Did you ever regret formula feeding from birth?

[Needsomeguidance103]

I say from birth but I’m considering ff as soon as we get home from the hospital after giving baby colostrum in the hospital.

With DS I tried, and tried, and tried to get him to latch but due to a rough start in nicu and latching issues we stopped at 9 weeks and I went onto formula. I think I have a bit of trauma from it all… I’m thinking will it be easier, especially with a toddler at home to do bottles/formula from day one?

Did you ever regret not trying breast feeding or are you happy with your choice?

please no arguments or nastiness in the comments, happy for discussions and opinions though

No. I was unable to BF and it was very stressful for the first week. Once I made the decision to stop trying and concentrate on formula, that stress was gone.

Not even slightly. I tried to bf DD for 4 days and she wasn't getting anything. She cried because she was hungry, I cried because I felt like a failure and I was in so much pain (bleeding rather than engorged), DH cried because he didn't know how to help me. It was horrendous for everyone. Switched to formula and everything got better immediately.

FF DS from the start apart from the first day. I was very very clear with every midwife I spoke to that I would do one day for colostrum and, unless it all worked perfectly from the beginning, that was it. I wasn't going to put me and DS through it, and I wasn't going to put DD or DH through it either.

Both of them are perfectly healthy at 11 and 7. You wouldn't know how they were fed at all.

I didn’t regret it for a minute . And dd2 who was exclusively formula fed is by far healthier in general than her sister who was breast fed for the 6 (torture for both of us) weeks of her life .

I exclusively breastfed my second as he wouldn't take a bottle he round it hard due to tongue tie that I didn't pick up on until 4 months old. ..but my god. I really hated and still hate breastfeeding. My now toddler just wants milk constantly and it's exhausting. My hair and skin are so greasy, I'm touched out and IV not lost any weight. IV actually put it on! I think noone ever hears about the down sides of breast feeding and it just has caused me and my little one all sorts of problems. He's a Velcro baby that barley eats at nearly 2 years old and he is so attached to me I can't even get dad to put him to bed. So I wish I FF FWIF.

I have breastfed both of mine, but my first was an absolute nightmare to get bf established. Couldn’t latch, tongue tied, weeks of exclusive pumping, lactation consultants and lots of tears before we finally managed to progress to exclusive breastfeeding. My second latched perfectly minutes after being born and it was effortless. So your experience might be very different this time if you wanted to try breastfeeding. You could always bring some ready to feed formula to hospital with you so that you’re prepared to go straight to formula if you feel breastfeeding isn’t working out, and give yourself permission to do so guilt free. Then you can try it out with no pressure and see how things go, if part of you would like to breast feed.

Either way your baby will be absolutely fine. It’s a very low stakes decision as parenting goes.

Honestly I would bottle feed from the start if I had another. I breastfed my first and mix fed my second. And formula feeding was so much easier. And gave me the time to recover from my c section.

3 x FF children. The alternative of them having nothing to eat is too dreadful to consider. So absolutely zero regrets here!

Slight tangent but I BF okay, baby put on loads of weight so district nurse told me to start him on solids at about 10 weeks because I wouldn’t be able to breast feed him enough myself at that weight. And that was also the era when at 6 months you put them onto cows milk. All kids hale and hearty.
Bottle feeding from birth will really not be a problem. Enjoy the extra freedom it gives you.xx

My daughter was born in 1970 in Edinburgh. My Mum and I always thought that was why she had such lovely skin. I have no idea when they stopped the practice.
It certainly did my daughter no harm. She is an English teacher in a school in Madrid !

No. I FF from birth even in hospital. It saved my mental health. Both my girls are healthy, and at 8 and 10 you can't tell who was BF or FF in there friend group. Formula isn't the poison that some people make it out to be. Yes Breastfeeding is healthier if if works for you, but many babies have been FF without negative consequences.

Did a mix, but pumping was a complete faff and pain in the arse. I stopped the second I felt like I could (3 months). We mixed formula and pumped milk from birth. Fed is best. You do you.

Editing to add both our children were early, neither latched, breastfeeding was like trying to feed a ferral cat. It was laughably bad.

My friend had a horrible time trying to breastfeed her first - the baby ended up losing dangerous amounts of weight before she was almost compelled to switch to bottles. Her experience with her second was completely different - breastfeeding worked easily. She said it was so different that it made her realise it never would have worked with her first for multiple reasons.

So I'd say, it might be worth at least giving it the chance to work, but don't feel guilty about switching to bottles if it doesn't.

I absolutely believe you. But every single baby is different, this baby might latch like a dream. You obviously want your baby to have some breast milk, so what I would advise is go into it completely open minded and with no pressure. If your baby jumps on the boob and feeds no problem, great! If they don’t, they don’t, and don’t beat yourself up over it.

No, not for a second. I tried BF in hospital but it wasn’t really working. My baby would latch on but not much came out. For the first yeti weeks at home I tried and tried, alongside giving formula. Then I just gave up and formula fed ever since. It’s a perfect fit for us as our baby is happy and healthy and it means my partner and parents can feed him too.

I do not regret formula feeding from birth for my second (first wouldn’t latch). But one thing I’ve worked really hard on is being happy for others who wanted to breast feed and managed it. And it turns out I genuinely am! Then when I look at my own life I know my contentedness isn’t just some sort of veneer to cope.

Nope.

Not at all. I had 2 boys that I BF and the first one was so traumatic. The 3rd was a girl and I knew straight off she was being FF. Don't regret it at all as I had three under 4!

The best start you can give your baby in life isn’t breastmilk despite what they say, it’s a happy, stable mum. Maternal mental health is a far stronger determinant of outcome than whether they have formula or breast milk for what is really such a short period of their life.
With my last baby I took the low pressure approach of I’d give it a go and if the baby latched really well and supply came, no tongue tie, allergies etc. Then great, but if not I had formula in preparation. As it was, baby latched like a champ and it was a really effortless experience, but if it hadn’t been in anyway then I’d have used formula straight off rather than getting myself into the mental state I did with my first.
Also having children already you don’t have the time, energy, or mental, emotional or financial resources to throw at something you already know won’t matter in ten years as your existing children are relying on you. I always say if you really want to redirect any misplaced guilt about not breastfeeding then focus your energy on weaning them with a diverse range of foods. The eating habits they develop as children will set them up better in life than breastmilk or formula, so if you still feel any guilt (you shouldn’t!) then focus on that.

No. Never tried to BF either of mine. And they were always super healthy, rarely had days off school. No hayfever, eczema, asthma or anything else I was scared into believing they’d suffer with.

No, cos I needed to be back at work 3 days after giving birth and I was rubbish at breastfeeding with my other two! To be honest, it was such a relief to be formula feeding - I think baby's dad bonded more with her as he could share the feeding right from birth, and I got more sleep as we could share the nights! You've just got to do what is right for you.

No. I despised breastfeeding! Endured it for a week with no.1 and maybe 4/6 weeks with no.2.

Both strong, healthy, over 6ft tall handsome young adults now!

I did bf with my children but did less amount of time with each kid as they both had cow milk allergy and it made it all hard as I couldn't have dairy or soy and had to express and bf and honestly I was so drained from the stress of it all.

I BF DS without any issues but we’ll
probably combi feed number 2. I don’t want to pump (hassle) and it’ll be helpful to have the extra freedom. I did enjoy BF though, so won’t FF exclusively.

No

No never, I decided not to breastfeed when pregnant and never even tried it. I’ve never regretted it.