To think breastfeeding has made no difference to my dd and is massively overrated in terms of benefits?

[Placeanditspatrons]

I've nearly driven myself to a breakdown feeding my dd. She is 16 months now and I'm still feeding. She has been ill more times and worse than my formula fed from four months son. She does not recover any faster and she catches anything I get and gets it worse, despite supppsedly the antibodies passing to her and either preventing or reducing the severity of the illness.

I know it's anecdotal and the studies say overall bf babies are healthier but how much healthier? I mean I we talking one less cold? One less ear injection? Statistically? Many of my friends have said similar. Again anecdotal but I can't help wondering - after the colostrum which is more important I guess - does it really make any noticeable difference?

Not all Bertrand!
Just the one I'm talking about.
Gosh
You are getting your knickers in a twist aren't you?

U ok Hun?

....And personally speaking I was made to feel like I was poisoning my ds1 by giving him ff
It's great that you don't do this and are sad that it happens
But, believe me, it happens

They aren't. I am pro breastfeeding but I respect any woman's right to use formula.

I suspect part of it is a good few women feel they wanted to breastfeed but could not or think they assume we think less of them because we managed it and they didn't - but they are wrong. There is no standing in judgment. I want to live in a UK where we can all be different in all kinds of ways - from how we bring up children to how families structure family life. Infant feeding is up to the family.

Oh! I almost forgot!!
And the "lovely" hcps who put my sons FTT down to me ff
Funny they never realised it was due to undx IUGR (how many full term babies do you know who weight less than 5lbs?) and me
Having no milk due to retained placenta
But...ok
Everyone is really accepting of ff
🙄

...and some of the comments on this thread re conspiracy theories about ff companies is proper tin foil Hat territory 😳😳

However, I digress...

Op..I hope you are ok now.

If not, go and see your dr. Late onset pnd can and does occur (it happened to me)

I hope what people have taken from this thread is that it doesn't matter how you feed your baby - as long as they AND YOU - are healthy and happy.

and some of the comments on this thread re conspiracy theories about ff companies is proper tin foil Hat territory

It's not a conspiracy, it's called business. If you have a product to sell, you would be a fool not to do everything possible to promote and sell it, or are you and I on different planets?

And happy to be so frankly....

I loved BFing - the convenience and the closeness is fantastic! However i truely believe it is the biggest cause of PND in "western civilisation" and I really wished someone would have the cahooners to do a study on the nutritional benefits of BM from a six week post birth sleep deprived mother!

I couldn't do it with DS1 and expresses frantically and attended every class going trying to achieve it. I combined fed and only managed nine week to do it exclusively for DS2 - it was the biggest stress of my early parenting and I regret the pressure I put on myself and the undue stress I put in my DH.

A happy mummy makes a happy baby so do what is right for you!

I actually couldn't agree more Groves - I breastfed both for a year + each, but I do think that a). the monumental pressure I put on myself to get it established (it was so hard), and b). the monumental pressure of being the ONLY one able to feed, and the only one doing all the night wakings and settlings for months and months on end, had me skating on the edges of PND.

I do think that civilisation has moved on to such an extent, that many women simply aren't of the frame of mind to accept what breastfeeding necessitates.

The irony is that once it's established, it's the easiest thing in the world - although even then, being the only one to deal with night feeds can bring you to your knees, if you have a baby that doesn't sleep through the night (which many babies (most?) aren't wont to do).

However getting it established can be so problematic for many women, than it's just untenable to continue. I fully understand that.

Fair enough, badders. A bit of intelligent discussion would have been nice, but i accept that you can't manage it.

Thank you atenco who makes money from formula feeding vs who makes money from breastfeeding.

For mothers who cannot breastfeed we should promote milk banks, donor milk, informal sharing of milk between mothers. Not corporate interests. Outsourcing infant nutrition to massive companies is not a good idea for our health or our pocketbooks long term.

Anyone who thinks it's a conspiracy is a naive fool who's never worked for a corporation. I'm sorry to say.

I completely agree with you OP. I have one daughter totally FF and one who was BF. The BF has asthma and eczema.

Amazed you have kept it going for 16 months if you are this stressed by it please if it bothers you pack it in you have done more than enough.

Ignore the cat fighting on here it's not going to tell you anything you don't know.

newbian, if FF manufacturers could put something in the formula to addict them to other products, maybe they would....I explained to you that they cannot because of legislation nationally and internationally to prevent them straying beyond fixed parameters.

Don't spread daft stories. It makes bf support look batshit crazy.

Flavor profiles are not illegal. Read the book. That's all.

They are in infant formula.

They are illegal in infant formula I mean.

Bertrand 😂

Tiltok....yep: some of the on this thread bf really are coming across batshit crazy. Does your Stirling work much harm 😞

Death the the corporate monsters!! Down with capitalism!!

😳🙄

The benefits, health and others, are across life, not just during the breastfeeding period. So you don't really have any evidence one way or the other at the moment.

I should have also added that it also depends upon the diet of the mother. So in some cases formula might well be better, but that's also not taking into account the benefits of the bond etc created through the closeness of breast feeding

asno it's well established that the mother's diet has little to no impact on the quality of milk produced unless the mother is suffering severe malnutrition/starvation. Previous posters in this thread have stated this in more detail. That's a damaging falsehood that makes breastfeeding appear harder for mums - alongside not being able to touch alcohol. Myths like this must contribute to low breastfeeding rates.

I'm still interested in Scandinavia. If they manage nearly 100% bf there, what is different about women in the U.K. that so many can't Not "don't want to" . Can't.

I should have also added that it also depends upon the diet of the mother. So in some cases formula might well be better

I thought that diet didn't impact the quality of milk.

Sorry have now seen that others have corrected this

Bertrand perhaps rates of CS and/or birth complications (e.g. tube feeding)? Family support? Paternal leave? Expectation management?