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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Anyone bottle fed from birth?

70 replies

artyjoe · 02/09/2004 18:34

I can't seem to find any threads of people who have only bottle fed and not breastfed...are there any mums out there who decided not to breastfeed before baby was even born?

If so, have you encountered any problems?
Are there special formulas designed especially for new borns?

Any information would be really appreciated.

Thanks - Joe

OP posts:

Slink · 02/09/2004 18:37

I bottle fed tried breast for two days very painful. I gave dd Aptmil she di have colic and we got special bottles from Mothercare. Cow gate is good too, you rhealth visitor would tell you good luck xx

MummyToSteven · 02/09/2004 18:38

artyjoe - had to top up from when ds was a few days old. Unless newborn is particularly premature or has other health problems, standard first stage formulas should be fine - our local hospital used SMA Gold or Cow & Gate. The hospital should provide formula bottles and pre-sterilised teats for whilst you are in hospital. The midwives should assist with info about bottle feeding and preparing feeds.

bebby · 02/09/2004 19:18

hi sorry to gate crash this thread but i noticed that mummytosteven was around...check out the Liverpool meet thread, may catch you in the bar later

Trifle · 02/09/2004 19:19

I did. Breastfeeding was never an option. I used the hospital bottles/formula and SMA Gold once at home as I found this brand more readily available. Both boys thrived, the whole family could help feed when necessary and more importantly dp during the night which was a godsend. I was never hassled about bottle feeding and find it completely bizarre that anyone should.

lilsmum · 02/09/2004 19:27

i bottlefed from birth, dd was on cow and gate premium at first then she had terrible trapped wind (which i thought was colic) but it turned out to be lactose intolerance.... so she went onto sma LF which is only available on prescription.. when she got to 6 mth old i put her on sma gold as babies usually "grow" out of lactose intolorance by 5/6 mth and she is thriving on the sma gold no problems at all.

Hanna · 02/09/2004 20:10

I made the descision to bottle feed dd2 during pregnancy. I had a hard time getting dd1 to latch on and only stook it for 1 week, found it really stressful. I thought alot about what to do with dd2 and when I made the descision I felt a great sence of relief. Once she was born I found it gave me more freedom to bottlefeed, dd1 could have a go which she thought was great and it was'nt all on me in the night and dh was able to help out. I started her on cow & gate but it made her really windy so I out her on the heavier cow & gate milk but can't remember what it was called. I have no regrets about bottle feeding at all.

blossomhill · 02/09/2004 20:12

I bottlefed my dd from birth. I had breastfed my ds for a month and had so many problems so decided to bottlefeed dd . I also felt that as ds was only 19months when dd was born it would be too hard. At least with a bottle you knew exactly how much they were getting.

maomao · 02/09/2004 20:26

I bottlefed my dd from birth, and she has certainly thrived! Like Trifle, we used SMA Gold because it was easy to find in many different shops.

Angeliz · 02/09/2004 20:39

I bottle fed dd from birth. I decided this before dd was born.
I used Cow and Gate and she was great on it and never had any problems.
I have not encountered any problems though it took until i left the hospital with dd before they stopped asking me to change my mind!!!
(The midwives- i know it's for the right reasons but when you see a different midwife each time it gets a bit tiring and if you've made your decision people should respect that!)

Grizzly · 02/09/2004 21:47

I wanted to breastfeed and tried for 4 days in hospital (after c/section). Ds was not getting enough milk, was running a temperature and they were doing obs every 2 hours and threatening intensive care and antibiotics. On the 4th night I gave in and gave him a bottle (Cow and
Gate because that's what they gave me at 4am). His temp stabilised and he has never had anything more than a slight cold/runny nose since. He is on 50th centile for weight and height, now 12 months old and 'normal' in every way. I did feel guilty for a while about not 'succeeding' with breastfeeding, but I now accept it was the best solution for me and my baby. In the end you have to do what you think is right for you and your child. I have never encountered any prejudices or judgement from anyone. The only problems I had were of my own making/from my imagination.

jampot · 02/09/2004 22:59

I tried to breastfeed dd but after a long labour and csection I was absolutely exhausted and her first feed was a bottle. After that she just wouldn't suck the breast. Managed to "feed" ds for about a week but after trying to express milk for several hours and only managing a couple of ounces I gave up.

twogorgeousboys · 02/09/2004 23:22

Bottlefed ds1 from birth (unable to breastfeed due to medication I had to take).

Used SMA gold as readily available in many shops.

Steriliser - Lindam do a huge one which I found brilliant.

Bottles - Dr. Brown's "natural flow" (available from Mothercare) were a godsend and really seemed to help prevent wind/colicky pains.

I didn't encounter any problems, except a few nasty sideswipes at me about bottlefeeding from mothers who were breastfeeding, which did upset me at first as I would have liked to have given breastfeeding a try.

MummyToSteven · 02/09/2004 23:25

artyjoe - what sort of problems do you mean? I have never encountered any prejudice against bottlefeeding - away from health professionals (who are obliged by the government to promote breastfeeding) i would say that the general public is rather more tolerant of bottlefeeding in public than breastfeeding

Original poster

artyjoe · 02/09/2004 23:31

Thanks everyone for posting, I feel an awful lot better now. My entire circle of friends and colleagues and even family are against my bottle feeding and keep trying to make me feel bad about my decision not to breast feed. I actually wrote on my notes under birth plan in big capitals 'bottle fed from birth, no discussion', and the team of midwives so far have found this amusing but it's done the trick as at least they haven't tried to persuade me otherwise!

It's good to know that my child has a high chance of being healthy if bottle fed!

