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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Not being controversial honestly but I'm interested.....

266 replies

Manictigger · 04/04/2007 13:29

...in the different reasons why people use formula whether it's by choice or due to circumstances. I've been bf for 7 months now and I do it a) for peace of mind (there's a history of allergies on DH's side and I would feel so guilty if later down the line lo developed an allergy and I know that I chose not to do something that might have prevented it from happening) Also, lo was born underweight so I felt she needed all the help she could get in life (but those are reasons personal to me). Anyway, b) I'm a lazy cow and would find all that bottle malarkay a faff (even at my lowest, most exhausted point with thrush the idea of dragging my carcass downstairs to make up a bottle sounded like an even worse horrendous nightmare) In fact in a way, I think bottle feeders should be given credit for putting in the effort which a lazy cow like me is unwilling to do.

So like I say, I'm interested in whether people always intended to use formula or whether they had to because bfing went wrong (and whether those people felt they were given the support they needed)and whether formula feeders (whatever their circumstances) think it's right that bf is actively promoted in the NHS. FWIW, I think it's right that bf is promoted by the NHS because according to one survey, a sizeable number of women believe that formula is just as good as bm which as mature MNers we know it isn't but equally I think the NHS is wrong to push that message without also acknowledging that most women will initially have problems and without providing good support for such women.

Anyway, like I say, I'm genuinely interested in seeing the other side of the ff/bf debate because usually it all descends into a playground fight which helps no-one and creates more divisions and prejudice.

So PLAY NICELY

(actually feel a bit guilty because I'm off to plant potatoes now but I will return at some stage)

OP posts:
macneil · 04/04/2007 19:06

I am expecting dd to have eczema, asthma, hayfever, of course, but don't feel the guilt some of you feel over it because my whole family was breastfed and everyone on both sides has all of these things. Genetics do play a very strong part.

chocolatekimmy · 04/04/2007 19:10

My friend wouldn't even try breast feeding for the sole reason that she didn't want saggy boobs!

Some people don't breast feed for purely selfish reasons

sunnysideup · 04/04/2007 19:14

they wouldn't admit it on here though ckimmy

I think that has to be rarer than those who wanted to and had difficulties though?

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 19:14

chocolatekimmy, lol...thing is, it's actually pg and the hormones that go with it that are accoutnable for saggy boobs, lol....alhtough, must say after my first child all was not lost...now 2 furthere Kids down teh line...hm....same can't be said, lol....norks are defiantely flat as pancakes and saggy as anything, but truely don't think it's the breastfeeding that is to blame, lol...

Gobbledigook · 04/04/2007 19:17

'Some people don't breast feed for purely selfish reasons'

Mothers do lots of things for purely selfish reasons. Your point is?

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 19:19

hard hats on....duck.....
it's kicking off now..me thinks...

ElenyaTuesday · 04/04/2007 19:31

macneil, re your comment:
"I am expecting dd to have eczema, asthma, hayfever, of course, but don't feel the guilt some of you feel over it because my whole family was breastfed and everyone on both sides has all of these things. Genetics do play a very strong part."

Quite! I actually feel guilty that I bf ds2 - I keep feeling that if only I had understood about the genetics he could have been put on hypoallergenic formula immediately.

In Dh's family all his siblings were breastfed for nearly a year and yet they suffer from a range of digestive disorders, including Crohn's - some of them severely. Amongst his nephews and nieces only the ones who were breastfed suffer from eczema. Funny family - they must have seriously wonky genes!!!

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 19:34

Elenya....not being funny...but why would you think hypo allergenic Formula would be better for a child then bf?

ucm · 04/04/2007 19:34

Right . I didn't breast feed either of my children because I didn't want to. I had a brief bash with both of them but they didn't want the breast and I 'couldn't be bothered' with it.

Of course I know all of the statistics and facts, I have been on here long enough.

I just really didn't want to because I don't like my nipples being touched anyway and the thought of them cracking/being sore was, to me, awful.

Thats it. I am also not a perfect mother in other ways. My 3 year old watches alot of TV whilst I clean (and come on here). I prop my 10 week olds bottle up to post on here (she is in the room with me).

Please feel free to comment.

wigglebumsmum · 04/04/2007 19:44

i breastfed exclusively for four months. Absolutely fantastic- ds was happy and gained weight very well in the first 2 months but after that it began to tail off. We had just moved country, dh in iraq and i think the stress of it all led to a decline in the amount of milk i was able to produce. ds was slowly tailing off on all of the weight charts and becoming distressed at feed times and i was getting more and more worried which obviosly didn't help. I ended up mixed feeding from about 4 and a half months and stopped bf at 27 weeks. im really glad i managed to feed him for as long as i did and although I hadn't really wanted him to have formula in the end it was best for both of us

ElenyaTuesday · 04/04/2007 19:50

3easterbunniesandnomore, that's what the research showed at that time for children at an extremely high risk of allergies due to genetic factors.

