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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Do you think it's possible to tell a breast fed baby/adult?

163 replies

McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 16:08

Spoke to someone today who attended a lecture from a paediatrician who claimed to be able to look at an adult and decide wether they were bf or ff. Then illustrated this by going along the front row and got everyone correct!

I'm finding this hard to believe!!!!

OP posts:
FioFioJane · 17/07/2007 16:53

I think it easier to be 'led' when you are a young mum. I feel so much more in control of my life since my last children and so different tbh. i dont mean that in a patronising way

meandmyflyingmachine · 17/07/2007 16:54

I think 'make a decision' is way too strong. I completely accept the influence of parenting. For me it is a much more subliminal process though.

And I think that whether you were bf or ff is a really small part of your overall 'parenting experience', and has probably less impact on your feeding choices than other aspects of your upbringing TBH.

tasja · 17/07/2007 16:55

Before the lecture began the paediatrician probably asked the people to say it is true - what he said. Please, how can he tell? Debate on bf or ff is really getting so so boring!

ProjectSeverus · 17/07/2007 16:55

i think how you/your Dh was fed makes a difference. My mum bf, Dh mum BF no one ever mentioned bottles or formula to me even when I was struggling. Would that have been the case if they had bottle fed - I don't think so.

ElenyaTuesday · 17/07/2007 16:56

What a load of nonsense (OP, obviously!). My siblings and I were ff and are all slim but only one is tall. Dh's siblings were all bf for at least 9 months and they're a bunch of fat short people.

meandmyflyingmachine · 17/07/2007 16:59

Ah but neither did my mum ProjectSeverus, and she formula fed. But this is pretty typical of her - she is generally hugely supportive of her children. Which is what I meant by overall pareting being more important than feeding decisions alone.

ProjectSeverus · 17/07/2007 17:03

ummmm up to a point. I didn't make a feeding choice it never occured to be to consider anything else but BF. Would that have been true if babies in my family/dh family had been bottle fed I doubt it.

Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:05

Not so sure project - I was bottle fed and it didn't occur to me to follow suit just because my mum had chosen to do it. I was always going to try bf - and thankfully i was successful

OP posts:
ProjectSeverus · 17/07/2007 17:09

you are kind of making my point McDreamy. You were going to try breastfeeding.

meandmyflyingmachine · 17/07/2007 17:10

I'll just copy my post of 16.44

I guess it's because it just didn't occur to me not to start breastfeeding, despite myself and my siblings being predominantly formula fed. But then we can't know our unconscious motivation can we? By definition...

Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:10

I disagree project

OP posts:
ProjectSeverus · 17/07/2007 17:11

fair enough

Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:12
Smile
OP posts:
meandmyflyingmachine · 17/07/2007 17:14

And a from me too...

ProjectSeverus · 17/07/2007 17:14

bloody dull debate this innit!

Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:16

I was thinking that too - bit lame for mumsnet! Shall we just do a bit of name calling and get it over with

OP posts:
FioFioJane · 17/07/2007 17:18

oh fgs you lot I disagree with you all

tiktok · 17/07/2007 17:38

I often ask people in a bf class if they know how they were fed - if they think this is terribly personal and intrusive, they don't have to answer...I just throw the Q out in a general way. It's used as a springboard to a discussion on influences and support and whether the ones who don't know feel it's a 'proper' question to ask, and why it would be different from asking 'what sort of pram did I have?' (and it would be - but why? this is the sort of thing we talk about, and it reveals that feeding is something that involves a lot of 'strands').

I actually don't believe anyone can tell by looking at an adult how they were fed.

I can't tell babies, either, so shoot me!! If I saw a whole bunch of mothers and babies and was asked to guess, I would use my knowledge of the age and socio-economic factors in breastfeeding to guess but I would often be wrong because individuals may go against the statistical norm for a large group.

blueshoes · 17/07/2007 17:39

McDreamy, can you elaborate on the height weight in relation to parents. Where do ff and bf babies purportedly rank?

OrmIrian · 17/07/2007 17:41

Tell them what?

Oh sorry. I see

Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:42

Not really bs. I think he was saying that ff babies didn't reach their potential height but as I said earlier I wasn't there and am only reporting third hand.

OP posts:
Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:44

Thought as much Tiktok - maybe he was just out to try and impress and group of impressionable medical students!

OP posts:
meandmyflyingmachine · 17/07/2007 17:44

Well thank God for formula then. 5'11'' - I'm pretty sure I would rather be achieving below my potential on that one

meandmyflyingmachine · 17/07/2007 17:45

Yikes.

Not flippant on a feeding thread

What was I thinking?

Apologies...

Original poster
McDreamyGonagall · 17/07/2007 17:45

lol meand - think of the shopping problems you could have had!!!!

OP posts:
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