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?

I did a mix of both. I can tell you that formula is a much bigger more expensive hassle. There's nothing worse than desperately trying to measure out spoonfuls of formula and cool down boiling water quickly for 3 mins at 3am while your baby is screaming in hunger.

None of my friends or family had BF but I did and loved it.
The only thing I would say is to get the baby to also take a bottle as soon as. You can then extract milk at the same time so the baby's dad can also give bottles and you can leave baby with a babysitter. I use to freeze any surplus milk.
Good Luck...it really is not rocket science.

You don't have to be a martyr to breastfeeding. You can always mix feed too. I bf all mine, one exclusively who also wouldn't take a dummy, bottle or cup until over a year but they all.slept for a chunk of 5+ hours by at least 4 months ( illness and teething excepted).
Give it a try ( very easy to get talked out of it as it doesn't always come naturally) I enjoyed it and felt my babies enjoyed the closeness. Most of my baby friend parents bf too, for varying lengths of time.

I much prefer bf, no bottles, no sterilizing, no prep! Once I got the hang of bf I found it easy and quick, baby fed in 5-10 mins, can feed anywhere without having to worry about bringing bottles etc. Personally I found ff a hassle.

I’m really lazy and breastfeeding was easier than all the faff with bottles.

I loved breast feeding. I was lucky and I found it nice and easy,and I quite enjoyed the early morning feed as it got light outside.

I was very lucky as I didn't work when the children were babies.

I am also an exceptionally greedy person, so I was quite happy to add the extra calories to my diet.

Just do what makes you happy and keeps you and your baby healthy and alive. It is worth trying to breast feed you might love it. And you don't have to faff around with bottles.

Cant be bothered making and washing up bottles
DD had explosive shits when she had formula
easier during the night
easy to comfort when they are upset especially when out and about
i love the bond and connection time

I am still going two years later and apart from the odd nipple lash injury its effortless now.

Anyone I know who had a perfect prep (or similar) was advised by HV they are not recommended and when they looked at them online they understood why. Either due to the "hot shot" not being enough volume of hot water to adequately kill the bacteria when dispensed onto cold formula in a cold bottle effectively, or because of the reported concerns with mould build up inside the tubing inside the machine.

There are enough doubts about any formula making machine generally, or if it isn't working optimally, I personally wouldn't use them and would want to be able to see all the parts to ensure they were adequately sterilised, formula correctly prepared, and parts replace it there was any build up on them, especially for a very young baby.

I stopped at 3 months and went exclusively onto FF. I found it hard baby had to constantly be with me cluster feeding I was really sleep deprived. My nipples were flat so the latch took ages to get while I had a crying hungry baby. I looked at the statistics and decided the WHO studies were more aimed at low income countries. In my opinion it didn't make a huge amount of difference. Very happy I quit I have a happy thriving 9 year old and when I quit BF I gave DD to her dad and had a lovely 12 hour sleep with no guilt. Just see how you feel. DD also started sleeping through .

I found it far easier. Yes there are downsides, mainly that I'm the only one with the boobs, but if I felt strongly enough about that I could have expressed I'm sure (well, I did, but it was a faff so I stopped) or combi fed. As it was, I fed each DC for 18 months.

BF meant I always had the food the DC wanted, instantly. No sterilising, no measuring at 3am, no rooting about in a bag while baby screams the cafe down. I often went out for the day with a sling and a spare nappy& wipes tucked into the pouch - so handy!

I did both and I agree. I don’t think people do breastfeeding any favours by pretending it’s easy, hassle free and not hard. It’s very difficult and I be the only one who can feed baby. It’s exhausting to do all the nights and feel like you can’t have more than an hour or two away for months and months in the beginning.
I also think people are so overdramatic about how complicated it is to make bottles. It’s so easy to sterilise, takes barely any time at all to make a bottle fresh and then cool in cold water. Plus you have the option of ready made.
Of course it’s easier to just whip a boob out, but equally not always. My baby hated feeding out and about and found it difficult to latch for ages.
Cost is obviously a big difference, but when I started using a bottle in the evening which meant baby would settle much easier for DH and I could go to bed, I realised I would pay almost anything for more sleep so it wasn’t a problem 😂

I have only FF. I find it reassuring to know other people can help out. I also find it great knowing how much baby is getting. I have been able to tip into town or socialise and leave baby to be minded nó hassle. Sterilising bottles is a pain but I've gotten into a routine of it now so it's easier. Do your research as you are doing then make a decision for yourself and ignore everyones opinion after that because no matter what you choose you will have people telling you you are right and wrong. Best of luck.

