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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Would you bf if there were no proven health benefits?

86 replies

dorisbonkers · 25/05/2010 09:36

Hypothetical question of course, but would you bf even if there was no proven health benefits.

I've been feeding on demand for 19 months and it's not all been plain sailing (by any means) but I think I would. It's shaped how I've parented my daughter in her early months, to an extent.

Sorry, I don't mean this as an insensitive question and I don't intend this to turn into a mega ff vs bf thread. I'm genuinely interested. Do we just put ourselves through this (it was mentally quite exhausting and worrying as she was prem and made me obsessional...)

OP posts:

Original poster

dorisbonkers · 25/05/2010 09:38

sorry ... "Do we just put ourselves through all this hoo had ...." because it's healthier, and that's that?

OP posts:

SoupDragon · 25/05/2010 09:39

It was free and always there on tap at the perfect serving temperature - impossible to leave home without it!

DidYouDoThisOnMyHead · 25/05/2010 09:40

hmmm good question actually. With ds then yes, he was a breeze to feed so I would have done just for ease and cost. Dd was a nightmare and I think there is a strong chance I would have given up had there been no difference between ff and bf because while bf is lovely now it had a negative impact on our relationship early on.

ABitBatty · 25/05/2010 09:42

Yes I would because it is so much easier than ff for a lazy person like me. Even if formula was free I wouldn't use it for that reason alone.

MumInBeds · 25/05/2010 09:42

Oh yes, I'm too lazy to make up bottles and get up in the night to heat them, and too disorganised to be sure of having milk out with me at all times!

(Okay, I'm sure I would get by just fine if bottles had been needed but breastfeeding was certainly easier)

electra · 25/05/2010 09:43

yes, because it's free - formula now costs £8.50 a tub

Kathyjelly · 25/05/2010 09:43

Yes. For me, although it took a bit of getting used to, the convenience was brilliant. No faffing with sterilising bottles and no blundering about the house in the middle of the night. No running out of milk when I couldn't get any more.

I was never the slightest bit embarrassed about breast feeding in public although I was always fairly discreet and no-one in my family ever pressured me to favour one way over the other.

I suspect I was quite lucky.

theyoungvisiter · 25/05/2010 09:44

Yes! I found the benefits of bfing (non health-related benefits I mean) far outweighed the hard work at the beginning.

I can see it must be a very different kettle of fish establishing bf with a prem baby though. I was lucky that both mine were term and after a rocky start with DS1, they both knew what to do.

Whether people would push on through the hard early days without the health-carrot, I don't know. That's a different question I guess. I probably would have - I strongly wanted to bf because I just saw it as part of how I wanted to parent, not (just) because of the stats.

Original poster

dorisbonkers · 25/05/2010 09:44

Sorry about your second, DidYouDoThisOnMyHead

I sometimes jealously read on here the ebfeeders feeding once nicely in the morning and at night, whereas my DD give half the chance would have me stripped to the waist and feed every hour given the chance. She's not been an easy feeder. And her inability to get fat in the early days used to send my mind into hyperspace. I became a very boring person. Glued to Kellymom, stank of fenugreek, babymooning every day, whinging about feeding to my husband in the evening.

My daughter, conversely, loved it.

OP posts:

juuule · 25/05/2010 09:45

Same as Electra - yes because it's free.

luciemule · 25/05/2010 09:47

No other mammals get to offer formula so the fact that we know it's the only way a mammal should feed their offspring, then yes, I would.
Obviously with a modern society, we know that ff is available but I would still feed the dcs breast coz it's easier, less faff and free.

Original poster

dorisbonkers · 25/05/2010 09:47

Oh, when I mean prem, I only mean 35 weeks - she went straight on the breast from birth so no expressing to start with (I HATE HATE HATE FUCKING HATE expressing, it made me so miserable and I could only get 10-15 mls)

I had her in Singapore and didn't have great midwife support and they all did the dive bomb latching technique which made me worry all the time I'd not got enough nipple in her mouth, even though there was no pain. I had to pay $$$ to hire an ex UK HV as a counsellor in the end.

OP posts:

Haliborange · 25/05/2010 09:48

If there was anecdotal evidence of benefits (health or psychological) I probably would.

If formula and breastfeeding were considered completely the same except for cost and faff I would probably breastfeed but for a shorter period.

DD1 was very easy to feed so she would probably have got a few months. She slept through early so it was just day feeds from 7 weeks and after that I might have stoppped.

DD2 was hard to feed (I had thrush, mastitis, blocked ducts and was miserable). I think I would have stopped inside 3 or 4 weeks.

There is the other factor that once I start I am quite scared to stop because I know it is going to be flipping uncomfortable for a bit. That might keep me going for a while.

SirBoobAlot · 25/05/2010 09:48

Yes - it is made for humans, and is there on tap. Would seem silly not to.

CMOTdibbler · 25/05/2010 09:51

Yes, easy once DS (also 35 weeker, but initially tube fed as he was ill in SCBU) got started, no faffing in the night, and incredibly close feeling

Poledra · 25/05/2010 09:51

I would probably not have continued with DD1 - we had a dreadful time getting bfeeding sorted out, and I really only kept going because it was best for her. She nearly went onto bottles as it was, but DH persuaded me (once by some quite brutal methods!) to keep on trying and we got there in the end.

For DDs 2 and 3, I'd have bfed because I am lazy and tight-fisted

Original poster

dorisbonkers · 25/05/2010 09:56

In Singapore a tub of Similac cost about 45 sing dollars, about 20 quid!

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Bramshott · 25/05/2010 10:05

Yes definitely - it's free, it's always available, and you can do it one-handed, or in your sleep !

StarlightMcKenzie · 25/05/2010 10:10

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NoSleepTillWeaning · 25/05/2010 10:11

Yes - convenience and benefit of always having the boob to hand to settle a tired/cranky baby.

TheButterflyParty · 25/05/2010 10:14

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kveta · 25/05/2010 10:15

yes, for night feeds alone, the first few weeks of hell were worth it. plus the nappies. I've made it to 8 months (well, will have done tomorrow) and plan to keep going for a while longer - but he's getting expressed milk and formula during the day whilst I'm at work and I am so sick of bloody sterilising stuff already. washing bottles take yonks compared to washing boobs

pamelat · 25/05/2010 10:58

No I wouldn't. I would mix half and half. I would feed during the day and formula in evenings.

AliGrylls · 25/05/2010 11:02

Yes - when I changed DS on to formula it was a nightmare. I keep on forgetting to make up bottles, losing them and then having to make up at awkward times (like the middle of the night). Much easier to get a boob out. In fact with next DC (providing no reflux) I am going to do BF up to at least a year.

hazeyjane · 25/05/2010 11:10

I have never brestfed properly, so to me f'feeding seems like the easy option!

But yes I would definitely choose to b'feed, and hopefully will succesfully b'feed dc3.

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