Do you enjoy bottlefeeding? Am I alone?

[peaches27]

I have always felt a little put off by people who are so overenthusiastic about breastfeeding that I just cannot fathom them out. All I can remember are the cracked, sore nips, feeding for hours on end, leaking milk and generally feeling that my life was not my own. Where was the "almost orgasmic sensation at let down"? I dont think I even remember feeling a sensation, apart from dread at approaching the carrycot. When I tearfully gave up the struggle and gave DS a bottle it was love at first sight for both of us. Finally he was satisfied and full. Finally I was comfortable and got my life back. As I am typing this I can almost feel the righteous indignation of the breastfeeders.

Can you please accept that it is not the same wonderful experience for everyone and if we want to give up because we hate it we shouldnt be made to feel guilty as several generations have grown up perfectly healthily on formula. (Breastfeeders now search for statistics which prove that breastfed people are healthier).

I am writing this and viewing the subject with a very long perspective. I last breastfed in 1982. It was very fashionable then and I felt a failure when it didnt work and I didnt feel the same as the people in the pregnancy books or the NCT/LLL leaflet. (BTW in those days I didnt live in a posh enough part of the city to access NCT/LLL). This feeling of failure was compensated by the happy healthy infant who thrived on formula and also the extra free time I had even after preparing feeds!

I am raising my grandkids and obviously my DGD has formula just like her mummy did. I love giving her those bottles, especially the night ones when its just the two of us. She is happy too.

Anyone else share this experience?

Socci - why give Peaches respect?

She's trolling.

hmmm, hang on a minute, I formula fed (apart from 6 weeks of breast feeding) and I have used the "f" word to express myself, so I need to put 10p in the swearbox same as Hunker .

yes that too

here we go:
"you will probably feel the warm tingling glow of the milk ejection reflex immediately preceding the flow of milk."
ooer Sheila
and she goes on:
"breastfeeding is an intimate personal experience and a way of loving. Once it is going well, many women find it brings senusal feelings of closeness to and pleasure in their babies."

(both quotes from The New Pregnancy and childbirth 2003 Dorling Kindersley p 398 and 404)

It'll have to be a separate swearbox

oh now it'll look like all the 'breasfeeders' are rounding on the 'bottlefeeders' and thereby 'proving' the point made in the OP.

that's why it's all so exhausting. We're all mothers FFS (ah, now you can tell which camp I belong to). I need a lie down.

Ackcherly....come to think of it, I am known to turn the air positively blue with language worse than a drunken sailor on shore leave.

Do you think Peaches might be on to something here? :)

I'm afraid Sheila Kitzinger makes me think of 'The Joy of Sex' and other dodgy 70s lifestyle manuals containing unfortunate facial hair and cringeworthy but matter of fact descriptions. uuurggh

Thanks, Harpsi :)

Nice quotes - nowt about orgasm, though.

Erm.....do you think (no, surely.....) it could possibly be (er, no, of course not.....) Peaches made the quote up in order to look....to look.....um, to look, well, as if breastfeeding mothers were rampant sexual deviants???

I agree tiktok - just covering my back in case she's genuine

Socci, she's a genuine troll!

Ignore me - I'm naive at the best of times

been both sides of the fence - 1st time bfing absolute nightmare and v unexpectedly so after ravingly enthusiastic bf class in antenatal NCT course..I felt ill-prepared, shocked and totally unsupported (by mws/hvs/NCT bf counsellors). When I mentioned this on MN the 1st time, got my head bitten off for daring to criticise NCT, I remember ..so I can understand where some of these accusations against bfers come from.. However, 2nd time round, it has worked out for me - it has been pain-free/hassle-free, convenient, good for bonding (tho' never orgasmic!) - everything the NCT/baby books claim. This time though I battled through the nightmare 1st few wks alone to establish feeding, having sworn I would never contact the NCT bf helpline again.. Yes, I know they are volunteers and on the whole I respect the time and effort they give. My experience in my area of London though was of being patronised, belittled, not supported in my choices -this was further enhanced when I let it all out on here a yr or so later only to come across "how dare you" reactions from a couple of MNers (no doubt NCT bf counsellors, well good for them...) Every one should be entitled to their own opinion no matter how they feed their baby and never ever attacked for it. I understand how difficult some women find bf and would never judge them for choosing not to continue...The problem IMO is that many support services do not understand just how difficult/painful bfing can be and therefore they are too quick to assume that it's a matter of don't want to bf rather than can't that drives women to bottle feed in such huge numbers.

Please re read the original post before posting. You are blowing it out of proportion.

OK........ yup, read it. You're still loopy

She's a troll because she wants to share experiences of formula feeding? Jesus Christ.

what???
outrageous suggestion tik tok
of course I am a sexual deviant but that's just co-incidence

I don't think Peaches is trolling at all.

However, I would like to say one thing as to the research on swearing and breastfeeders - fuck that!

well, Kitzinger did mention how women could achieve almost orgasmic pleasure from giving birth ..so no doubt someone somewhere will have said the same about bfing..
I must be missing out on something...

I have re read the original post peaches and I am still sorry you are trying to turn this into asn us and them with your constant references to "the breastfeeders".....
soooooo unnecessary

This is not a breast vs bottle debate - if you are a breastfeeder and you don't want to discuss positive experiences of formula feeding, why don't you bog off to the 100% avid breastfeeders thread? I believe that's a similar thread but funnily enough, nobody has made a song and dance about that one.

Why is Peaches a troll? Sorry, I really don't understand that accusation.

hated formula feeding, it meant doing washing up

"Invasion of The Breastfeeders"....scary music..

.and to support a sentiment from peaches message, my dh is seriously missing out on some of the bonding with ds2 because he's not bottlefeeding him-this advantage of not bfing is often overlooked. God knows why peaches message should make her a troll?!

I think with the best will in the world, Peaches may have been trying to reclaim a bit of ground, rather than be horribly divisive.
Can't we just agree that feeding your baby is rather nice whichever way you do it and leave the horrors of another breast v bottle debate out of it?