Whilst we are on the subject- Anyone in my camp - the ' breast feed but would really LOVE to bottle feed' ?

[ButterflyMcQueen]

I have breast fed 5 children with differing success

The first two not great - but chugged along mixed to 3 and 6 months

the next three huge babies - very successful bf until a year each !

BUT i do not enjoy it.

I DO LOVE bottle feeding and do a lot of expressing to enable this

I am pg now and said to a friend only yesterday 'i would dearly love to bottle feed it - if only from 3 months ' but i know i wont and the whole b/fing thing slightly marrs my parenting experience

anyone do is cos they know its right but secretly dont like it?

erm...no

Not really but I didn't love it, that's for sure. A lot of people say how much they enjoy it and I didn't particularly.

I much prefer the current stage (18mo DD) in all sorts of ways. Love parenting now [awaits next phase with trepidation]

Bf'd dd for 9 months, hated it.

Desperately tried with ds1 and ds2 - both prem, so there is me in hospital recovering from hideous surgery and major blood less, getting up every 3 hours to attach myself to the pump, even though my baby is in NICU and I could be sleeping. Weeks of trying to wake the baby, trying to bf, then tube feeding, then expressing for the next feed, washing up all the stuff, sleeping for 90 minutes till woken by the alarm to do it again. Joy. With both of them I eventually concluded that we weren't going to make it and gave up. And I'm still sad about it even though I love bottlefeeding. Aagh

Yeah, 18mo is lovely. Looking forward to that again. (but the next phase is fun too)

Bf ds1 for 12 weeks. Hated every minute but thought I had to do it.

Bf ds2 for 3 days only.

My SIL has bf all her dcs for 6 months and openly admits that she doesn't enjoy it at all, although she does find it easy (which I didn't).

aww fruitful!

I feel as weaning age is pushed back and back that the light at the end of the tunnel disappears further...i do manage it and have no real problem with bf but would find life easier - get out more and be generally more relaxed if i did not have to do it

when people talk about the stress of bottle sterilisation etc i dont get it ( i actually love the whole practicality bit of bottles! )

but maybe that is because i feel it is forbidden!

I always have a little chortle when people say "oooh I couldn't bottlefeed, its so much work". I spend 10 minutes a day doing bottles, I've timed it. And dh does a night feed, so thats a net gain, isn't it!

But the milk still stinks. Heyho. When they graduate from uni, nobody is going to be asking how they were fed.

Ds2 is 4.5 months now, I'm rather looking forward to giving him his first chip in a few months time .

too right fruitful i really agree with you

the dh bit is such a PLUS too!

I hated bfing.

its like an addicts support group...

Hi I am Butterfly and I hate breastfeeding

feels good!

I often wondered what other people did that meant they 'loved' bf! I must admit that I never really enjoyed it apart from the knowledge that it was the best thing for my baby.

With DS2 I also did a lot of expressing to bottle feed. Much more relaxing somehow but I'm not sure why.

I wonder if some of it is to do with the fact that bf takes so long. Bottle feeding is much quicker. I never was a very patient type!

butterfly - I agree! Not something you'd normally 'confess' to

I bf mine for 5 and 4 months respectively - I didn't enjoy it at all
The anxiety about it marred my second pregnancy as well as dd's early days but I made myself do it at least for a while

I've had times when I've hated breastfeeding - in the years I've done it.

I've also had times I've hated rocking my babies off to sleep, or having my children crawl all over me, or having to push them on swing in the park. YAWN!

You don't have to love breastfeeding to do it and more than you have to love cooking to give your child a homecooked meal most nights. You do it because it's best for them and because it's part of the 'job'.

way to go on missing the whole point of the thread...the OP totally made that point herself.

Yes, I am definately in your camp. I like bottle feeding because of the set times. I am breast feeding dd2 atm and although its going fantastic and dd2 gained 14,10 and 13oz the first consecutive weeks, I hate the unpredictability of bf. However, it does have its plus points like going swimming with dd1 and being able to nip into a cubicle to feed dd2 instead of getting dried, dressed and having to heat a bottle

I breastfed for 11 months but wish I was one of those people who just didn't and didn't agonise over it, unfortunately I'm not one of those so will be breastfeeding again with new baby when it comes even though I think it is hard, at times painful and time consuming and I'm dreading it, but can't wipe out of my mind all the breastfeeding information so will probably be posting next year agonising over it

hatrick ds may be a different issue!!

my dd fed much less than the ds's!

ds will have been ebf for 6 months in 19 days time and I have started eyeing up those little packets of ready made formula in boots, sometimes even running my fingers over them...

Phew! Glad it's not just me. Can't say I'm really falling over myself to bottle feed, but I'm really not a big fan of breast feeding. I think it's the right thing to do, and I enjoy knowing it's the best thing for DS. However, I just don't enjoy the act of BF (especially now, at 5 months when ds bites and wriggles and yanks my nipples about). I think it's right that BF is actively encouraged, but sometimes it feels like you have to enjoy it as a 'bonding experience'. I bond with my DS through cuddles, singing songs, pulling silly faces at him to make him laugh. BF is just how I feed him...

I enjoy bfing, most of the time, but I do sometimes think 'oh fgs, if only someone else could feed him just for one feed so I can bugger off to the bath' but he is only 17 days old and practically attached to me at the moment and has had two bad nights waking hourly

It's partly this scenario that makes me pleased MN tells of the risks etc of bottle feeding so I'm not tempted to just give him a bottle!

I really enjoyed breastfeeding for the first 3/4 months. I hate it now, with a passion. I'm in so much pain with it and the doctor/HV etc just dont care and offer no real support. I cant wait till DD is 6 mo and I can start weaning her.