in conversations with their friends.

Bottle-feeding is much more prevalent, but breastfeeding often doesn't look like what it is; it just looks like holding or cuddling, so people are often doing it incognito.

Nicole, because new research comes out all the time. I'm not saying that - but based on what we know currently, while breastfeeding is good, it's not as great as some people claim and doesn't have as wide an impact on health as some people claim.

Really? I've met a few. No one is beating anyone, if you want to breastfeed fine, I just wish people would stop acting superior about it

Other way round here - lots of breastfeeding mothers. I was quite embarrassed to bottle feed as I stood out

Yes, the standing out feeling is horrible.

I'm glad I'd never read MN ff/bf threads before I started feeding my babies. They must add to the feeling of alienation for some people.

Good point nicole. Maybe they should also point out, in the interests of honesty, that breastfeeding may turn them into an insufferably smug super-mummy-wannabe.

Or maybe, back on Planet Reality, the midwife could just give the facts like she's supposed to, and ignore the twats on both sides of the argument.

This is a wonderful example of a self goading thread

Is that what they're called Dr0p?

In real life many of my friends breast fed and many bottle fed. Some bottle fed by choice and others through no choice. No-one gave a shit, we all supported each other. Mumsnet is like a parallel dimension where people choose to breastfeed just to have a dig at bottle feeders and vice versa.

Yes Maggie,

If only we could harness the power….

"The comment from andcake is because she cannot imagine any other situation than her own. Most ff mothers are very much doing the best for their babies as are most bf mothers"

I think that's a very good argument for hugely increasing promotion and support for breastfeeding. If hundreds of thousands of healthy UK mothers with normally functioning breasts feel fundamentally unable to engage in a physiologically normal and healthy bodily function, one that the vast majority of similar women across Europe seem to do without problems, then there is clearly something deeply fucked with our culture and our system of support for new families.

I usually avoid baby feeding threads as it tends to bring out the crazy ones. I thought this one was actually pretty supportive until the IT'S A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE DONTCHA KNOW crowd turned up.

Shame.

I BF OP, and I was one of few in my circle of postnatal classes, and the only one in my very close mum friends. At toddler groups it is hit and miss, now that DS is older than a year (closer to 18mo), I get told all of the time that he is too big to be BF and all the stories that entail. But I want to BF, and will. Yes, he is walking and talking and even eats everything that I do, but I know that he will wean himself at his own speed. I agree though, I didn't see many BF when he was much younger when I was out and about, and I did feel VERY self conscious about it. Your confidence will grow with time OP. Keep going.