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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

why do people bottle feed?

406 replies

stitch · 28/02/2005 14:28

first of all, i dont want this to become a slanging match. i am honestly curious about the reasons.
im asking about those women who do not even try breastfeeding. the ones who think that it is an equal choice between breast and formula. i dont want to judge anyone, i just want to know how these women can justify denying their babies species specific milk.
my eldest was mainly bottlefed, my younger two were exclusively breastfed till they were weaned. and moved to formula around the eight month mark.

OP posts:
Gobbledigook · 28/02/2005 16:13

JT - you've had me PMSL on this thread!

I'm with coldtea. Perhaps I'll start a similar thread on something I feel quite strongly about....or maybe I won't because it's none of my bloody business why someone doesn't choose the same option as me.

noddyholder · 28/02/2005 16:16

I bottlefed my ds he is now 10 as I was on strong meds following a renal transplant and didn't want to risk it.However other well meaning mums still asked why and even when I told them a few had the cheek to say well you look alright and you take them!I couldn't be bothered to list them the side effects and certainly shouldn't have had to justify it.It really is up to the individual and if your reason is that you just don't like it that is still ok.I have never known such judgemental views women to women

Gobbledigook · 28/02/2005 16:18

No way has jar food just got plain veg and fruit in it - how does it stay fresh so long without any preservatives then? And how come it looks radioactive and is impossible to get out of clothes?! I don't have that problem with my own baby food.

And, it tastes FOUL. It does NOT taste of fresh vegetables!

Hulababy · 28/02/2005 16:28

Much of the Organix baby food range does only have fruit or veg in it, mixed with rice, water, fruit juice, etc. There are no additives i them.

All ingrediants can be seen on their website .

EG

First Apple and Apricot, 100g
Ingredients : Organic Apple Puree (80%), Organic Apricot Puree (20%)

First Fruit Compote, 100g
Ingredients : Water (49%), Organic Apple Puree (15%), Organic Apricot Puree (15%), Organic Raisins (12%), Organic Figs (5%), Organic Ground Rice (3%), Organic Ground Maize (1%)

hatsoff · 28/02/2005 16:29

I think stitch raises a legitimate question, perhaps not worded perfectly, but we all cock up on wording our postings sometimes (don't we?). I have an interesting answer that has not been mentioned so far. Not for me and dds but me and my mum, iyswim. My older brother was adopted so could not be bf. My mum was absolutely determined that all her children would be hers equally, regardless of the biological relationship. I think she was scared, perhaps, of bonding with me and my other bro, more than the eldest. So it was formula for the lot of us. I don't know if this in itself was particularly relevant but her overall approach was extremely succesful in that I would argue to the death that my brothers are equally my brothers, to an extent that some people find hard to understand.

expatinscotland · 28/02/2005 16:40

Oh god! I'm the terrible mum who bottle-fed my baby, went back to work after 2 months so as to put a roof over her head and earn money to buy her jarred food. And come autumn I won't be home two nights/week going to uni so I can get a better job. She's destined to become a moronic psychopath.

Gimme a break! Are some peoples' lives so small they have n/thing else to be smug about?

iota · 28/02/2005 16:47

Gobbledegook - bottling, canning and freezing are all traditional ways of preserving food without using preservative additives.

You should be more wary of so called fresh chilled food which is usually stuffed with preservatives.

PuffTheMagicDragon · 28/02/2005 16:49

Can I just say that the name TheVillageIdiot is quite funny .

iota · 28/02/2005 16:53

more info re preserving food here

emmatmg · 28/02/2005 17:01

Q) Why do people bottle feed?

A) Well, I..........you know what? this topic comes up so often and always causes a fight so I ain't joining in

TheVillageIdiot · 28/02/2005 17:05

Thanks Puff - the name might be funny but I've posted on 3 threads today and killed two . Please don't let me make it a hattrick!

Fran1 · 28/02/2005 19:33

Hulababy - don't you think there must be something in there that keeps it fresh?

And i agree they do taste foul. I used to buy the odd one for when we were out and about, or on holidays, but dd never really liked them.

