This eye contact thing

[hunkermunker]

SO many times I've heard that one of the benefits of bottlefeeding (not arguing about what's IN the bottle ladies, get down from your leaping perches ) is that you make eye contact with your baby.

Now, I make eye contact with my baby when I bfeed him. Is that odd?

I don't think so. I make eye contact with DS too (not necessarily a good thing when he gets a fit of the giggles in mid-feed). I'd never heard that put forward as a plus for bottlefeeding, though.

I did make a comment on the other thread that I love the fact ds looked up at me with the bottle but didn't with the bf, not sure why he did this though. I guess he is a lazy git and couldn't be bothered to move his eyes to the side whilst bf but with the bottle he just looks straight up

I always thought when people said that about bottlefeeding, it was meant in the sense that bottlefeeding is good for bonding too, not to suggest that breastfeeders don't have eye contact.

Big sigh - no, its great that everyone can make eyecontact - whether it is around your boob or around a bottle!

Surely, it doesn't have to be a competition every time.

Oh, fgs, not a competition.

If I make eye contact DS laughs, his mouth opens and milk goes everywhere

Maybe that wasn't how you mean't it HM, but it feels a bit like that. Sorry if I misunderstood you - what point were you trying to make?

I heard that the distance between the breast and your eyes was supposed to be perfect for a newborn baby to focus. So whether you bottle or breast feed baby can bond.

HUNKER
STOP

don't listen to cod HM, you keep on bitchin'

fwiw ds and I rarely made eye contact while bfing - he would often close his eyes and used to face towards my armpit anyway. Which suited me as it left more time for MNing and tv watching

she wasnt bitching though

fwiw i don't make eye contact whilst bfing because im too busy watching daytime tv, reading or going to sleep.

The only time I heard the eye-contact reason given as a benefit of bottle over breast was in relation to dh getting to share the bonding by giving bottles to DS. Since at the time I was breast feeding, he managed by giving DS lots of 'laying on chest' cuddles instead.

I've never heard that.

Anyway, I suppos it's little bit like breastfeeding is supposed to be better for bonding which I happen to think is complete rubbish - you are holding the baby close to you/cuddling the baby whichever way you feed it. Just as you can have eye contact whichever way you feed.

And even if, for arguments sake, you didn't cuddle or have eye contact during a feed does this mean any hopes of bonding are out the window? Of course not - cuddling and eye contact are not bound to feeding times are they?!

I never made eye contact with ds while bfeeding until recently. When he was newborn he just stared straight ahead and that meant he looked at my waist/armpit. I'm not sure how you can make eye contact while bfeeding until the baby is old enough to look up at you which ds didn't do until he was ever 12 months old - Well not without straining my neck anyway.

Now (he is 16 months) bfeeding involves loads of eye contact so it is more fun but certainly not in the early months - not for us anyway.

ds always faced into me so no, no eye contact. this was the way i was shown at my bf cafe, and most mums i know were the same.