dc2 - to breastfeed or bottle? bad breastfeeding experience...

[sillyily]

Hello,
am 30 weeks pg with dc2, and am trying to decide whether to breastfeed or bottlefeed.. Obviously i know the benefits of breast, and I really want to want to do it... but with dc1 (emcs) I didnt have the best experience... he wouldnt latch on... cried non stop because he was always hungry....and i felt very uncomfortable doing it in front of other people (didnt expect this really, but I really hated it) After about 2 weeks of expressing (1 a day) and bfeeding with a grizzly baby that was losing weight, I switched to formula... He started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks!!... DP loved it because he felt a lot more involved, we shared the feeds 50/50 when he was around and at night time etc, and now he has a fab appetite, and is a happy and healthy 2yo.

Obviously I sound very pro bottle, but, like i say, I really want to want to breastfeed, which I don't.... tbh, i think dp would prefer bottle feeding so he could have the same involvement as last time. If I do decide to bottle, I will make sure she has her first feed 'vitamin cocktail'...

Anyone else been in a similar state of mind/situation as me??
TIA

hiya,
I know totally how you're feeling - I didnt manage to breastfeed my first baby, latch awful, nipple so sore I thought it might drop off etc etc. I switched to FF when DC1 was 3 weeks old & he was sleeping through very early / DH could help with bottle feeds etc.

I vowed I'd never try BF again with subsequent babies as my first experience was so horrendous. However, I did give it a go with DC2, and we both took to it so easily compared to my attempts with DC1. I breastfed DC2 for 9 months. I am now 4 months in with breastfeeding DC3.

Funny though, because my DH isnt overly fond of breastfeeding either. He feels helpless, both babies which I BF didnt / wont take a bottle, so DH can't help do any night feeds. I'm permanently knackered & there was a noticeable difference between DC1's sleep patterns at night compared to my breastfed babies in terms of how early they slept through, although DC3 is only 4 months so I wouldn't expect her to sleep through yet anyway. Not that its all about sleeping through, but you know what I mean!!

Gosh, I don't want to sound anti-BF as I do adore nursing, however having fully formula fed one baby, and fully breastfed the next two, there really are things to consider on both sides of the fence.

I have to admit, that I really only breastfeed because its so damn convenient, I can't be faffed with all the sterilising of bottles etc, especially now I've got 3 children. I don't see any noticeable differences between the formula fed first born & breastfed next 2 babies in terms of illness / tummy bugs / allergies etc etc. All my babies have had terrible baby eczema - infact the BF ones worse so than the FF one!

Anyhow, i'm waffling! My advice would be to give Breastfeeding a try with your 2nd, you might both take to it like a duck to water. And perhaps introduce a daily, evening bottle from about 6 weeks so that your other half can do a nightly feed for you.

Good luck with new baby! x

Thanks for the advice, I will definitely try it, but I'm not going to put as much pressure on myself this time as before. I am hoping it will just click, and I don't think the cs, therefore lack of movement and being stuck in hospital for 4 days, helped matters last time tbh. If bf does go well, I might use a bottle for a dream feed and OH can do that... Also, I am anaemic, so I will need to see how much that improves, because at the moment, I can't stay awake past 8 most evenings - so will need DP's help as much as poss during the night! Will play it by ear, and hopefully bf... if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen... I was never bf and I'm fine :o

I was never BF either - my mum had such a bad experience trying to bf my older sister she didn't bother at all with me, no colostrum, nothing! And i'm fine too!!

I meant to say in my post above that my 3rd birth was elective caesarean & it was really tough going getting bf established compared to when I had my 2nd baby & successfully bf her. My milk took over a week to come in properly after the c section, compared to 2 days after natural birth, plus finding a comfy nursing position after the section was hard too. So i'm not surprised you found it tough after your section.

Anyway, good luck, you have a great relaxed attitude about it so either way, sounds like you'll be just fine :)

Awh thank you for your support, it seems everyone on here is very anti formula so nice to hear someone with similar thoughts as me! :)