Fran1 · 28/02/2005 19:34

sorry iota didn't click refresh, so hadn't seen your explanation!!

Cod · 28/02/2005 19:35

Message withdrawn

MistressMary · 28/02/2005 19:41

I bottle fed my baby because he wasn't satisfied on my boobies, he was on there constantly.
I was tired ,stressed, hubby couldn't help with feeding him.
Next question?

mears · 28/02/2005 19:42

Stitch - can I ask you a question?

Why did you move onto formula at 8 months and not just continue B/F till a year?

Fran1 · 28/02/2005 19:55

lol mears i wondered that myself.

MistressMary, i think stitch is wanting to know why people don't have the desire to bf. You obviously did but things didn't work out.

Hulababy · 02/03/2005 17:42

Fran1 - think it'd be illegal (or something) not to put on all ingrediants, and to claim that there was only those ingrediants, if they was anything else in there.

Think I must have been quite lucky. DD would (and still does) eat pretty much anything, and she wasn't fussy it it was freshly made or came from a jar. Made life much simplier for me being able to mix and match what I liked.

lucykatie · 02/03/2005 18:57

i have bottle fed from the start with both my dd....reason, I just dont like the idea of it, no i am not against others doing it....just me.

i feel that if your not comfortable doing something you should not do it.

hope that answers it, i am happy to chat about it if you have any more questions etc.......BUT PLEASE NO ARGUMENTS.

harrogatemum · 02/03/2005 19:11

I have bottle fed my twins from 2 weeks old after 2 weeks of basically being awake constantly whilst breastfeeding. Dont think I need to say any more!

lucykatie · 02/03/2005 19:34

i just think...well in my case anyway, my body has gone through 9 months of hell, i have terrible pregnancies,i need to let my body chill for a while.
sleepless nights and all the joys of new baby dont help so its time to catch up.
god that makes me sound like i should never of had kids....i love them dearly but my 9 months really are bad....thats a long stor, birth ok though.

babylily · 03/03/2005 09:46

I was chatting to a friend who bottlefed her dd (I breastfed) and we came up with the following:

She envied me:
The freedom from making up numerous bottles every day.
The closeness with my dd
The convenience of having meals on tap
Not being made to feel guilty about chosen feeding method.
The much less smelly nappies.
Being encouraged to eat lots

I envied her:
The freedom to be able to go out for a few hours without baby without worrying about leaks.
Never having to feed in a nasty public toilet.
Sleeping through the night.
Normal sized boobs!
Being able to diet.
No mastitis, thrush or pain.

interesting!

Leogaela · 03/03/2005 10:16

Interesting point Babylily 'never having to feed in a nasty public toilet' - where do people bf feed when they are out in public? I know this is changing the direction of the thread, but.... I am keen to get out and about as quickly as possible with ds, but at the moment my mind is working its way around different scenarios of how I will manage to feed him when I am out and he is hungry. Do I act really cool and park myself anywhere and try to be discreet? Do I hide away in a dirty public toilet? Do I plan my trips only to last as long as I know he won't need feeding?

I think I should take the first option and am annoyed with myself for asking this, but I don't see lots of other women around bfeeding, so what do you all do?

Stitch - If I had decided to bottlefeed it would have been for the freedom and convenience both for me and my baby.

Beansmum · 03/03/2005 10:22

I have never fed ds in a toilet, and I never would. I feed him where ever I am when he gets hungry, but I usually try to time it so that he is hungry when I am sitting down for a coffee and a piece of chocolate cake! There is really nothing to see when he is feeding and most people don't even notice, I have had people come up and stroke his hair and still not realise! Actually now he's a bit bigger it's more obvious because the shouting suddenly stops but when he was tiny it was easy to be discrete.

Caligula · 03/03/2005 10:24

Leogala, the first option is the best one. Very often people don't notice you at all.

Can you join a bf support group so that you can meet other bf mothers and you can meet up with them? Then that way you won't feel so self conscious, if other people are doing it too.

IME, it wasn't possible to time it so that DS didn't need a feed - he inevitably needed one as soon as we were too far away from home to go back.