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?

No not you Pixie fish
The mum whose children don't wear seatbelts!

woops- thought I'd upset you- glad I haven't

Not at all Pixiefish.

So, what was your point, Zebra? Were you really saying that mothers who bottle feed are equally as irresponsible as mothers who don't use carseats/seatbelts? Because that's certainly how it read. Or have I just completely misinterpreted you, then?

Just to pick up on pixiefish's comment about not getting enough support, I do wonder if maybe it's partly down to being young. I don't think I was treated very well when I first went in to the hospital in labour. But also I did hate having to keep ask the midwife the same question

Zebra - noone is saying formula is equivalent to breastmilk but for my own reasons I did not breastfeed my children (tried with ds1) and I can see absolutely no detriment caused AT ALL.

I too was not breastfed and have rarely been ill, no allergies, eczema, asthma all the things bf is supposed to help with. The same can be said for my children. I'm not of low intelligence (I've got qualifications coming out of my ears actually) and I'm not a quivering idiot who can't socialise. So what difference, seriously, would bf have made to the outcome of my or my children???

My friend bf for 6 months - she hated it but did it to try and avoid eczema etc and it didn't work - her kids are covered in it, she can only bath them once a week, they react to anything and everything - the complete opposite is true of my bottle fed children.

To compare bottle feeding to driving without seatbelts or car seats is downright ridiculous. Taking a child in a car without one is very likely to end up in injury or worse, bottle feeding a baby leads to neither of those things.

lets get backt ot ehe tpoic

OK I thinkt hat breas milek is superioe
there no doubt abotut hat a dn thats not the issue
everyone find s breastfeeding a different kettle of ffisha dn come one no one dies form bottle feeding
BUT my point is why ON THEW w WHole is it unusual to see a teenage mum breastfeeding

lack of support maybe cod? from midwifes / piers etc

hey my typos scale new heights

I think or the factt heat initially it is a long process ( completew ithe sore kernockers)

I really dont't want to offend anyone here at all and must add now that I failed miserably to breastfeed, despite my best intentions. (I ended up expressing for 6.5 months but that's another story).
Is it a bit of a "class" thing? This is a massive generalisation but I suspect many teenage mums have mums who themselves did not breastfeed and so do not encourage their own to do so. I just associate breastfeeding with the middle classes who as a general rule probably leave having children till later in life? Does that make sense?
I am now running for cover ...

does anyone know a middles class girl who fell pg when young? did she feed?

No. I teach and if I think about all those girls who have fallen preggers when 15 / 16, they have not been "middle class".

I was 24 when I had dd and tried for several days to breastfeed her but failed miserably. I had every midwife on the ward and the breastfeeding counsellor helping me but after 62 hour labour/em c/s just didn;t have it in me I guess.

With ds (28) I tried again but still couldn't - would very much have liked to have with both but physically couldn't manage it. Consultant suggested if I wanted to breastfeed ds I should take 4 iron tablets at each dose to help with my anaemia post section!! Midwife suggested if I did I was likely never to be able to crap properly again

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Rowlers - I can see your point and you may be right.

I'm def very middle class and didn't bf but my mum didn't either so you may have a point there. In fact, when I was struggling to bf ds1 my Mum didn't encourage me to carry on, she encouraged me to bottle feed because she did and all 3 of her kids are perfectly healthy! And of course I was having a terrible time, in tears at each feed and really getting quite depressed.

The class thing could also go along with the hypothesis I presented early in that older mothers may have had a career first and I think that they often tackle motherhood in the same way they did work - they strive for perfection and to do absolutely the right thing so it's often 'older' mothers that really strive for the bf, purely organic food, real nappies, lots of structured activities for pre-schoolers to make sure they can do a lot of things before they get to school.

I'm a bit stuck in the middle because I'm very middle class and hold some of those views and I'm surrounded by others who are also professional, middle class who get quite into the things I listed above. OTH, I've got my Mum very close by and she had us young (started at 21) and has a more 'down to earth' view on things I think so I end up going along the lines of the middle classes and my friends for some things, and others I just don't get stressed about because I can see that the way my mother did things still resulted in 3 healthy, intelligent adults.

I'm not offended by your comment because as a generalisation I think you could be right but, as always with generalisations, not everyone fits into it.

but did they feed Rowlers? I am not sure class is the issue - maybe time, resources and support are all they (and all of us) need . . . regardless of age, attitude and background.

But it does have to be said, there is an obvious difference in attitude - Coddy was just questioning why that was?

It is clear to see that many young mums here have bucked the assumption - reasons why are shouldn't be used as a for and against argument. Just a point of view and comparision - because it is interesting and provokes thought.

(Rowlers, this post is aimed at you personally by the way )

I'll run for cover after this one as well.

Fisrt thing, there are some excellent teenage mothers. There are some teenage mothers who are emotionaly ready for a baby and want them. I'd put a lot of money on these mums having 'normal' rates of bf.

However there are some teenage mothers who's babies are not planned and they are not emotionaly rady for them. When you think how overpowering the emotions (good and bad) are when you have a baby. I was overwhelmed and I had years of life experiences to support me, along with a commited dh. Many of these girls are little more than children themselves, and the babies are often not planned. Who can blame them if they are overwhelmed.

Bf takes a lot of commitment of emotion and time. It also means that you are wholey responsible for the feding of your baby. No-one else can do it for you. Who can blame children if they are not ready for that level of constant commitment in the hours and days after the shock of giving birth. I think it is amazing that any of them manage it . And all power to those that do.

and maybe it's simply becasue they just don't want to

Message withdrawn

What I thought was wonderful was the 'yongest dad' and what a wonderful family they seem to have.

It's all got a bit confusing for my poor little brain.
Gobbledigook, I think you and I were separated at birht!
Libb, I agree mostly that time, resources and support are necessary for succesful b/f. But is it not true to say (IN GENERAL) that those things are more plentiful in middle class backgrounds?
I am not at all sure however, that those things are all that is necessary. You have to want to do it and see the value of doing it. If there is no-one at home passing on these values and your peers are not doing that either, who is doing so? Doctors? Health visitors? Anyone see Eastenders the other night? The Miller family's view of the Health visitor was interesting, very distrustful. But I digress.
HMB, I think you've raised some interesting points.

Message withdrawn