Is ff easier?

[Inbl00m]

I don't mean to start a discussion about whether bf or ff is best (sure both have ups and downs, and I know people often feel strongly about one or the other) but realised that most of the threads on here are about bf problems. Is that because bf is harder and ff easier or because people don't think they'll get support about ff here?

Alpaca - FF cleaner because of my boobs leaking all over the bed! Hopefully that settles down soon....

I can see how a child being strapped into a pushchair ALL DAY EVERY DAY might be a neglect signifier, but hardly a child just being in a pushchair to get from A to B or for a shopping trip.

(also had a frankly enormous 2 year old who looked about 4 in a pushchair because, yes, I walked everywhere and didn't have a car, just waiting for DS2 to get to judgable size...)

alpaca I think that poster was referring to her specific night feed current situation, as the baby is quite small I'm assuming leaking from one boob while feeding from the other (used to happen to me anyway!) - not that FF is cleaner in general.

Sorry didn't realise there was another page! Yep it definitely settles down! You can use breast shells to catch the leaking, if you like. I just used to sleep in a nursing bra and replace nursing pads every 5 minutes...

Argh, posted in wrong thread...

hold baby or sling and stick on boob- how do you do that if you are holding a baby and a bottle?
It's not difficult to hold baby and bottle with the same arm/hand once you get the knack. Even easier with a sling. You can even walk around, and do other things, with some practice.
Of course, my daughter wanted to hold her own bottle as soon as she was able - from about 3 or 4 months - so that she could look around more easily. Which might be a clue as to why she didn't really take to breastfeeding. Stubborn wee cow.

Ff is much easier but I have reflux babies.

Some things are the same by the way - growth spurts are a pita both ways!

"Of course, my daughter wanted to hold her own bottle as soon as she was able - from about 3 or 4 months"

Is that safe?

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/baby-safety-tips.aspx#close

"If you give your baby a bottle, always hold the bottle and your baby while they're feeding. "

I am gobsmacked that anywone would allow a 16 week old baby to hold his own bottle.

I can't get your link to work, but I would assume (based on your quote) that they're talking about propping a baby with a bottle. Which I never did. I always held her, and as she couldn't actually hold the bottle for quite some time after she started thinking she should be allowed to, I usually helped her steady it as well at that age.
She had no patience at all for being a baby.

Anyway, she's currently standing in my kitchen making tea so it doesn't seem to have harmed her at all.

I always held dd and have her a bottle....I know some older babies have a bottle in cot at night but dd never fed herself. I'd have been terrified to leave her in cot with a bottle....

Dp actually says he misses the little bottle prep routine ....used to do it as soon as she was in bed

I understood what you meant ninja!

Chuckling at mn pearl clutching about anything to do with ff!!

Yep slightly unnecessary judginess there I know leaving them with a bottle at night is not advised even if they are well old enough to hold it themselves but that's more to do with tooth decay than anything else. Obviously lying on their back feeding totally unsupervised could be a choking risk too.

Baby holding their own bottle, while you're right there holding and/or watching them = really no big deal or reason to hoik pants at all.

I really struggled for the first 3 weeks or so with bf - found it very painful. I also struggled with the cluster feeding in the evenings for the first 6-8 weeks as DD would want feeding every 20 minutes sometimes. Also even though I do express milk to give to DD so DH does some feeds bf does commit Mum inevitably to doing most of the feeds so it's a massive time commitment. However now she's a bit older (nearly 10 weeks) things are much better. It's quicker in a lot of ways than faffing around making up bottles and constantly sterilising things. Also the milk is free etc. However bf babies tend not to sleep as well and usually need feeding more regularly. It depends what you want really and what suits your lifestyle better. x

Incidentally, to answer the question a bit more properly, I bottle fed expressed breast milk for the first month or so because she wouldn't latch. Almost anything is easier than that.
Mix fed after that until Daughter self weaned from breastfeeding completely at about 10 months.

FWIW I found bfing easy with both mine but many people don't.

If bfing is hard to get going and painful, then I think FF is easier in those earlier days.

However once you have got it established and its straightforward, BFing is much easier than FFing.

Ninja - I recently did ebm for dc3 for 9 weeks. Am now totally ff and it is bliss. My nipples are un recognizable!