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

In all honesty I am very glad that I initially BF but I wish I FF much sooner.

If I had my time again I would BF for the first couple of weeks/months but then change to FF.

I found the physical act of BF easy but found a baby constantly latched to me really emotionally draining.
I spent too long BF and feel it had a big part in me developing PND.
(I can’t remember when I had to stop but it was before 6 months old and had to stop for medical reasons).

I always think women should be encouraged to try and BF even just for the first couple of days as we know colostrum and BM is better for babies but I would never feel guilty for not being able to do it or only doing it temporarily.

I would also probably try and express for a few weeks if I didn’t want to BF.

Nope, not for a single second. I never even tried to bf. I saw my SIL crying in agony and despair with my niece instead of enjoying her baby. That was enough for me. My experience as a result was totally different. I know breastfeeding is slightly better health wise for the baby, but at what cost for god sake? Formula fed children haven't been dying in their droves or riddled with mental or physical health problems.

Nope.

I didn’t want to breastfeed, so I didn’t.

I regret not trying to breastfeed. I didn’t even attempt it with either of mine, I regretted it afew months after my eldest was born.

With my 2nd child, I didn’t feel I could attempt it with him if I hadn’t done it with dd. It felt like it wasn’t fair to breastfeed one child but not the other.

Nope. I did try and I pumped and pumped some more until I almost went crazy. Then I just stopped. Toddler is almost 2 - he did everything early, speaks, and has never been ill. Not even fever - except vaccines related.

No, I don’t regret it at all. My son is healthy and rarely ill, met all his milestones on time and is doing well academically. It held no appeal to me at all so wouldn’t have added anything to either of our lives.

But I never intended to breast feed at all, so I don’t have any negative emotions or experiences attached to it that would make me prone to regret.

Most of my friends who struggled first time round had a much easier time second time around. So I'd say at least give it a go. You'll know if/when you want to switch. If it does work out it can be very easy and convenient. If it doesn't then you are already experienced at formula feeding.

No, no regrets at all.

He is 12 now and has grown into a strapping lad - 5ft 10 already, very slim, has never struggled with illness during primary and now secondary, eats anything and everything and is very bright academically.

People told me he would be more ill etc. If formula fed but it hasn't been that way at all.

He was a big baby at 9lb 6oz and I wasn't well after an emergency c-section and blood transfusion, so formula was the best option all round.

No, no regrets at all.

He is 12 now and has grown into a strapping lad - 5ft 10 already, very slim, has never struggled with illness during primary and now secondary, eats anything and everything and is very bright academically.

People told me he would be more ill etc. If formula fed but it hasn't been that way at all.

He was a big baby at 9lb 6oz and I wasn't well after an emergency c-section and blood transfusion, so formula was the best option all round.

I come from a family who think 'breast or your giving your baby poison'

I tried,I really tried but I fucking hated every second

I hated the feel of it,hated not being able to move from under a feeding baby 24/7,hated the let down feeling,hated trying to feed in the night-i hated all of it

I put them on the bottle and was a better mother for it

My only regret is not telling them to either whip their own tits out or shut the fuck up

Oddly,the men where the most vocal about 'how I was giving my baby poison'

They all grew up to be strapping adults so no harm done and nobody can tell that I tried and failed to feed them

Not related to the post but I’ve seen your username a few times and often wondered what your username would be if you were a tea drinker.
I thought about “in the sea before my tea” but it’s just not that catchy.

Cuntea

this was my gran! (although 4 not 5)
She had a full time job and helped my vicar grandfather with a very busy parish so it was often a case of hand baby over to the nearest obliging old lady and say your turn hahahaha
4 very healthy strong kids with no issues.

I was the same. My mum gave the first bottle as my gran did to me and MIL pushed the pram out of the hospital.

I absolutely hated breastfeeding dc1 but I powered through. It was a very miserable time for me. I decided to formula feed DC2 from the very start and had a lovely experience in the first few months. It was the opposite of regret, it was relief.

I combi fed from day 3 with both, then dropped breastfeeding at 5 or 6 months. Looking back I feel like I would have enjoyed the newborn phase more had I just bottle fed. I suppose I’m glad I did a bit of breastfeeding as well, but on the whole I just don’t think it’s as important as it seemed at the time.

I combi fed from day 3 with both, then dropped breastfeeding at 5 or 6 months. Looking back I feel like I would have enjoyed the newborn phase more had I just bottle fed. I suppose I’m glad I did a bit of breastfeeding as well, but on the whole I just don’t think it’s as important as it seemed at the time.

I EBF because I preferred it but honestly it's one of those things that really doesnt matter in the grand scheme of things. I was FF and I in no way wish I was BF

No.
I BF’d DD1 for about 7 weeks then stopped when I had to have a breast abcess drained in hospital under GA.
That put me off BFing so I FF DD2 from the start.
Both were very healthy babies and now adults.

Thank you everyone. I think I’m going to stick to my original plan of giving colostrum in the hospital, up to a few days after birth and then switching to formula/bottle.

I think some of us mums do put a lot of pressure on ourselves and I know that ff from birth doesn’t make me a bad person even though I did feel guilty

Tbh I never really enjoyed breastfeeding but did so for 2/3 weeks as I felt it was important for the baby to get the colostrum. I then exclusively formula fed and never regretted it. It also meant my husband could share the feeding.

If you want to formula feed then that is a decision you have made and should be fine with.

However, it doesn’t actually sound like that’s what you want.

When I had my second baby I was prepared and I knew breastfeeding wasn’t likely to be easy (in fact I never mastered it.) I really didn’t want to buy formula to take into the hospital though; it felt like giving up before I started. As it was I expressed milk for DD but it’s a lot of work.

No why would you??
by age 3 at the bare minimum, how you fed them is a very distant memory. I tried with my first and it was hell. Didn’t even realise about the pumping and round the clock job this was, not to mention it’s 100% down to you so you are tied to the baby 24/7.

For my second, straight to formula. Saved myself a whole lot of mh sanity. Now they are older, it made not one tiny ounce of difference to their health and wellbeing.

How about see how it goes? I ff both my sons. I so wanted to be able to do it and it didn’t work out and then I felt like a failure etc and that spoiled some of my early memories of my eldest. And the guilt!

with my second I was able to breastfeed at the hospital but after a week my milk hadn’t come in and we were all miserable. So I went to ff as i told myself - this is my last baby and I will not spend time beating myself up if breastfeeding isn’t working out. 2nd baby loved his bottles and was sleeping long stretches quickly. I know people will say that is luck etc - don’t car it worked for us

Not at all
Fed is best! Xx