Were you breast or bottle fed - and when were you a baby?

[SallyJayGorce]

Do you think it has affected your own decision in any way an if so why?

my mum tried to bf me in 1983 but gave up as she found it so painful. i think i was weaned at 16 weeks, suffered terribly with ear infections right throughout childhood. i was determined to bf my children and 8 months down the line with my 1st ds were still happily bf'ing. i'll continue to do so until he sefl-weans regardless of what other people will undoubtably say.

Born in 73, bf for a few days, Mum struggled, then ff.

Has it affected my choice? Well, my experience of bfinng ds was pretty bad and as my Mum knew nothing, she was unable to help me out. SHe is not anti-bffing at all btw. Unlike my MIL.

I was bottle fed (1980). Mum had complications and was induced, I was apprently very sleepy/drugged when born and slightly jaunticed and wouldn't latch on so she was recommended to start formula.

DH was breast fed (1976), MIL has said that was determined to fed him 'herself' (she's too polite to say breast ) as her mother wasn't able to as her milk wasn't good enough!

I've always planned to breast feed even before I knew how I was fed, but have some pretty big issues with the concept - for myself not the principle of breast feeding.

Mix fed for 10 months in 1980 - mum had supply issues but was desperate to BF. Mix fed my brother then managed to exBF the next 2 It definitely affected my decision to BF - but I had even worse supply issues than she did. However the fact that she had gone through it meant she knew exactly how I was feeling. She was amazed by the wealth of support and advice I got - she just got told to FF by most HCPs and her MIL

BF in '76 - my mum fed all four of us (I'm the second). She was told to FF my brother ('72) but really wanted to BF, and credits a fabulous midwife with helping her out at the beginning.

It has absolutely affected my decision to BF my DD - I really really wanted to (and am - 20 weeks in).

I was BF for 2 1/2 years (1978 baby) and vaguely remember my brother (1981 baby) being fed too. Not sure how old I was weaned, but I guess it must have been 3 or 4 months. TBH I think it probably did effect my decision to BF my own children in as much as FF never occurred to me as an option I would take, I just assumed I could and would BF.

I had a lot of nasty respiratory infections as a child but I think that had a lot more to do with living in a very damp, barely heated house with two smoking parents than anything else. I have eczema too but there is psoriasis on both sides of the family so I consider myself lucky.

I didn't have any concept of women having to struggle to BF and I think that was actually very helpful for me. When DD was born she was in SCBU for 3 or 4 days, after a lot of fighting I was allowed to feed 4 hourly for 10 minutes before weighing her and topping up to a certain number of milliliters intake. Luckily I had a good supply and once she was able to be on the ward with me I immidiately stopped topping up, again I didn't know that that could be a difficult process, thankfully. I went on to feed DD until 13 months when a combination of a drop in supply at the start of the second trimester of this pregnancy, pain and a nursing strike put an end to it. In other circumstances I'd definitely have carried on longer.

My mum isn't really capable of providing any sort of support and always s at me when I tell her that with hindsight I know I was very lucky that I was able to BF DD...

I was BF in 1980 until I was 3 years old

I really wanted to BF myself, but couldnt

i was born in 1980 and FF.
im the eldest of 10 and all were FF.

It has certainly affected my decisions to FF my own two. With DS i was adament i didn't want to. i was young an wouldn't have felt comfortable in BF him.
With DD 4 years later i wanted to try it but just didn't feel confident enough to. no one i knew BF and so i would have had no support network, everyone would have been a bit shocked that i was Bfing and i just wasn't confident enough.

Im a lot older now though and am certain that if i had another child i would at the very least try to BF.

was FF from about a week old, no idea why mum didn't continue BFing.

I FF ds from birth but wasn't influenced at all by how i was fed as a baby, i have ishoos with my breasts that i couldn't overcome

BF for 3 days then put on formula as I fed too frequently (eg not every 4 hours) . Also put in my own room in cot and door shut for the night as soon as I got home from hospital.

I am an extended breastfeeding, co sleeping baby wearer much to my poor mums confusion lol

I was born in 1969 and FF

Brother born 1973 and BF

Mum was 17 when she had me, wanted to BF but couldnt.