Thanks also for the advice on brands and teets, I'll ensure they go in the hospital bag

Joe

OP posts:

MummyToSteven · 02/09/2004 23:34

at my local hospital just under half of women even try to start bfing - i think the national average statistic is that 2/3 of women try to start bfing - so you will be far from alone in not attempting bfing. Even if you did bf, colleagues/friends/family/random members of the public will offer their unwanted opinions on childrearing on numerous occasions. Your body, your choice.

Original poster

artyjoe · 02/09/2004 23:35

Hi Mummytosteven, sorry we both posted at the same time!

Over the last few months when the issue comes up I have been made to feel a negligent/bad mother for not even attempting to breast feed my child, mainly by friends, colleagues and family...I wouldn't mind if it was health professionals as they don't know me! Everyone seems to think I should at least give it a try, regardless of my countless reasons for not wanting to due to the nutrients etc that bottle won't give.

As I haven't even given birth yet it's not nice worrying if I am a bad mother before I even begin! Good to know I'm not the only one out there!

Joe

OP posts:

Chandra · 02/09/2004 23:38

Not really Mummytosteven, I even had people I barely knew asking why on Earth I was not breastfeeding him or if I had useless health visitor.
I breast feed him for a month but after the three painful weeks (and lots of blisters) I decided to rest a breast for a day, producion went down imediatly and no power on Earth could bring it back.

My suggestion for Formula has to be Aptamil, Cow&Gate got him windy and constipated (he used to cry everytime he did a poo), tried other brands but at the end Aptamil was what worked best for him.

MummyToSteven · 02/09/2004 23:41

oh dear chandra. guess I have been lucky then. i had a nightmare experience bfing - ds hospitalised with return of jaundice and dehydration at just over two weeks whilst they monitored him/got a load of formula down him and ran tests to check no liver/metabolic problems underlying the jaundice. so i guess whenever i mentioned why i gave up bfing nobody was ever stupid enough to ask me for any further justification!

Chandra · 02/09/2004 23:43

Artyjoe, you may find a lot of pressure but don't think you need to explain yourself, if somebody is rude enough to ask you why, and surely somebody will, smile and say "Why do you want to know?"

Chandra · 02/09/2004 23:47

Mummytosteven, I really don't know why people dare to ask such personal question, they don't seem to realise there may be a very good cause behind (like in your case). I was really surprised to find so much pressure to BF in the UK, back in my country and DH's country is just a personal choice and nobody ask you any question.

Skate · 02/09/2004 23:49

I BF DS1 for about 3 weeks and it was a horrendous experience (not for all, but for me it was) so went straight to bottle with DS2 and DS3. I started using SMA gold but found that gave DS2 terrible wind and constipation and find Cow and Gate much better - I know this conflicts what some others have said so perhaps you just need to find which suits your baby the best.

I found health professionals a lot more pushy about BF with DS1 but I think once you get on to babe 2 and 3 they know they aren't going to sway you.

I felt terribly guilty about not BF DS1 but then like a huge weight was off my shoulders once decision was made.

I've not found their health or intelligence affected - I really don't believe it makes that much of a difference though I guess you can't argue that 'breast is best' since it is the most natural way to feed a baby. I've had friends who have BF to try and avoid asthma and eczema but since it runs in their family their children have developed it anyway, whereas we don't tend to have allergies in our family so the kids haven't either. I can use bubble baths, fragranced wipes etc without any trouble at all. As for illnesses, again, mine have been very rarely ill thankfully while other friends kids pick up colds like nobody's business. I believe things like this are more related to your genetics (but I'm not a doctor so...).

Sorry, long winded message but hope it helps.

mears · 02/09/2004 23:53

artyjoe - the only thing that I can add to this thread is that midwives have a duty to ensure that you are making an informed choice about bottlefeeding. You can only do that by listening to the health benefits of breastfeeding and then making a decision. Now some people view that as bullying women to breastfeed. That is not the case. It is to make sure that women do understand the choice that they are making. There is a potential for women to sue the health authority for not informing them properly about their chosen feeding method, should their child have a problem where the risk is shown to be increased by feeding with formula milk.

One of my dearest friends chose to bottle feed all 3 of her children. She read all the literature and discussed the issues. Bottom line was that she still chose to bottle feed. That is absolutely fine. She made an informed choice. Refusing to discuss it with your midwife point blank is not demonstarting that your choice is informed at all.

If you search for reasons to breast or bottle feed you will find threads galore, some very heated.

Enjoy your baby

Original poster

artyjoe · 03/09/2004 00:00

"Refusing to discuss it with your midwife point blank is not demonstarting that your choice is informed at all."

Sorry but I have to disagree with this, long discussions with my mother and lots of internet searches/website visits/book reading has enabled me to make an informed decision...My gut reaction was that I didn't want to breastfeed for numerous reasons , but then went on to 'research' if I was going to be doing any harm to my child.

I feel I have made an informed decision, and after reading most of the posts here it seems I'm not alone, which has given me the support that I haven't received so far from friends etc.

I am fortunate in that I don't feel guilty over my decision, but it has been good to know that I'm not the only one to make this decision from the outset.

Joe

OP posts:

mears · 03/09/2004 00:05

That's good artyjoe. The way you posted earlier it was as if there was to be no discussion point blank. Midwives have a professional responsibility regarding infant feeding choice so as such, if I were your midwife I would write in your notes that you have researched the topic in detail and have made an informed choice to bottle feed. Would not try and persuade you otherwise

Original poster

artyjoe · 03/09/2004 00:13

Thanks Mears, I haven't quite got the hang of keeping the threads small but detailed enough to not land myself in it! I seem to omit bits I think aren't needed yet manage to add the bits that inflame and make me sound terribly stubborn

I'll have to start adding a disclaimer I think or be brave and add more detail in future

Good to know I'm not the only one sat at a computer screen at quarter past midnight!

joe

OP posts:

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