Anyone bottle fed from birth?

[artyjoe]

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

I am glad to see that I have not offended you in any way. Are you new to mumsnet? I am not sure if i have seen you post before. Takes a while to get the knack of posting and I regularly upset people on the breast/bottle feeding threads

I am up at this time because I am 'babysitting' my 87 year old dad while my mum is away for a few days. He has mild Alzheimers and really acn't be left too long on his own. Caught him putting a foil dish of shepherd's pie in the microwave tonight because he was fed up waiting for me to come and make his tea. Thank goodness i arrived when I did.

Am spending a few minutes surfing mumsnet in peace now.

Glad to meet you artyjoe

ArtyJoe, I'm a reluctant bottle feeder (dd failed to gain any weight on my breastmilk)but I'm really impressed by the way you've managed to make the decision and not feel guilty about it. I think my sadness at bottle feeding has potentially done dd more harm than not being breastfed, and I can't believe that those 4 weeks I was struggling to feed her and she was constantly hungry did either of us any good. I'd love to know what it was you found in your research that convinced you you were doing the right thing by bottle feeding. (Although be warned that if you post that sort of thing you will get a barrage of criticism from the pro-bfers.) For what it's worth, my dd seems to have thrived on Aptamil, but there's really no way of knowing which one your baby will take to best.

Artyjoe - I would never in a million years presume to have a judgemental opinion about someone else's choice at all - but that's not the same as simple interest! And, forgive me, I am quite interested in the pro-active reasons why someone chooses to bottle feed. It's just not somehting we hear so much in the current climate, and I'm simply interested, if you have the energy to let me know. And, please, everyone, just for information, not for discussion or argument? I know all about the bf benefits, I don't know about the benefits for bottle-feeding mums, and I'd like to.

Hi artyjoe. I took it for-granted that I would breastfeed my children, but it turned out to be a physical impossibility!! Tried with the first for a week, but it was horrendous. My second managed two days. I decided for my next two that I wasnt going to go through the miseries of it all and breastfed from the second they were born. All four are happy, healthy and intelligent. I cant see any difference between them and breast-fed babies. Although I would have loved to have managed to breast-feed because I can see the advantages in initial health and bonding, I dont feel there has been any lasting damage caused by bottle-feeding them. After all, the most important thing is not the physical food they are given, but the emotional food. As long as they are loved and cared for, how they receive their nourishment is surely secondary.

Sorry, didnt breastfeed the second two atall - Bottle fed them!!! slip of the fingers.

I breastfed dd1 for a month, but bottlefed dd2 from birth. The reason being, I didn't hate breastfeeding, but it felt very restrictive (?) having to feed all the time, while other people could help with bottle feeding, plus, most importantly dd1 was 15 months at the time, and I could imagine her leaving me alone for every feed (which could take up to an hour).
I was also made to feel guilty from several people, but my arguments to myself were:

1. unhappy mum = unhappy baby
2. my sister and I weren't breastfed and don't seem to have any particular health problems!
3. it wasn't really practical in my case, and
4. my midwife when asked told me that if I don't really want to do it, it's actually better not to.

Dad's in bed so here I am again

I admire women who say they are not going to bottle feed because they do not want to breastfeed. That is the only valid reason there is when planning how to feed a new baby. There are no health benefits to mum or baby by choosing to bottlefeed.

For mums who found breastfeeding did not work out - that is another story.

Should have said there are reasons why a mother should be advised not to breastfeed but they are pretty rare. Sometimes it is ill-informed medical staff who do the advising.

mears - couldn't you argue with a jaundiced baby (at treatment levels of jaundice) there are short term health benefits of bottle feeding? i appreciate that once you get over the initial period, and top ups that it is possible to establish exclusing bfing,but it is much much more difficult to establish bfing with a jaundiced baby.

Jaundiced babies do not need to have formula top-up MTS. The problems associated with poor milk supply in jaundiced babies is because of poor stimulation of the mother to produce milk. A baby that feeds ineffectively can be spoon or cupfed expressed colostrum/EBM. Expressing encourages milk production. Infact my last baby was so jaundices she needed 3 exchange blood transfusions, so jaundice itself is not the problem.
If despite 2-3 hourly expressing, there is not enough EBM, then formula milk is essential. However, the mum still requires to express until the baby starts to feed properly. What I said about health benefits was that there are none associated with exclusive bottlefeeding that I am aware of.

Hi, I bottlefed dd from birth and I decided to do this from the minute I found out I was pregnant. It meant that dh could do the feeds sometimes as well as ds. Ds was bottlefed from birth and is 15 now and healthy. It worked out the best option for the whole family. DD did have colic at first but once she went on Omneo Comfort she was fine. My dh did most of the night feeds and I could go back to enjoying a glass of wine and eating what I liked after 9 months of being pregnant which was great

Hi, I bottlefed dd from birth and I decided to do this from the minute I found out I was pregnant. It meant that dh could do the feeds sometimes as well as ds. Ds was bottlefed from birth and is 15 now and healthy. It worked out the best option for the whole family. DD did have colic at first but once she went on Omneo Comfort she was fine. My dh did most of the night feeds and I could go back to enjoying a glass of wine and eating what I liked after 9 months of being pregnant which was great

Bonniej- I ate what i wanted after dd was born (apart from peanuts as family allergies) and drank wine. Dh feeds dd when I'm at work, to begin with expresses bm and now formula.
I breastfed exclusively till 6 months and am still bf dd now at 11 months. It is still possible to do all what you said and bf or mix feed.

