Any mums out there who simply chose not to breastfeed??

[YummyorSlummy]

For the reason that they didn't really want to? I bottlefed from the offset as I wanted my dh to do his share and had a bad pregnancy so wanted to give my body a rest after giving birth. Just wondering if any other women simply decided not to bf from the start??

I have just finished a 15,000 word literature review on breastfeeding and obesity if anyone wants to read it? No? Dont blame you - I dont want to read it either - in fact I want to burn the whole damn thesis .

Actually - I have just read a fab study where they managed to reduce the protein levels in formula and it much reduced weight and growth disparities. Interesting but off on a complete tangent

Leonie what are you going on about?

if that is the case

I chose not to breastfeed.I have absolutely no objections to bf in the slightest in fact i would encourage anyone who wanted to if they felt they want to.. I also had a emergency c section giving birth to 7 week premature twins who were in the nicu for 3 weeks which made it very difficult to breastfeed. (especially after losing 2.5litres of blood.)

I am glad that I formula feed. I believe that my babies have bonded with myself and my DH much better than they would have done if I chose to BF. I am giving the two most precious beings in my life what I believe to be a good start. They are both on specially formulated milk for there prematuraty. (by the way I am not niave and I work in a busy healthcare setting).

I feel that it is a shame that rather than equalising choice, all the good work that mothers have done to stop BF mothers being discriminated against i.e in public and the such like is being put to waste. As the same people that were discriminated against are now treating FF mothers in the same way.

I believe that there should be equal choice and mothers should not be discriminated against and I belive that this view is the reason that some mothers who do have difficulties with BF are meant to feel like poo when they do.

Anyway that is just my opnion. I also do feel a little sorry for the op who has been flamed for asking a reasonable q. I feel that if the q had been 'are there any mums who chose not to FF she would not have had such a reaction'

Anyway thats my tuppence worth!

Yes but if ur vigilant from the start about not overfeeding I'm sure this is unlikely to happen. I've always monitored my ds's weight against the growth charts and been careful not to overfeed him- plus he is such an active baby I doubt it would be possible for him to become overweight! He definately takes after his daddy there

Yummy Its not just a case of overfeeding but yes feeding responsively would reduce the risk.

I am very pro BF (but not anti FF). I think it all comes down to risk and benefit for everyone involved. However, the anecdotes 'my baby is fine' do irritate me slightly. Great, but it is luck. On average a FF baby will be worse off health wise than a BF one but that is an individuals risk to take.

It is nt a question Yummy of being 'vigilant'. Ababy can not regulate the speed at which the milk comes out of a bottle - hence a feed will be over much quicker than with a bf baby.

A baby suckling at the breast has to work much harder at different stages of the feed to get the milk she requires. There are generally three different stages of a feed - the first which quenches first and is quite watery and the milk gradually gets fuller and so the baby has to suck harder - teaching them to self-regulate.

That is what was meant by training them to not self-regulate, it has nothing to do with being vigilant.

but, Kaz, from your post it sounds as if bf would have been very difficult - prem twins, SCBU....isn't that different from what the OP is saying? don't think (correct me if wrong) she had any "reason" not to try bf, just didn't want to

My DD3 went to bed tonight without a BF her first time ever (well las night she did but I was out) I feel highly emotional about it. I loved BFing her and am going to miss it.

Anyway getting back to the OP, I know loads of women who never even gave one BF some it was icky, some felt too self concious, one felt her boobs were part of her body and not for her baby, some wanted to drink again, all their reasons and thats their reasons their business however sad it makes me feel.

Someone on here said they didn't BF as they had a toddler running about, I'm far from superwoman but I had a 4yo and a 2 1/2 yo running about, no family help whatsoever and a DH who works long hours and I somehow managed it, to me BFing was easier than all the faff with FFing. You do it because you want to do it IMHO.

Your choice, of course.

And of course FF-ing doesn't make you a worse mother, nor BF-ing a better one. Mothering is about a lot of things.

However, are you feeding your infant a nutrionally and biologically sub-optimal food? Yes.

Breast is not "better" than FF. It is supposed to be the normal way of feeding an infant.

FF is worse than the norm, ie. BF-ing.

There is plenty of well researched and controlled evidence for the "risks" of FF-ing (rather than the benefits of BF-ing).

If you choose this, because your infant has the good fortune to be born in a country where the water is clean, energy is available cheaply, and - should FF make your child ill - there is a national health service to make it better, then that's fine. So long as yours was an informed choice.

It sounds like yours was. Good for you.

However, don't spread myths (even implicitly) about BF-ing. IE. don't imply that somehow it means dads are less involved (they don't have to be), or that you can't drink, or any of this other crap. Because spreading these kinds of myths is what puts people off, or makes a vulnerable BF-er give up before she's ready.

Just say, "I decided to FF because that's what I wanted to do." Own you choice. After that, who gives a shit what anyone thinks?

your choice...

Everything Penthesileia just said.....

Tried to say the same myself about 50 odd posts ago but for some reason the debate still rages on???

And for those people asking why the OP is getting a slightly rough ride, it's because it's a rather daft question.

Given that the overwhelming majority of people in the UK FF rather than BF, then of course there are people out there who "simply chose not to breastfeed".

MN is not representative of the UK as a whole, so it just seems like there are quite a lot of BFers.

But don't worry, OP. You are not in the minority. You are a part of the majority.

The only way a dad could have been as involved as mine was from the very start is if every other feed is expressed which I thought would be very difficult for me, and Iv heard that you shouldnt express for three weeks, by which time dh would have been back at work. I wouldn't like to put anyone off bf was simply stating my own reasons and I have every right to. You wouldn't slate a bf mum for explaining why she was doing it- we're all grown ups capable of making our own decisions.

good post, Penthe

but you say "simply chose not to breastfeed" - it is more than a "simple" choice, it has health implications

a man doesn't have to hold a bottle to be "involved" with their baby either - what about cuddles, bath, changing, sling-wearing, playing with....

No, I wouldn't slate a BF-ing mum. And I wasn't slating you.

I was just pulling you up on a few things you said which are common misconceptions about BF-ing.

Yes, but we both wanted him to feed the baby- it is a big part of baby care and I can happily say I was less exhausted than having to do it all myself.