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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

What was the main factor in deciding how to feed your baby?

152 replies

LucyJu · 31/01/2006 12:45

Someone said on the Channel 4 program thread that she didn't think that people decided to breastfeed or not on the basis of perceived health benefits. I did. But what was the main influence on other people's decisons? I'd be really interested to know.... I really don't want this thread to digress into a bottle vs breast debate (plenty of those elsewhere), or to have any arguments about whether anyone's reasons are good or valid. I would simply be interested to know, if anyone has the time.....
The main factor in my case was that my dh has Crohn's disease and I wanted to minimise the chance of my dds developing the same condition in later life.

OP posts:
foundintranslation · 01/02/2006 06:52

Really I just assumed I would bf (which is why I had such a huge shock when it was looking like it wasn't going to work out). I vaguely knew it was best, but only realised in detail about the health benefits etc. when ds and I were having troubles with it.

fresco · 01/02/2006 07:34

Hi there

B/fed dd1 for protection and health reasons i guess but have to many bad memories of colic. b/feeding dd2 but have introduced formula at night for wind cos she is more settled that way and dont get colic at night. i am also thinking of slowly introducing in the day as her stomach seems very sensitive to wind and its too upsetting to see her screaming and crying because the bubbles hurt too much.

Twiglett · 01/02/2006 07:36

I'm lazy and hang around with people who know everything

melrose · 01/02/2006 09:37

Did seem the obvious thing to bf a sthe milk is there and defnitely someting I wanted to do, but I would be lying if I didn't say that snobbery came into it too. My mother bf and always looked down on those who bottle fed and guess that rubbed off on me. Quite glad in a way as it made me more determined not to stop bf when I found the first few weeks v hard!

Apteryx · 01/02/2006 10:15

I found the six weeks hard - bloody nipples, baby like a pirahna, 2 days at the lactation clinic.. but I'm soo glad I persevered. I started off b/f because of the compelling health benefits and because everyone in my family had.
I just loved the intimacy of b/fing and I think it's a lovely way for a baby/toddler to gradually become independent from mum. Mixed fed when I went back to work at 8 months, as expressing is SUCH a faff!
Actually, it took some effort to convince dd to try solids at 7 mths...for a long time she was like...why?

Arabica · 01/02/2006 10:18

I was formula fed and had loads of allergies, asthma etc, so felt bf was best option for health reasons. It was bloody hard work at the start, but only because I was so unsupported at the hospital (and in the chest department, because I had the world's biggest boobs). After I'd relaxed a bit and shrunk to a more manageable F cup (from J) I found I enjoyed the convenience of it, and was quite disappointed when DS decided to stop at 15 months!

londonmummy · 01/02/2006 10:25

I breastfed because of the health benefits and because my dd loves it and we managed to keep it up even when she was in special care for jaundice and was topped up on formula. Not being smug dd made it easy because she is v. fussy with the bottle.

Snufflepus, was interested in what you said about having a retained placenta and had to stop bf while on antibiotics. I also had a retained piece of placenta which fell out a week after dd's delivery. But the gynae said it was fine to bf even though I was put on a course of 2 different types of antiobiotics. No disrespect, you had a lot more problems was just surprised by the difference in advice we received.

wilbur · 01/02/2006 10:41

I planned to breastfeed for the general "it's better for the baby" reasons and I thought it looked easier than faffing around with sterilizers and bottles. Keeping going with breastfeeding, thru cracked nipples, tears (mine), mastitis, more tears, crying ds1, and more tears was solely a health benefit reason as by then I had been told that our allergy history was so horrendous that my children should avoid dairy for as long as possible. It was hard and I would have given up if it hadn't been for that reason.

bundy · 01/02/2006 10:49

I never even thought about bottle feeding, had none of the paraphernalia in the house when i brought dd1 home. the main reason is for her health, and mine too. oh and convenience.

kreamkrackers · 01/02/2006 11:07

everything about bf seemed better to me, never even concidered bottle feeding. unfortunately dd has a very complex cardiac condition as well as other problems so i expressed and gave it to her this way but because she was only allowed so much liquid after the surgery she kept losing weight (also she has severe gastric reflux). she was born 6lb7 and at 6 weeks old weighed 5lb10. it was decided to put her on a special milk called infatrini to get her weight up. she is now peg fed at 20 months and is on nutrini high fibre milk. i see it as her way of feeding. i'm now pg again and really want to give bf a good go this time if i have a healthy baby. i think it'll help me get over the fact that i couldn't bf dd.

misdee · 01/02/2006 11:14

i have alwqays wanted to breastfee3d my kids. with dd1 i didnt have much support and by 6 weeks old she was on formula. she had horrendous eczema, devoped asthma and allergies. so with dd2 i again decided to breastfeed. she gained well but was feeding every 2 hours day and night, so i mamaged 8 weeks. she has always been a vomity child and it did get worse on formula, but her eczema didnt appear till she was 18months old. so with dd3 i grit my teeth and wqas very very determi9ned to crack it. she was given formula via a tube within 24hours due to low blood sugers (not as gritty as hunker i am afraid lol), but refused to let them give her a bottle. I fed her before each tube feed, and she really got the hang of it. she is now 11months old and still breastfeeding. she does have allergies, and a few spots of eczema, but nothing like the other 2.

Piccalilli · 01/02/2006 12:18

Always intended to breastfeed but dd made the decision for me -she just would not latch and when she still hadn't eaten anything after 4 days I felt we couldn't go on that way and gave her formula. We did try expressing for a few weeks but frankly there just aren't enough hours in the day. Not sure what I'll do if we have another I'd like to try bf for the health benefits and convenience (no anxiety about running out of food if you're out) but having bottle fed can see all the advantages of that too

Lasvegas · 01/02/2006 12:25

BF. Coz brest milk is natural product so assumed it was better than formula. Only was going to BF for 3 months but DD refused bottle so had no choice.

