Is any BF better than none?

[Expectans]

Since way before thinking of a baby, I have always intended to formula feed. Now the baby is nearly here.

I have horribly sensitive breasts all the time, even when not pregnant, and to be honest, having them touched at all is deeply unpleasant. The thought of having a baby attached to me for hours on end is horrible, really.

But, as time has gone by, I am now leaking a bit, which makes me think maybe it might not be so bad (though maybe expressing rather than direct would be better for me?). I was wondering if anyone else felt the same, and managed to BF at all? I am now trying to think of BF in bite-sized chunks, so, first try to give some colostrum, then aim to give one BF a day. I understand my supply would never be 'normal' like it would if I cluster fed etc, but is any BF better than none? I will be returning to work quite quickly, so do not ever want to be wholly reliant on BF, and would not want to pump.

I know it sounds very selfish, and I am sorry, but trying to get courage up to at least try BF.

Any words of wisdom?

Congratulations!

Yes any breastfeeding is better than none, especially your colostrum in the first few days as it contains antibodies.

this article might be useful to you. As well as what to expect at each stage it has information on benefits of feeding up to that stage. E.g. By BF for 1 month you are protected against allergies, 6 weeks less chance of chest infections,m3 months less chance of diabetes etc.

Also meant to say, you hand express colostrum without pumping so it doesn't matter if neither breastfeeding or pumping appeal to you. I hand expressed colostrum into a syringe or a small cup as my baby was too sleepy to suck at first then moved onto expressing with a pump and using a bottle as well as best feeding directly once we got the hang of it. It would have been much simpler to feed directly but it is certainly possible.
Good luck and enjoy your new baby however you decide to feed him/her.

Why don't you just try if you'd like to? Any breastfeeding is better than none but there's no shame in formula. You'll know whether you're happy to continue or not. You could see if you can borrow a pump to try that out too.

Just remember it's fine to formula feed

Yes. I suggest you try bfing before expressing though: I find the former more physically comfortable. You may find hand expressing ok though, or prefer the control over contact that youget with a pump.

But you can try it and if you hate it, stop. Or maybe try to maintain a single feed a day until your milk dries up. Good luck.

You may feel differently when your baby is born and hormones and emotions kick in. Breast milk helps protect against infections and the anti bodies are constantly changing according to what mother and baby are exposed to and breast milk contains" decoys" which help to stop bacteria attaching to the gut wall. So even partial feeding is beneficial but your baby most of all needs you happy to love it so go with the flow, aee hiw you feel and don' t put too much pressure on yourself.

See how you feel...

I have breast issues too. I find direct feeding the least weird/intrusive, followed by using a pump, with hand expressing the worst.

Any breastmilk is worth having, from the baby's perspective. But the balance point of where that benefit to baby is tipped by discomfort to the mother is different for all of us.

One feed per day is unlikely to work with a newborn because of how supply/demand works. That's likely to end in more pain/engorgement for you than feeding more often or not at all.

Give it a go. I can't bear to have my nipples touched, to the extent that I flinch if my hand brushes one in the shower, but I've been fine with breastfeeding. I said I'd try it and see, and we're at 10 weeks now.