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 19:53

really...must say I am quite astonished about that...but admit, I have had no reason to look into it, so, wouldn't know...just assumed that no Formula ever will be better then Breastmilk...iykwim....

macneil · 04/04/2007 19:53

Oh, sweetie, there is no formula that could prevent allergies better than breastmilk - probably the reverse. The thing I do feel guilty about at the moment, in a slightly crazed paranoid way, is causing my child to be obese. I can think of about half a dozen reasons why there's a link between ff and obesity, and unfortunately, my baby is 90th percentile weight despite being born at less than 6 pounds, which is fuelling my paranoia. The fat little sod has no idea how much anxiety she's causing me, but this will all come back to bite her on the ass when she's fed nothing but green beans until she's 20.

Manictigger · 04/04/2007 19:54

No ucm, I'm interested in all viewpoints. I'd like to think that in this thread anyone can relate their experiences without anyone else jumping down their throat.

And anyway, didn't you award Tiktok that prize? In which case you get my respect

I'm actually really shocked by the bad experiences of a lot of people and the government wonders why so few mothers are still bf at 6 months?

It all sounds like it's the luck of the draw - luck as to whether or not you get problems and luck as to whether or not you get the support to get through them.

OP posts:
macneil · 04/04/2007 19:55

Oh, have just read follow up post, Elenya, and must admit I genuinely don't know anything about this, apart from the huge genetic tendency.

foxcub · 04/04/2007 19:56

I switched from BF to formula with DS1 after 5 months because I had recurring breast thrush and was in sheer agony and was tired of being in pain.

Howevere, BF DD happily for 18 months with no probs.

I really think that BF is a lost art and that if we had more support more women would do it. Some of us also feel awkwatd about getting our norks out in public due to potential hostility/stares from the strange British public

powder28 · 04/04/2007 19:57

I found breastfeeding too painful. I preferred bottle feeding cos then my dh could feed them.
Also i was breastfed and i had allergies, eczema and asthma. My sister was bottle fed and she is fine.

macneil · 04/04/2007 19:57

I prop my 10 week olds bottle up to post on here (she is in the room with me).

heh, mine has to hold hers quite a lot, and last night she was engrossed in House.

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 19:58

lol macneil...I know this is just anecdotal for you, so is not gonna change your worries or anything...but es, ff from 4 month and ys never a drop of ff, and bf'ed until he weaned himself at 13m. are exactly the smae build...both were/are chunky , if anyhting my ys is probably a bit chubbier then my es was a t this age...
their middlebro, completely different build and a right skinny bonebag...he was bf'ed till like 10 m, and then ff'ed...really don't think that their weight at Baby/Toddler/young child age can tell you much about their future....saying that, I am of course now assuming your child is still a young age,right...

macneil · 04/04/2007 19:59

aw, thanks 3easterb's.

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 20:00

u r welcome...like I said, anecdotes don't have that much value, I suppose...but sometimes they do help reassure....iykwim....

macneil · 04/04/2007 20:00

And yes, she's just over 4 months, and I promise there will not be any actual mentioning of weight and thinness as soon as she's old enough to understand.

3easterbunniesandnomore · 04/04/2007 20:04

lol, when they are chunky Baby's it really has got it;s advantages, because when they get poorly with somehting or otehr, I found it less worrying with my chubby Baby;s then my skinny lil man...because well...he just couldn't afford to loose any weight...not a prob his bros had.
However, can also lead to HV not understanding eating concerns...like I said to HV I am worried about ys eating, as he has gone from eating a huge variety to barely anything and will pick the smae things of his plate....i.e. maily eat Pasta, with a bit of lck he will go for carrot or cucumber, and sometimes he endulges me and has a Banana....HV told me, that I needen't worry as he was chubby, so, it was good for him to loose a bit of weight anyway...my worries however weren't so much about him loosing weight, but more about him getting the right nourishment he needs to grow and devellope...hohum...

tamula · 04/04/2007 20:08

foxcub 'Some of us also feel awkwatd about getting our norks out in public due to potential hostility/stares from the strange British public'

lmao

also i do agree with what you have said..

foxcub · 04/04/2007 20:23

BF is a wonderful experience when its going well, but can be sheer hell when its going badly can't it? 'Specially when there is so little support available.