why dont younger mums breas feed

[codswallop]

on the whole?
18 year ikd nighbour has just had a baby !) musch to her parents horror.. and isnt even trying to b feeed.
why is this?

Levanna lol, I actually compared myself to a cow when I was bf too!!

Just reading all of this!! Didn't like the slating that Zebra got. Her comparison with car seat usage and infant feeding was useful. Breastmilk is the best for baby as stated by the world health organisation, american college of pediatrics, all formula companies, NHS etc. Related to children strapped into car seat. Formula use like children not using seat belts. Doesn't mean that every car trip will be a crash but that when a crash happens injury potential is worse.

we all know breast is best but what happens when you can't breast feed or your milk dries up? What is the option?

ffs cardigan, have you read what you just posted? are you trying to say cos i bottle feed my dd im the sort of person who wouldnt use a car seat for her?

An increased risk does not mean that it is a definate consequence. No matter how you want to look at it, there are risks associated with formula feeding. There will always be healthy bottle fed babies in the same way that someone who smokes 50 a day is as fit as a fiddle. However, it may well be that the risks to a mothers or baby's emotional/physical health outweigh the risks of formula feeding.

No mother loves their child less because they don't/can't breastfeed. Women have to make their own choices from the information they have and their own life circumstances. As someone said earlier, it is no-one's business but their own.

The options are laid out by the world health organisation

1st Choice Breastfeeding directly from mother
2nd Choice Feeding baby mothers expressed milk from a bottle or cup (the option I chose for ds)
3rd Choice Feeding baby donated breastmilk (usually not practical in this country) but v difficult to sustain long term)
4th Choice Use of infant formula (the option I chose for dd)

just like to add, in relation to the thread title i am not a young mother (would it matter if i was?) and i didnt choose not to bottle feed, it wasnt possible (would it matter if i had?)

I am off now girls, don't let them get you down

No grief np - yes I read what I wrote. I just find Zebras comparison very clear. Not saying that mums who use formula don't use car seats. Just that the comparison shows that risk to health is similar. For eg breastfeeding cuts risk of allergies to baby so if a mother dosn't bf for 6 months exclusively as recommended by WHO, NHS etc then if her child is more at risk of allergies & if then comes across allergy he/she wont have the bmilk protection. A BF child doesn't have this issue. BF protects a mum against breast cancer. So a mum who doesn't bf doesn't have this protection - a bit like the seat belt.

but my dd2 has lots of allergies and she was bf for 7 months. I even had to wait around for a hour after her MMR because of the egg base in it!

my brother was the only one of us to be breastfed - he has asthma, eczema, e-number allergies and mild aspergers syndrome. we just have to accept that a mothers place is in the wrong!

Bf benefits & advantages all scientific refs contained on
http:/www.promom.org101/index.html

But would I have rather got DD1 on to a bottle given the problems we had with breastfeeding? She wouldn't take one, and how I tried! I love breastfeeding, personally I think it's fantastic. But I also think it is a shame that DD1's first 14 months of life passed by in a haze of tears (hers and mine) screaming (her) and general all round sadness and fretting about her drastic failure to gain 'enough' weight? I'll always be concerned that in my case and DD1's, breastfeeding wasn't the best option, she's the slimmest and most malnourished (ouch - )child I know and I am truly scared about possible future health problems this will incur.

We shouldn't do this cos as Mears says there are always exceptions. But let me add to others' personal experiences - I'm from a family of 6. Two of us were breastfed and yes, we were the two that got the eczema (and asthma and loads of allergies in my case). In the next generation the eczema, asthma and inner ear infections have gone to - you guessed it - the offspring of the exclusive breastfeeders!!
In my childhood formula feeding was more the norm but eczema and asthma were hardly known. WHY????

Having said that, with DD2 it feels right and good, (and is essentially my 'prefered') option. How confusing is that!

My generation of our family are boringly in line with the statistics I'm afraid - My brother and I were breastfed, and my sister wasn't. My sister has exzema, an obviously lower general immunity than my brother and I and interestingly had severe and prolonged bouts of tonsilitis until she had a tonsilectomy. Also, my aunt who didn't breastfeed developed breast cancer twice at a young age, as did her mum, but my mother (her sister) who has breastfed hasn't.
Oh, and of course, I'm much more intelligent than my wee sis!

haven't read through all of the thread, just the first few and last few posts.........
I have 3 siblings. We were not breastfed for very long, I'm talking weeks here, and were quickly put onto formula, and Carnation Milk (but that's another thread.....!) None of us have exema or any allergies.
??
This was the 70's

There will always be anecdotal evidence to the contrary. The fact is that breastfeeding is the healthiest choice for the baby. Formula is an excellent substitute and is quite adequate, but is not quite as good. I don't think anyone can argue with that.

On the other hand, there are many other factors that come into play when a woman decides whther to breastfeed (or is forced into that decision by circumstances). And in many cases formula feeding is the best all-around choice for mum and baby for a variety of reasons, even though breastmilk would be a "healthier" choice.

I would assume that any woman who is interested enough in her childrens' welfare to be posting on a board like this has considered all the factors and made the best decision for her and her family.

has anyone mentioned the quality of breast milk being an issue?

this isnt an arguement about bottlefeeding over breatsfeeding. coddy was asking why younger mums dont seem to breastfeed. nothing to do with the pro's cons of bottle over breast or vice versa. its to with the support offered to young mums, whether it be family support, midwife, LLL etc. at 19 i knew i wanted to breastfeed, managed for a short while with dd1. part of me wonders that if i breastfed for longer would dd1 eczema be better? well considering she has had eczema pretty much since borth i would probably say no. dd2 was bf for longer, but she exhausted me (2 hour feeding, she gained weight in 1st week, didnt lose), and at about 3months i moved her onto bottle as i was shattered.

with this one i aim to bf for as long as possible. i am still a young mum age 24.

Not read through all this but as a younger mum (22) from a middle-class family I didn't breast feed because I couldn't be bothered. I had my finals to sit when DD was 6 weeks old, I wasn't prepared to spend 6 weeks sat crying on the sofa whilst trying to establish feeding. I wanted dD to fit into our lives and no sleep, being sat on my bum for hours whilst the babe tried to get a mouthful of milk and then screamed for hours wasn't for me.

DH and I weren't in a great place in our relationship and the exhaustion, lack of sex drive etc. wouldn't have helped things. For me, minimising the impact of DD's arrival was realy important and bottle-feeding was the way forward in the circs.

I did wonder whether I'd have a change of heart when she was born but TBH the milk coming in reassured me that I wasn't going to breastfeed when there's another option.

I'm also a bit flaky about car seats, put DD in her own room at 2 weeks, put her in daycare at 6 months and have been known to take her to McDs. At the end of the day I'm just not an earth-mother type.