Of course it's a hassle. It's all a hassle. Feeding, waking up, changing, laundry, early starts, entertaining them, getting them to places, school, homework, dinner, more laundry, sports clubs, and then the teenage years means while your up to elbows in hassle they moan and you and roll their eyes. If you want to avoid hassle, don't have kids.

In my opinion there is no easy option or harder option with babies - you get a hard time at some point, it's just different/delayed

If you have a vaginal birth, you have most of the pain and trauma up front, but in most cases it then gets easier once baby is out, whereas C-section seems to make the initial giving birth easier but then can be uncomfortable/painful long afterwards

Same with breastfeeding - when everyone bottle feeding seems to be skipping off into the sunset with their baby, you have a shit old time initially, but then further down the line when they're waiting for water or bottles to heat in coffee shops, you've popped baby on and have a hand free for drinking coffee, or have popped baby on boob and gone back to sleep without standing in a freezing cold kitchen

I breastfed all 3 of mine and found it full of so many lovely moments (as well as the hard)

I haven’t read all the posts but OP, you’re joking, right? Breast is best, it’s free, you can do it anywhere, no equipment needed, did I mention it’s free?

I feel very passionately that it's your body and if you don't want to (for any reason), then that's fine. I didn't. It's no one else's business, is it.

I'll take it at face value.

I've never found it a hassle, and breastfed my first for 4 years, second for 2.5 years, still feeding my 1yo (will be my last). It's the very opposite of a hassle IME as you always have a basically unlimited supply of milk available at all times which needs no preparation or cleaning up. That was something that was so valuable to me. Plus, it seemed normal - my mum had done it, and my stepmum, and my aunt, and my mum's friend who had a baby (this is apparently the greatest predictor of what you'll do - what your friends/family have done). I also enjoyed breastfeeding. It felt good to continue to provide for the baby, and it's nice to have something nobody else can do. I was never particularly about the health benefits, but they are a nice bonus. I do think it makes a small difference even though on an individual level the difference might be outweighed by benefits such as convenience, mental health, or other factors.

I don't know if BF causes them to wake more at night or be more dependent at night - anecdotally, it would seem so, whereas research keeps proving not. I don't really get how that works. I wonder if it's not more about parenting style, so if you follow a very attachment parenting/child led/responsive kind of style, you get the biological norm of them seeking comfort in the night, whereas if you're more routine minded and intent on getting them independent at night ASAP then that's what you'll end up with, and these tend to correlate with feeding methods but aren't exclusive to them.

For me, I think even the most ardent routine fan is clear that babies need feeding at night in the early weeks, and I found doing this in the "routine/independent" way to be so incredibly disruptive and exhausting that I would much rather just put the baby in bed with me and let them breastfeed. If that leads to them waking up for longer then so be it. I would much rather do that for longer than do the sleep training thing. Other people probably think I am mad and do it the other way around. We are all different. It's my understanding though that you can do all the routine/independence things while breastfeeding if you want to.

I don't think I want to go out without my babies when they are tiny anyway. And when they are bigger it is no trouble to leave them. I would be happy to leave my 1yo overnight with his dad.

I BF. After 3 months I gave up...DD didn't sleep, cried constantly and was never off my breasts. Once I started FF it was like having a different child.

AND I used a perfect prep. It was epic and now she's 5.

Hit post too soon

DD slept, was much happier and I was less tired. If I could go back I would have FF from the start.

And FF babies are more likely to be obese adults.

I formula fed my first as breastfeeding didn't work out with him, then breastfed my second until she was 3. Neither slept well, actually they still don't! And both were clingy at times and didn't want putting down.

I found BF far, far easier- especially when out of the house and at night. I didn't have a easy time of it with recurring thrush and mastitis, but it was still easier than bottles.

Not helpful. Nor true.

People who have shit diets full of salt, sugar and saturated fat, drink too much and do fuck all exercise are more likely to be obese.

I’ve found breastfeeding much simpler than bottles. Tough for the first few weeks then very, very simple. I leave the house in <5 minutes with a small shoulder bag of nappies & wipes, never have to plan her next feed, in the middle of the night I just plonk myself into my very comfortable nursing chair and pop her on. No mental load of checking we’ve got enough formula in and enough clean bottles. Instant way to soothe her if she starts shouting.

The oxytocin rush is very real and lovely. Her overnight sleep is as good or better than her formula fed NCT friends. Overall, I’ve been really pleased we pushed through the tough initial weeks.

Yep. Breastfeeding is a tiny part of the whole picture - good food, exercise, fresh air, good mental health, education etc. My entire family have been breastfed, and sneer at formula - they think it’s really unhealthy and basically for lazy mums who don’t care. They overlook the fact most of them are obese and have chronic health issues 🤨