Why can't we just all breatsfeed?

[pupuce]

Seeing the recent debates on breastfeeding, I didn't want to take part in the discussion as I didn't feel I could add to the debate but I was reading this and thought.... why is it that so many women who ended up bottlefeeding have stories of "not enough milk", "baby not thriving", etc.... so we have a BF rate in this country of barely 1 in 2 babies breastfed after 1 week (that's not impressive if you do know that breast is best)... why is it that the Swedes have 98%....
I am sure it's a combination of factors.... but it does mean that too many people in this country have a "wrong reason" for not BF.... surely many women have not enough information about milk production to feel that they truly didn't have enough milk....

OK - am I starting world war 3 ??? hope not

Acer what about the fact that BF is good for you too (not just the babe)... reducing your chances of breast cancer, ovarian cancer and increase bone density (reducing osteoporisis),... and maybe helping you getting back to pre-babe weight?

Having spent so long reading this I feel I ought to contribute. It is so interesting reading people's experiences.
I was only encouraged to breastfeed & started doing so, I thought I was reasonably neutral about it but when it all went wrong I felt terrible & now think if only i hadn't been in such a hormonal, sleepless state I might have managed better.
4 midwives gave me advice over the 10 days after dd was born & I was told totally conflicting advice, she kept losing weight & I went to a feeding clinic where I was told she wasn't latching on properly but my nipples were huge & would hardly go in her mouth, vame out all squished after, the advisor made me hold my breast out while she held dd & shoved her onto me...to this day I do not know how i was supposed to do that, as soon as she was on she'd pull her head away & suck on the end.
I felt a lot better when I gave up after only 2 weeks, but in retrospect cannot believe that was all I did, it felt like months. Makes me sad but then again she hasn't suffered.

Jeepers Cardigan - you love to preach don't you? I agree with Acer. Women should do whatever they feel is best for them. If bottle feeding was 'unsafe', then I hardly think the government would allow us to buy formula milk in the shops !

Actually moondog you raise a good point.... several women on this thread have mentioned breastfeeding mums feeding "crap" food to their toddlers... so THAT'S ALL RIGHT to say but saying that formula is not as good as breastmilk is wrong?
hmmm....

Cardigan's not preaching - merely stating facts.

how can you compare crap food with this?

Crap food doesn't chew your nipples off or cause you agony to prepare. It is well known that it is cheaper to prepare proper, healthy food than it is to buy crappy nuggets and microwave chips. Some people JUST CAN'T BREASTFEED.

cd - In sweden I feel that it's an issue of medical support, govt support in form of great maternity leave & benefits and lots of family/friend support on bf as there is more knowledge around about bf. Those that can't bf due to medical probs would also be helped perhaps with donated expressed bm if wanted (I think? - trying to remember something I saw on the internet on this) - in any case support for formula as well. With bf once problems are sorted then things go smoothly. In sweden lots of early probs , due to latch, supply & demand of milk are sorted before they become a reason to stop bf.

Erm, I don't see this thread as full of attacks on people who haven't breastfed. I think that's simply untrue.
And nobody has said breastfeeding is the be all and end all of parenting either.

agree with CD. People who cook processed food don't do so because they tried their level best to prepare nutritious food, but it didn't work out and their child ended up hospitalised/underweight or because they ended up in agonising pain/stressed/sleepless because of it.

the relevance of the processed food analogy is that there are many things we do that affect our children's health and immune systems, of which breastfeeding is a part, but not the entirety.

Thank you cardigan! Am not remotely bothered by any cricism however. Par for the course.
Bet you all would hate me, because I breastfed for years, have never given my kids junkfood in my life,don't own a television,always used reusable nappies and am as damn proud of myself as the hardcore bottlefeeders seem to be!!!

(Still travel on too many planes though, no doubt wiping out all the plusses, hey probably even the breastfeeding one too!! What a quandary.)

I really dont see that it is the 'poor' option just because you dont breastfeed, no i wouldnt say it to anyone else even if i felt it was true because it may stress and upset them and that isnt good for mum and baby either. And, moondog i wouldnt call you thoughtless just for travelling a lot, the vast majority of us use cars and go on holiday and we dont all beat each other up about the state of the environment (though maybe we should!)

Not eating junk food is better for society as a whole too why is this being competitive? Without a doubt, b/f is the best start for a baby, but if you then ply them with junk food for the rest of their lives, it kind of defeats the object. People are simply giving "feel good" stories because this thread, as you well know, is making them "feel bad".

Moondog, no, I think that is very admirable.

Daddypops, you can buy fags in shops!

paolosgirl
cd - full respect to you.

Quite the contrary, tbh.

I know a few people who bf but also smoke - seems they are only interested in avoiding ovarian or breast cancer but not so fussed about lung cancer then (for them OR their child)?

Bottle fed and back in my jeans after 2 weeks with ds3 thanks.

And what's wrong with making decisions drawn from personal experience and observing those around you? We do this for all sorts of things - we don't usually start reading scientific studies to help us make up our mind. And no matter what the studies tell us, there are a hell of a lot of people on here who know bf babies with terrible allergies and bottle fed babies without and that's perfectly valid imo. Even some of the people I know that bf don't believe it's made a blind bit of difference to their child's health.

A lot of parenting is about learning from those around us and close to us, using our own intuition and our own judgement and it's the same with decisions on feeding.

Not sure I have ever really met a "hardcore" bottlefeeder. Just hardcore bf advocates....

Oops, posted under dh's name!

Goodness me, Acer, that was a very personal attack! I think this thread has really deteriorated. I'm off to bed.

This thread was entirely construcive debate until 8.26.

Moondog, this is all moving too fast for me now, I've just read your reply to my unkind one. The point I'm making is that you can choose to get on a plane, you can choose to give your child junk food, but some people cannot actually breastfeed and I think it is unkind to ram it down their throats. Pointing out to someone unwilling to breastfeed is a different matter.

here, here, daddypops

sp constructive