message withdrawn

Thanks Mears - I guess I had been looking at the issue of top ups from the wrong end, IYSWIM. So when your lo was jaundiced did you managed to exclusive bf and without formula? I was encouraged to express, but I don't think at the very start of topping up that I was explicitly told - express x much to top up, or we'll have to top up with formula. Tho I do remember various mws being concerned about my milk supply, and that my milk seemed to come in a little late, so maybe my milk supply was simply too low at that point. I was just too exhausted to express every 3 hours - given that I was trying to keep DS on the breast as long as humanly possible, (I saw one hospital bf counsellor who wasn't helpful, and it was only when DS was six days old that I saw a brill bf counsellor who said only to attempt to bf ds for 20 minutes, and top up with formula or ebm after that). After the gruelling task of trying to keep DS on for ages - could be up to an hour, and cup feeding, and expressing - again I was very naughty and would try and express something ridiculous like 20 minutes each side(!) I would then be too exhausted to go to the kitchen and wash the breast pump every 3 hours. Sorry to ramble on like this and taking the thread off topic, just still feel slightly guilty at not managing to bf, and for not being able to express every 3 hours round the clock.

Please do not feel guilty at all MTS. You did all you possibly could with the advice you had. If anything I would criticise that advice in the first place. No point having a sleepy baby at the breast doing nothing. Far better to try for a while, skin-to-skin contact. If absolutely no joy in first 30 mins I would hand express whatever colostrum was there and give to baby by syringe. Even 1ml can be enough. Hand expressing stimulates so much more than a pump does in the early days. In my DD's case I had plenty of time to build up my milk suppply beacsue after her initial feed in labour ward she was not allowed to feed for about 3 days while she had her exchange blood transfusions. Meant my milk was stimulated by hand/breastpump for when she was allowed to feed. Meant also she was past the sleepy stage of not wanting to feed. She was on a drip up until this point.

thanks for the ultra speedy reply Mears. All water under the bridge now anyway I guess so I should stop moaning about it.

Mears - when I was in Boots today, on the carton of farley's first milk, there was a comment about it helping immunity which I was quite startled at, as I didn't think that first milks were able to market themselves like this - presumably it was getting at it containing pro-biotics, but even so!

I have bottled fed all my 3 from birth.

TBH I do get a bit sick of people who try to make people feel bad for not breastfeeding. It's your choice, and you have to do what you feel comfortable doing.

My mom works on a maternity ward and she said that the number of women who end up in tears cos they think that people will think less of them if they bottle feed is amazing.

I know breast is best, but it's not for everyone.

Wasn't saying that anyone on here had made anyone feel bad though.

I thought hard about it, let my midwife advise me and then decided to bottle feed.

Going back to the jaundice thing< i don't think I could of breast fed Ds as he had to be fed as quick as poss and then put straight back on his billy bed.

Oh and with Dd2 (who was prem and in special care), although i still didn't want to breastfeed I did offer to express some milk for her, and they said not to bother.

i'm like hercules - currently exclusively breastfeeding 16 wk old DD and enjoying a glass of wine. So don't think that is a reason.

Those of you who bottlefed do you find that your partner really does help that much? I express milk and am trying to ensure DD remains happy to take a bottle for when I go back to work but a lot of the time I end up giving her the bottle which seems like defeating the object.

That is sad nutcracker being told not to bother

bozza - i didn't choose to bottlefeed but bfing went very pearshaped so had to give it in. My partner was tbh extremely unhelpful as far as bottlefeeding goes - not keen to do it at all, and pretty much only bottlefeeds if i have an appointment/evening out. but if you bottlefeed at least your friends/family can help out, even if your partner doesn't!

TBH Mears at the time what they had said didn't really register, but i do remember thinking later on that they should of let me as it is supposed to be good for them to have the colostrum isn't it, and i did feel a bit upset about it then.

I bottlefed dd from birth and then spent the next 12 months regretting and obsessing over my decision.

My reasons for bottlefeeding was becasue the thought of breastfeeding disgusted me and my family of ardent bottlefeeders convinced me I wouldn't be able to cope. The lack of continuity of midwifery care meant I never discussed these issues with anyone apart from being made to feel like a leper in the antenatal classes.

I became very angry at any breast is best type message as it felt like it was criticising me for not doing the best for my baby.

Eventually, with help and support from several friends in the NCT I came to terms with this and decided that I would breastfeed ds as I didn;t want to have al those regrets again.

He was born jaundiced and at 5 days old refused the breast completely and lost way too much weight but with fantastic support from my midwife, health visitor and breastfeeding counsellor I was able to express and cup feed until ds finally learnt how to feed at 1 month old.

I find it incredible sad that there are other people out there who have had similar problems but through lack of support and good advice have had to give up.

I feel that if someone truly does not want to breastfeed then that decision should be respected but it does have to be an informed choice and the midwife should discuss things with you. However this is where I think it is important that you are able to build up a relationship with one midwife rather than see different ones all the time.

Going back to the original post the main problem I found with bottlefeeding, apart from the sterilising and washing hassle was that in the early days dd would suck and suck until she made herself sick. She suffered with awful colic and I'm convinced I overfed her tiny newborn tummy.

I used cow and gate premium and never used a follow on or hungry baby milk as I read that these had a completely different ratio of whey and casein to breastmilk and I wanted her to have the closest possible.

ALso when you are bottlefeeding visitors come and take your baby away to feed whilst you make the tea. When you are breastfeeding you get them running round after you more. You get to cuddle your baby whilst they bring you food and cups of tea etc.