Bonding - breastfeeding v bottle feeding

[Overcooked]

Not a bun fight, genuinely interested.

There are a lot of people (health professionals included) who state that breastfed babies have a closer bond with their mother.

AIBU to think that actually it could be similar to the intelligence thing (i.e. intelligent women are more like to breastfeed and also more likely to have intelligent children so the breastfeeding is in fact a bit of a red herring).

So in the same vein are women who choose to breastfeed more likely to have a good bond with their babies in any event, and also trying to measure 'bond' must be nigh on impossible and very subjective in any event so how can one compare the two.

Would be very interested to hear from anyone who breastfed one child and bottle fed another to see whether they feel they had/have a stronger bond with one over the other.

Well I have both bottle feeded and BF (and still BFing).

My DS, now 3.11yrs refused to latch on so I exclusively expressed for him till he was 10 months.
My DD who is 2.1yrs BF like a pro and still going strong.

In my experience I think that the mother feels the same bond whether she is bottle feeding or breastfeeding (all other factors remaining the same). I certainly bottle fed with much love and I really enjoyed it, and didn't feel any guit that I wasn't giving the milk from source. But the breastfed baby is I think initially more bonded to the mother than a bottle fed baby, which when you think about it is, completely understandable as the baby is completely dependant on the mother for their survivial.

My DD even now regards me to be the centre of the world and still relies on me and asks for me a lot, as she is still breastfed, but I can see her independance coming through really strongly and soon as she weans from the breast I'm sure she will want nothing to do with me!
My DS was more willing to stay a night at the in-laws on occassion, but is really a mummy's boy and we have a very strong bond and I genuinely love them both the same.
I don't know what I am trying to say in this post, but I think it is that the method of feeding doesn't matter at all, you can both bottle feed just as lovingly as breastfeeding.

actually I agree with LDNmummy in that co-sleeping is far more bonding than either bottle feeding or breastfeeding. I have co-slept with both my DCs, although I didn't start co-sleeping with DS until he was a few months old, and I did feel my bond with him did get stronger when I started co-sleeping. I co-slept with DD from birth and had an instant connection and I bonded from day 1, inlike with DS. But ofcourse it all evened out in the end and like I said I feel the same bond now with both of them.

I couldn't co-sleep because of BFing, a BF made me pass out dead to the world! it drained me so much I'ld pass out afterwards and be totally unaware of DS, DH would hear him but I wouldn't I was far too drained from BFing and would roll onto him etc