My DS born when I was 21 and BF

DD1 born when I was 37 and FF

DD2 born when I was 38 and BF

I always thought i was BF (1977 baby) but when I had DD I found out mum had only kept it up for 6 weeks. She says she was too embarassed to do it in public and that was how it was done back in the day. Likewise my nan says yes I BF your mum - for 3 months.

DD is 8 months and still BF. I always assumed I'd BF and was shocked at how bloody minded I had to be to keep at it the first 3 weeks. I suppose that's why i can't understand how they could have given it up so early after winning the battle to get started.

Born 1981, mum tried hard to BF but mix fed from about 6 weeks and stopped by 6 months. Suspect this was because I have an almost complete tongue tie which was not diagnosed at the time.

Both brothers (1986 and 1989) were BF for a while then mix fed.

I BF mine and both sets of parents (they are separated and both remarried) were very supportive.

My Mum BF me until I was 10 months old and I was a baby in 1987.

I initially mixed fed and ended up fully FFing when DD was 3 months old.

I think I maybe felt less upset about stopping BF because despite being breastfed I have always been sickly with a hideous immune system so it just helped me realise it was risk analysis. Not breastfeeding doesn't automatically mean your child is going to have a weaker immune system/asthma etc and vice versa.

My mum bf me in 74 and my db in 70- she closed the bed curtains with my brother and ignored the 4hr instructions from the dr - she had my nana's eg of bf 8 children and being the eldest she seen what to do!

It never occured to me to ff and I didn't realise that you could have problems. I think I had a bit of discomfort with ds1 in the early days and my mum just shoved my nipple in his mouth and sorted it out!
I fed ds1 for a year and my dtwins for 4months and mixed after that.
In retrospect I feel very lucky that it was the norm to me and that In had easy feeders (well every hour for weeks on end, but no hassle latching on or anything.
No particular history of allergies.

BF 1970.

Mum weaned me onto solids at about 5.5 months when I crawled over, sat up and bit into an apple

My sister BF her 4 too and so to me there was no thought involved. That's what's normal and what they're there for....

I was BF in early 70's. Mum didn't know a single other breastfeeder at the time.

I don't think it affected my decision either way. I would have BF regardless, it never really entered my head not to.

I was bf, 76 for a year, I honestly didn't realise it wasn't the norm then, my mum did it because they didn't want to spend the money on formula, maybe the credit crunch will urge more people to bf. It definitely made me want to bf, not very successfully (6 wks followed by absess operation) but my 15 month old is as big and bonny and healthy as I was, at the time it definitely contributed to my guilt at not being able to carry on.

Me ff 1968
dsis1 bf for 9 months
dsis2 bf for 3 months
db bf for 3 years!
I am overweight, dsis1 is thin as a whippet, dsis2 is overweight and db is thin as a whippet!
Seeing my siblings bfed definitely influenced my decision, particulary as all my aunts also bfed and it was seen as a normal, natural thing in our family.

Born 1968, BF - I think my mum breastfed all three of us late 60's early 70's.
She told me we were responsible for tit shrinkage .
I bf dd for 7 months and tits became ginormous, never did go back to normal size.

I was born in 1966 and BF, as were my sisters in 1968 and 1972. My mum said it was far more usual to FF then and she remembers the tablets being given out to dry up milk.

Out of the three of us I was the only one determined to BF and the only one to be unable to despite a huge amount of support in hospital and from my mum . I am now pregnant and really not sure whether I want to put myself through that again.

I was bf in 1974 - on only one breast as my mother had had a mastectomy and radiation therapy the year before...

I dont know how long she bf for though.

It definately influenced me - i was in no way going to let her down and that bloodymindedness saw me through especially with my first.

Bf in 1979 until I was 2. I think it was one of the factors that influenced my wanting to bf, but I would have been of the "I'll give it a go but not beat myself up" school of thought if I hadn't found MN/spoken to my cousin who lives a long way away but is a bfc.
(not saying this is wrong, by the way - just that it became very important to me once I was aware of all the facts.)

me bf 1980 for 4 months then weaned as was the norm then
sis bf 1982 but not sure how long for.

my mum is very supportive of my bf my children. my mil bf dh for 6 weeks then put him on formula, she doesn't really 'do' bf and i get the odd comment from her.