Page 17 | To think breastfeeding is a hassle?

choolaboola · 2022-09-13T14:48:24+00:00

Apologies in advanced if this is offensive as I know some BF people feel really passionate about it - BUT - can I please ask, why do people breastfeed? First time pregnancy here - all I read is "my BF baby won't sleep" "I can't leave them down" "I can't go to XYZ months in because Im exclusively BF" etc. I'm genuinely wondering is it a much harder path to go down? My friends, sisters, mum and MIL have all formula fed and as far as I can see, the outcome is the same. So I'm just wondering what other people's thoughts are?

MaybeIWillFuckOffThen · 14/09/2022 13:51

Can't say how it affects my weight, doesn't seem to cause loss or gain - but then the fact i haven't gained whilst eating huge amounts of extra calories (binge eating issue) probably indicates if i was normal I'd be losing!

BryceQuinlanTheFirst · 14/09/2022 13:52

SpinningFloppa · 14/09/2022 13:33

Oh god yes forgot about the period, mine returned at 5 weeks with all 4 of my children despite ebf never using formula co sleeping no dummies, I felt cheated!

Yep same! 5/6 weeks I was so annoyed

BonesOfWhatYouBelieve · 14/09/2022 13:53

I’m really not doing breastfeeding down but I’m always a bit baffled by how amazing the benefits are on paper vs how little effect they seem to have in real life? On paper they’re incredible, but in real life the healthiest kids I know were bottle fed. 8 months of breast milk didn’t seem to do much for my daughter who caught every bug going, but her bottle fed cousins never get sick and seem to have the constitutions of an ox. I would be genuinely interested to know why.

Because that's just anecdotal experience and while it is true that breastfed babies are statistically less likely to get certain things, it's not a huge difference and it obviously doesn't mean that every ff child will be ill, and every bf child will be perfectly healthy. There will always be plenty of examples of people who don't fit a headline of "doing X decreases risk of Y"

Wouldloveanother · 14/09/2022 13:57

BonesOfWhatYouBelieve · 14/09/2022 13:53

I’m really not doing breastfeeding down but I’m always a bit baffled by how amazing the benefits are on paper vs how little effect they seem to have in real life? On paper they’re incredible, but in real life the healthiest kids I know were bottle fed. 8 months of breast milk didn’t seem to do much for my daughter who caught every bug going, but her bottle fed cousins never get sick and seem to have the constitutions of an ox. I would be genuinely interested to know why.

Because that's just anecdotal experience and while it is true that breastfed babies are statistically less likely to get certain things, it's not a huge difference and it obviously doesn't mean that every ff child will be ill, and every bf child will be perfectly healthy. There will always be plenty of examples of people who don't fit a headline of "doing X decreases risk of Y"

Of course and I know it must be true, it’s just it sounds like life saving stuff on paper - not just healthy but like a miracle worker. I’m just surprised it doesn’t have more of an effect.

KeepYaHeadUp · 14/09/2022 14:03

Teddletoddle · 13/09/2022 16:10

Your baby will benefit so much from being breast fed
Children who are breastfed for a long period are brighter than those who are not breastfed, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of Oxford report that parents who breastfeed for a longer time have children who perform better in cognitive tests than children whose mothers give them formula instead.27 May 2022

Was it a significant difference? Did it account for other factors like cultural capital, schooling, etc.? Generally more deprived sections of society don't breastfeed, for various reasons, and we know deprivation impacts academic achievement

Rutland2022 · 14/09/2022 14:16

Absolutely the opposite here. I loved BF and DD never had a bottle. I fed for 26 months.

There was zero effort required, no prep, no sterilising, milk on tap wherever we were and adapted to suit DD’s needs. No worries about shortages in lockdowns or planning my day around bottles. Amazing bonding experience, cheap as chips. I can’t see a single advantage to formula for me.

I recognise not everyone finds it easy. I don’t take that for granted. But I can’t imagine choosing formula over BF without trying it. I have zero regrets here.

Yes it was tiring and physically hard at times, but I didn’t have a baby to have good nights sleep and for my life to not change.

Breastfeeding when it works is fantastic. My NCT group all managed to 100% EBF for a year or more, we were a great support to each other and are very proud.

DD is 3 now and I still marvel at growing, delivering and feeding my DD. Bodies are incredible. Why would I want to fuck about with nature unnecessarily?

BonesOfWhatYouBelieve · 14/09/2022 14:17

Was it a significant difference? Did it account for other factors like cultural capital, schooling, etc.? Generally more deprived sections of society don't breastfeed, for various reasons, and we know deprivation impacts academic achievement

I've just googled this study - it was 7,000 children from birth to 14 years old.
It did find a difference in verbal cognitive scores even after accounting for socioeconomic factors, and maternal intelligence. However this was a very small difference (a mean score 0.08 - 0.26 standard deviations higher than ff babies).
I was only able to find a couple of articles about the study, not the actual study itself.

www.ndph.ox.ac.uk/news/new-study-finds-that-breastfeeding-directly-supports-children2019s-cognitive-development

Parker231 · 14/09/2022 14:22

@Rutland2022 re your comment -“ I recognise not everyone finds it easy. I don’t take that for granted. But I can’t imagine choosing formula over BF without trying it. I have zero regrets here.”

