To think breastfeeding is a hassle?

[choolaboola]

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?

There's threads about Tennis if you want one.

From the NHS website
Some of the benefits of breastfeeding are:
your breast milk is perfectly designed for your baby
breast milk protects your baby from infections and diseases
breastfeeding provides health benefits for you
breast milk is available for your baby whenever your baby needs it
breastfeeding can build a strong emotional bond between you and your baby
Formula milk does not provide the same protection from illness and does not give you any health benefits.

To me, it's easier as no faff with bottles in the middle of the night, preparation etc. My baby slept about 10 hours a night from about 13 weeks, so not all breastfed babies want to feed all the time.As for going out,well, I don't really want to leave my baby to be honest. I'm not ready for that yet. So, for me, it's better.

There's no reason to start at thread stating breastfeeding is going well.

Once we got the hang of it I liked being able to leave the house with just some nappies.
On second baby I figured out how to feed baby in the sling. Handy when you're also chasing a toddler around.

Given we’re discussing baby feeding, I would say that’s unlikely.

Also, the snacks!

The excuse to sit down whilst you're partner runs around fetching you a drink...

And not that it's important... but it does help with loosing the remaining baby weight for some people

I didn't watch what I ate at all, 9 months pp I was back to my original weight

Tbh most of parenting is a right hassle but it’s mostly worth it!

Because I found it easy. No sterilising bottles worrying about mixing formula and all that faff.

I got to the point I could bf at night without actually getting out of bed or even opening my eyes.
I could go out without having to plan and carry anything other than a changing bag.
If we got stuck in traffic it wasn't a problem.

Maternity leave summer, me and DS hiked the Ridgeway, him in a sling. It was lovely.
It's free.
It helped me lose the baby weight.

After a slightly wobbly start, it worked for me. I was lucky

@greenbubble I do exactly what you say and I don’t know why they perpetuate this ‘nipple confusion’ myth and make you almost scared to introduce just one or two bottles if you’re bf’ing! Mine will take a bottle from dad, mum, my friends etc she’s very secure in that way and also loves to bf and I have her in the sling a lot so she’s really attached but also I have that independence. Honestly I think it’s best of both worlds

At first yes. But not having to get up in the cold night to heat a bottle or having to take bottles out with you or sterilise equipment - makes life easier.

After about 10 days of BF being painful whilst getting used to it, I had almost 2 years of always having perfect temperature milk ready for my baby, no equipment, no faff, no matter where I was, with zero prep. When he was poorly and wouldn’t eat anything else, he’d always have BM. So I felt reassured that he had something good inside him at least.
I knew I always had what I needed to comfort him when he was upset too.

Even without the other benefits, for these practical reasons alone I plan to do it again second time around.

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

This is what I plan to do with my next baby.

Care to say by how many IQ points? 0.3 or something, wasn’t it? 🤔

Thats great if your baby and body are cooperative.

But some babies can’t adjust to two completely different ways of sucking. Or they just refuse the bottle.

And some womens supply is affected by going hours without feeding, or they get engorged and even mastitis.

Some mums find it’s the worse of both worlds.

So it’s not that women are so narrow minded or stupid that they have never thought of it. It’s that it doesn’t work for every mum / baby team.

I thought this topic was off limits on MN because of the explosive bunfights it causes?
Especially with the thread title and the fact you've never actually breastfed so you'd be unreasonable to have any opinion on it at all right now.

Better for baby, lower incidence of breast cancer, middle of night SO much easier to grab the baby and put to breast rather than stumbling to the kitchen to warm a bottle, natural immunity for baby, better teeth and jaw development for baby, lower incidence of eczema in breast fed babies. I have done both.

I've done both. Breastfed my eldest until nearly 3, formula feeding my 6 months old at the moment. Breastfeeding is FAR easier (practically- e.g sterilising and washing bottles, cooling etc.) BUT.. establishing breastfeeding itself is bloody hard.

I genuinely don't think sleep has been any different with my two.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/18/brazil-longer-babies-breastfed-more-achieve-in-life-major-study

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is travelling.

We went abroad on holiday when ds (fully breastfed) was 4 months.

It was ridiculously easy! We had a permanent, never ending, supply of safe healthy food for him. No worries about if the tap water was safe for him or the sodium content of the bottled water. No stressing about how many bottles we needed for the plane. (The people sitting two rows behind me had a similar aged child and had been made to open and taste some of their ready made bottles on the plane. As a result they were a bit worried about running out.) Able to comfort him when the plane went up and down. (Breastfeeding equals swallowing equals ears don’t hurt.)

Obviously may not be of interest to you but if you are a holiday type then it is useful to know in advance…..

We never used formula, but I do think you're right that it's crazy this isn't presented more often as an option. I think people get scared that they'll end up losing their supply if they give formula.

OP if combi feeding is for you, there is a great booked called Mixed Up which advises on how to combi feed without compromising your supply

I didn't bring the subject of tennis up. 😁

Also gives you a get out clause to leave the room to "feed the baby" if someone is annoying you🤣

Wasn’t for me, I have bf 4 kids all till at least 2 years, but I don’t post about how easy I found it as it’s considered bragging. People only post when they find things difficult no ones going to post saying they find it easy/ never had any problem, if you look at it this way you could say the same about relationships they are all awful as all I read on here is “my husband has cheated/ my husband won’t do anything with the kids/ my husband is lazy” does that mean all relationships are bad? 😏

I combi fed