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?

i was 18 when i had my first and breast fed for 14 months much to the horror of my in-laws!!!

i was 24 when dd was born, and i didn't even consider bottlefeeding, however, until i was pregnant and started looking into bf i didn't know about half of the benefits to it. i personally blame the education system and also society in general, the only person i had actually seen bfing in person was my mum, and if it hadn't have been for her initial encouragement i don't know how i would have felt about it, I remember being 10 years old when my sister was born, and my mum used to bf on the tube to my mortification, this just shows you the attitudes that are ground into us from an early age. I am now 31wks pg with no 2 and have no intention of giving those corrupt and sneaky formula companies any of our hard earned cash for an inferior and unsuitable substitute to what in my opion is liquid gold.
i fed dd till she self weaned at 9 1/2months when my milk dissapeared due to the pg hormones and i will certainly feed this baby till she self weans also.
Bfing changed my life for the better, and almost certainly swayed me towards attachment parenting which i hadn't really considered before hearing about the benefits through my bf support network,
which imo has made me a better mother also.

By the sounds of it a lot of young mothers bf. I am 22 and am still bfing my 5 month old daughter. Age shouldn't come into it, my step-mom had a baby a few years back at the age of 42, and didn't even consider bfing!!!ONLY BOTTLES! I am trying everything to keep baby onto my milk.

well done calm river.... But he stats show htat they dont!

Good for you calmriver!

Friend of mine had dd1 at 17 - bf her for 18 months - Got pregnant with dd2 when dd1 was 14 months and is now bf her (dd2 now 5 months)

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I was 19 when I had alex, I gave birth in a large hospital, had cr*p support concerning b/f, had transfer back to local maternity unit when he was 9 hrs old. When i arrived back, i was woken at midnight, encouraged to try and feed, no luck, woke at 2am, still no luck and so m/w said he HAD to have something(which looking back i dont agree on he was less than 24hrs old, was not crying for a feed and was a good size-8lb 13oz)o she gave him a bottle of sma, which he promptly threw up> anyhow try tried everything incl breat sheilds pumping etc. i left very disheartened and bottlefed, i tried to pump and give ebm but couldnt get more than 1oz also tried hand expressing, no luck. felt really pants for about 3 months about the whole thing ie. constant pressures from healthservice saying breast is best/all this stuff about formula eg.boycott nestle/and people looking down on me cos i bottlefeed.
I have since discovered i have a problem with semi inverted nipples(how no m/w's h/v's didnt pick up on this i will never know) and have brought some avent nipplettes to correct it for next time, and after my LO is off bottles i will be getting rid of everything apart from the seriliser and hand pump. so that next time IT will breastfeed, no excuses and i shant be listening to anyone trying to persuade me otherwise!

Good luck for next time, BAM My guess is that your nipples had less to do with the whole thing than the appalling support you had - you and your baby would have been better to be tucked in bed together, skin to skin, and your baby would have enjoyed the snuggly closeness, and then been stimulated by your smell and taste to wake up and want to feed without a fuss.

Im 19 and had my first son 2 months ago i started to breast feed but at about 1 month he was perminatly on my breast, he was just always hungry! In the end people told me to give him at top up feed at night because it wasn´t fair on him! I did do but now he seems to prefer the bottle. He has 3 bottles a day and the rest breast but he doesnt seem to settle when i just give him the breast! I really wish that i could carry on breastfeeding as i was so proud when i was doing it!

HappyMumof2 - I'm so at what the midwives said to you!!! "Don't mess him about" - what kind of advice is that? Awful.
Camzmum, IME constant feeding is really, really normal at a few weeks old - I think babies don't just want the milk, they want the lovely feeling as well of being so close to their mum. You could keep breastfeeding if you want to, but I think you will have to reduce the number of bottlefeeds and the amount of formula you give and spend some time giving more breastfeeds to get your supply back up. It really is supply and demand. It's not too late.

camzmum - aloha is right. Your little boy is doing what comes naturally, and there is nothing 'unfair' about responding to his need for closeness and breastfeeding.

The increase in the bottles is a very common effect of the top up bottle - and with that increse, comes a decrease in the breastmilk.

In time, you will almost certainly find the bottles replace the breast.

You can retrieve the situation, by planning to cut down on the amount and frequency of formula at the same time as increasing the frequency of the breastfeeds - to build up and reestablish a milk supply, he needs to be having 8-10 breastfeeds in 24 hours (and more if he will take it), alongside formula as you build this up.

Good luck. You need to tell the people who say 'it's not fair on him' that they do not know what they are talking about!

Camzmum -- you could try taking the baby to bed with you for 2 days; just forget the rest of your life and lie down together in bed as much as you can stand it, letting her 'comfort feed' as long, as much as she likes. Some moms swear by this to increase their milk supply in a short period. Worth a try?

A message for CAMZMUM.
What Zebra suggested is a brilliant idea. I find I produce more milk when my little one is close to me, sleeping,during the day etc. If it's possible, try it!

I had my first at 21 (pg at 20) and breastfed him (mind you did bottle feed my 2nd but that's a whole different story LOL).