I didn’t try bf because I didn’t want to - formula worked better for me and our family - it’s amazing. No regrets. DT’s are now 23 and have turned out pretty good!

Notlosinganyweight · 14/09/2022 14:34

BryceQuinlanTheFirst · 14/09/2022 13:52

Yep same! 5/6 weeks I was so annoyed

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Same here.

DappledThings · 14/09/2022 14:35

Rutland2022 · 14/09/2022 14:16

Absolutely the opposite here. I loved BF and DD never had a bottle. I fed for 26 months.

There was zero effort required, no prep, no sterilising, milk on tap wherever we were and adapted to suit DD’s needs. No worries about shortages in lockdowns or planning my day around bottles. Amazing bonding experience, cheap as chips. I can’t see a single advantage to formula for me.

I recognise not everyone finds it easy. I don’t take that for granted. But I can’t imagine choosing formula over BF without trying it. I have zero regrets here.

Yes it was tiring and physically hard at times, but I didn’t have a baby to have good nights sleep and for my life to not change.

Breastfeeding when it works is fantastic. My NCT group all managed to 100% EBF for a year or more, we were a great support to each other and are very proud.

DD is 3 now and I still marvel at growing, delivering and feeding my DD. Bodies are incredible. Why would I want to fuck about with nature unnecessarily?

All very much my experience.

I also don't take it for granted how easy it was for me and I know how lucky I was but I massively appreciate how convenient breastfeeding was. It made every trip out or staying away or going on holiday so much easier not needing to think about how I would sterilise or make up bottles. Feeding in the night without having to get up or make anything.

Total opposite of hassle as far as I'm concerned.

feckoffbrian · 14/09/2022 15:26

Rutland2022 · 14/09/2022 14:16

Absolutely the opposite here. I loved BF and DD never had a bottle. I fed for 26 months.

There was zero effort required, no prep, no sterilising, milk on tap wherever we were and adapted to suit DD’s needs. No worries about shortages in lockdowns or planning my day around bottles. Amazing bonding experience, cheap as chips. I can’t see a single advantage to formula for me.

I recognise not everyone finds it easy. I don’t take that for granted. But I can’t imagine choosing formula over BF without trying it. I have zero regrets here.

Yes it was tiring and physically hard at times, but I didn’t have a baby to have good nights sleep and for my life to not change.

Breastfeeding when it works is fantastic. My NCT group all managed to 100% EBF for a year or more, we were a great support to each other and are very proud.

DD is 3 now and I still marvel at growing, delivering and feeding my DD. Bodies are incredible. Why would I want to fuck about with nature unnecessarily?

I BF all 4 DC and loved it. It's the opposite of hassle.

With DC3, we did struggle to get established, but I expressed and syringe fed until we cracked it (it took about 3 weeks!). The other three were a lot quicker to pick it up.

I think bottle feeding, all the paraphernalia and sterilization, preparation etc looks like a right hassle!

But you do what works for you and your child. Don't let anyone pressure you into something you don't want to do. And don't listen to all this rubbish on the internet. Every baby and parent situation is completely unique and dependent upon many different factors. No one is the same!

IhateHermioneGranger · 14/09/2022 16:49

Rutland2022 · 14/09/2022 14:16

Absolutely the opposite here. I loved BF and DD never had a bottle. I fed for 26 months.

There was zero effort required, no prep, no sterilising, milk on tap wherever we were and adapted to suit DD’s needs. No worries about shortages in lockdowns or planning my day around bottles. Amazing bonding experience, cheap as chips. I can’t see a single advantage to formula for me.

I recognise not everyone finds it easy. I don’t take that for granted. But I can’t imagine choosing formula over BF without trying it. I have zero regrets here.

Yes it was tiring and physically hard at times, but I didn’t have a baby to have good nights sleep and for my life to not change.

Breastfeeding when it works is fantastic. My NCT group all managed to 100% EBF for a year or more, we were a great support to each other and are very proud.

DD is 3 now and I still marvel at growing, delivering and feeding my DD. Bodies are incredible. Why would I want to fuck about with nature unnecessarily?

Because nature can fail? Nice to have a back up.

CaptainMum · 14/09/2022 19:18

I love bf. It doesn't seem to hurt me at all and I find it so satisfying. I'm also selfishly enjoying the weight loss. I think bfing has obvious benefits but have no issue with how anyone chooses to appropriately feed their baby.

hiyaqwerty · 14/09/2022 22:16

Also I'm annoyed I haven't seen any weight loss since breastfeeding 🙄 I was hoping my tummy would go in.