PiccadillyCircus · 01/02/2006 12:27

I assumed that I would breast feed - that's how my mum fed my sister and me.

With DS, it was very painful at first and I have no idea how I got through the first 6 weeks. I think I was lucky that his weight gain was always good as I don't think I'd have been able to be strong enough not to give in to any demands health visitors might have made.

Kirstie76 · 01/02/2006 12:47

I decided I would go with the flow and boy did my milk flow!!!!!!!!!

Still is doing now and DS is 6 months .... although he does have formula for day feeds cos i found expressing an impossibility!

serenity · 01/02/2006 13:01

I don't think I actually made a conscious decision to bf, which is a bit weird as I didn't know anyone at the time who didn't ff. I suppose it just seemed a bit illogical to go and buy bottles and formula, when I was making my own. I didn't have a lot of support with DS1 (I didn't know who to ask tbh) and I mixed fed him between 6 and 10 weeks. I found FF very annoying as I'm really not very organised, so I persevered with the bfing and dropped the ff. I found it a lot easier with DS2 and DD and am actually a bit p'ed off that now I've really got the hang of it, I won't be doing it anymore!

It probably helped with the whole bfing thing that I wasn't bothered with getting my 'norks' out in public - any time, any place any where! I found it quite liberating actually.

madmarchhare · 01/02/2006 13:10

Had to use formula due to medication I was taking at the time.

meggmoo · 01/02/2006 13:27

I wanted to breatsfeed, knew that I was going to do it and was never in any doubt however I struggled with my ds.
Despite various different positions, weeks of me crying my eyes out and begging MWs and HVs to help me I had to bottle feed. Ds was puking up blood at every feed (from my bleeding nipples )

I remember I had no idea about bottles and formula and Dh had to go out and do all the research and buy everything. It was an awful experience for me but if I have another I would try again.

LipstickMum · 01/02/2006 13:28

I did it for health reasons too LucyJo, nothing serious in our family, I just believed it would cover all bases, so to speak. I also did it because it was cheaper and it was so convenient that it made it easier for us to go places for the first 6 months.

genkimamma · 01/02/2006 14:48

I breastfed - just - although it was v hard to start with, but my dh has loads of allergies (bottle fed) and I was convinced that if I bf I would be doing ds a favour - and although I had to do a mixed feed as weight gain was not - major trauma - he is definitely much less prone to colds, coughs etc (now 21 mnths old) than some of his peers - despite all of us having bf - that I can't work out...

Also I do feel that the health benefits to ds were paramount in my continuing bfeeding as I almost quit hundred's of times in the first weeks (bleeding nipples the usual agonies etc), but that REALLY kept me going. The health benefits to me were less important.

My sis who has a dd lives in Japan and they have a really relaxed attitude to it all and mixed feeding appears to be the norm there. They produce baby feeding magazines that are awesome - everything you want to know and more - massaging breasts, how to make up formula, which bottle type to use, what the poos look like for bf and mixed and bottle feeds (!) Now why can't we have something like that?

lazycow · 01/02/2006 15:16

I don't think I really thought much about it. I decided I'd try and breastfeed but knew women could have problems (though no idea of exactly what the problems were). I did however buy some formula and sterilising tablets 'just in case'.

I didn't have any expectations really. When I first tried I really had no idea what to do. large breasts, flat nipples, tongue tied baby all conspired to make it a very difficult start.

I think the reason I didn't stop at first was my sheer pig-headedness. I've never liked failure. Afterwards when the pain was bearable but I still didn't really like it much I was just too tired/lazy to do much else - I just was never organised enough to have a bottle ready when ds was hungry.

The health benefits were important but I really don't think they were key to why I started or carried on. It was more about - if I said I'll do this then I bl*y well will sort of thing.

lazycow · 01/02/2006 15:19

Sorry cdg but I found feeding a baby a chore day and night. Come to think of it maybe I kept breastfeeding as a way to stay close to ds as I instinctively knew that if I bottle fed I'd be off like a shot. (did have pnd I think though) mmm interesting

supermum44 · 01/02/2006 15:33

I breastfed due to the health benefits to me and ds. It was harder than I thought at first (had em cs under ga) and ds was very sleepy and reluctant to feed for several days but am now very glad that I persevered.

sniff · 01/02/2006 16:55

I BF mine because I suppose I am lazy the thought of all that steralising and making up of bottles wasnt for me
and the milk pumps out even when I sleep even while I am pregnant cant express though and my kids will never take bottles of expressed so its always my job which is a down side I am 24 weeks pregnant with my third now and asume I will feed them myself to unless there is any problems

Panyanpickle77 · 01/02/2006 17:19

I breastfed DD and am breastfeeding my DS for many reasons....here are a few.

  1. I'm a bit bone idle when it comes to washing-up so bottles would get on my nerves. 2)I really dont like the idea of getting up in the middle of the night to mix a feed.
  2. Its free and I dont like speding money when i dont have too.
  3. Its a really good excuse to have a sit down. Bravado aside, before I had children I was adamant I would breastfeed simply because of the health benefits for my baby. I am a strong willed person and even though it was toe curlingly unfomfortable for the first 2weeks I persevered for all of the above reasons, and because I enjoy the extra time I get to spend with my child. That does not mean I look down my nose at moms who dont breastfeed. It is all about personal choice, and I would never expect someone to do anything they are uncomfortable with.