Is Breast best by Cherry Healey, How did you find it?

[Dozeyland]

I breast feed my 24 week old, as some of you know from my previous posts, I have gone to hell & back with mastitis x2, thrush, wound, cracked nipples etc. but I am so happy that I persevered, because now I love breast feeding.

The documentary,I found wuite annoying in the first instance, but then again its purely people airing their opinions. I think that breast really is best, and liquid gold. and I take my hat off to any Mum who gives it a go, whether they are successful or not.

down to personal experience, I found that having an amazing support from family, and visiting my local baby breast-feeding cafe worked MILLIONS, Being in the same environment with other mums who breast-fed, and had problems. knowing that I wasnt the ONLY one who was struggling. but something inside me wanted to carry on (no matter how toe-curlingly painful it was)

I just looked at my baby each time and knew its what she wanted. Being told to hang on until you reach the end of the pain tunnel (which for me was 10 weeks) because it get o good, and the bond is amazing.

I have nothing against bottle-feeding mummies, I was bottle-fed. I think that if people are taught more about the benefits of breast-feeding, and that it does build a strong bond, and yes, it does get a lot easier and enjoyable as time goes on, people might see how normal it is (i hate that word) and that it should be seen as a very positive thing - its simply down to the individual babies needs, and mothers who bottle-feed shouldnt feek pressurised into doing otherwise. breastfeeding has not only got to be whats best for the baby, but also you need to feel 100% about doing so.

ESSAY - sorry.

would like to hear your views.

Hi, there is another thread on this board about the programme, but I've just spotted a massive one under Am I Being Reasonable! Thought you might want to check them out...

I stopped breast feeding my dd on Saturday after 15 months, so I found it quite emotional to watch because I miss it .

I thought that it was more an exercise in helping her come to terms with the fact that she doesn't breastfeed and her repeating her reasons for not doing so. I think it showed what an uphill struggle we have to make bf the norm when there are so many people who cannot see past the sexual function of breasts and the notion that it is something strange to do. I think it showed that the support that we need at the start is not there. It also showed me that breastfeeding shields are not well known about!

Personally I think that we really need to look at what we are telling pregnant mums- lets just be honest- it is difficult to begin with, it most likely will be painful to begin with and you will feel like a cow in a milking machine who can't move off their sofa for the first few weeks! But once you get all those things sorted, it is a wonderful thing to be able to do for your baby and for yourself!

There is a problem amongst the professionals who likely inadvertently make you feel a failure whatever you do- breastfeed and struggle- you're not doing it right and you must seek the help; bottle feed because you are struggling and don't know where to turn- you are failing your child!! You just can't win.

There also needs to be a major attitude change towards Bf mums in public. I used a bf shield because I wasn't comfortable bf without it, not because of others, but I still encountered tuts and shaking heads!

I think that the rates would be better if we were just honest with women like I say above.

It was an interesting programme. Though I only saw the second half. I was unable to establish bfing with ds1. He wouldn't latch on, he was losing weight and at about 10 weeks, 5 of which were mixed feeding, I gave up. It wasn't a case of pain, but of just being unable to establish a latch. It was awful, and I really felt for the presenter, having been there myself with the guilt and all. DS2 latched on on day one and I fed him until he was nearly 2, so I have been on both sides. They are now 4 and 5, and I do feel that ds2 has benefitted health-wise. Who knows how much of it is down to bf/ff, but ds2 hardly ever catches anything, and when he does get a cold he brushes it off in a couple of days, whereas ds1 sniffs and wheezes for weeks.

Have a look here.

WRT the programme, I thought that the stuff about expressing at work was interesting too. I was very lucky in that I became self-employed after ds2 was born, so I never needed to express at the office. I never had much luck with expressing either, so it would really have put me off having to try and pump at work I think. I hadn't really contemplated the problems with this before and it does seem like something that must lead to a lot of mums dropping bfing quite early.
I was also shocked by the attitude of the younger women towards bfing in public. As an older mum, I was well past the point of giving a monkeys what anyone thought about it, or thinking that anyone would be interested in getting a flash of my norks, but if you were younger, less confident about the world, it must be hard.

Just watched the programme, yes, interesting about bf at work. I tried expressing but couldn't get much out (2oz in 1/2 hour) with an electric machine from the HV, and ended up giving some formula to the nursery, otherwise I fed DS (now 6). DD (2.5) was exclusively bf. Both were bf until about 14 -15 months, by then they had lost interest and I felt we had to move on.

I was shocked by this sexualised attitude. Is this why bf rates are so low in this country. I always thought that if you decide to have a baby you decide to feed it too, and a baby's food is breastmilk, I thought its the normal thing to do - it seems that is not the case.

I always fed in public, from 3 weeks with DS and 3 days with DD. I decided to wear clothes that allowed me to do it discreetly, I was not aware of stares or funny looks, to be honest, I think few people noticed - besides, I would have given them a piece of my mind. If the baby is hungry it needs to be fed!

it amazed me and reminded me how influenced teenagers are. The teenage mum who said that she dyed her hair red because Rhianna did. So if a celeb breastfed they might too - it's mad.

I had a similar experience to Cherry's with my DS and bottle fed and still feel guilty but with DD i managed to do it no problem and loved it and only gave up once she was 8 months.

I did not think the programme was that enlighting really.