Proud to have breast fed

[Keepdlingwhatyourgutsays]

I will start off by saying I don't care if you bf or ff. I see so many posts where women say they ff but none on bf. they get taken down or people straight away think it's a dig. Honestly what ever you chose to do you do.

However after so many negative and nasty comments when I was breastfeeding I can say I did it. I didn't give in to the people who were nasty I didn't let them bully me into stopping. I was a younger mum not young young but I was young and I was still very insecure about a lot of things and I did not feel supportive.
I do remember once the first time I breastfed on the bus I did that thing where I assumed everyone would be staring and one elder gentlemen was and he just grinned a very kind grin and that kept me going through some of the nasty comments.
If you are breast feeding and getting comments from family or friends please ignore it because looking back they were just insecure (not everyone but the ones I New) or they are just plain nasty. Anyone who makes a nasty comment about that isn't nice nor needed.
But remember wether you breastfeed or bottle it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Online people get so angry about it but it really doesn't matter guys

I am proud to have breastfed and still be breastfeeding! Its hard work at times but i do believe as it is the biological norm it is the best start.

However, i dont think i am better than parents who formula feed! Its just a different choice and i dont know people's circumstances.

Hate these threads. At best they give women who are already happy woth the choices they made a little pat on the back, at worst a woman who struggled with post natal depression due to being unable to feed how she had planned has a far worse day than usual.

There s no need to publicly express pride in yourself. It's great to feel that pride, for your partner and family to share in it but why the need to tell everyone?

Mamma who loves wine no where in here do I say your better because you breastfed. People need to change there mind set your allowed to be proud to ff but if anyone says they are proud they bf they assume you think your better. No

I like my chicken fried. Women shouldn't click on here I made it clear in the subject what it was about and opening paragraph. Be happy with the choice you made 😀

I bfed DS2 until 23 months. I got comments about biting, but I taught him not to do that. Also a stupid comment from my aunt when I said I was going to bf until he was 2: "You are going to give him solids as well aren't you?" Er, yes, that's why it's called weaning.

And also the support it's given some people in these comments to share there good struggle and woes with others. I see many ff pages like this so please don't ruin it. Bf mums clearly as shown above need support to.
It's not a competition and no one is better than anyone.

i wasn't bitten often. People find it strange long term feeding. But the kids love it. I think the tv doesn't help but with people like Sam friaries and Tamara eccleston it hopefully will

You're very naive to think there was always a choice.

I FF my son after struggling for weeks with Bfing, I've been BFing my twins since birth. FF was an awful lot more difficult for me because of mental health reasons despite the twins being twins (!), premature and poorly at birth.

I cried everytime I made a bottle for 6 months, I felt like a failure because my body hadn't done what it was supposed to despite receiving some excellent support. 3 years ago just your thread title would have made me burst into tears and feel low for days. I know I'm not the only woman who felt or feels this way. Failing to breastfeed is a major cause of PND.

Of course your entitled to feel proud of yourself, there's no benefit in expressing that pride publicly though.

Totally agree with you. I'm also proud to be breastfeeding. DD was early and in special care so had to develop her latch and "learn' to BF. This meant a lot of tries and pumping in the mean time to keep the supply. It also meant I stayed in parents accomodation at the hospital and had to go to the hospital during the night as and when she woke to feed her.

Also had all the usual milk supply troubles/bleeding nipples and constant feeding when we got home but perservered and still BF at nearly two.

Whenever I talk about BF in real life I get responses like I am lucky I am able to as they had to stop because of a common BF issue like constany feeding etc.

I think a lot of FF mums don't feel they can say they just didn't want to BF or feel guilty for stopping.

I didn't make you read it you chose to there are lots of supportive ff pages. Please click on them as this is for bf or ff who want to poistvly contribute.
If you read this and only sure I'm proud and ignored all the rest then I can't help you

And they shouldn't feel like that. Bf mums should be able to talk about it and get support and ff should be able to say they chose to because they wanted to or had to. Luisa zissman for instance say she didn't because she didn't wa t to and good for her.
But it's nice to have a page for bf mums to express there storie pride and get support

Of course your entitled to feel proud of yourself, there's no benefit in expressing that pride publicly though.

I disagree, if you trained and ran a marathon and publicly said how proud you were you wouldn't get everyone saying well whay about the people who can't do it.

You can't control what anyone posts on your thread. I'm just advising you of the hurt and distress posts like this can cause. I'm not asking for your help, I'm actually trying to help you to be a kinder person

I disagree, if you trained and ran a marathon and publicly said how proud you were you wouldn't get everyone saying well whay about the people who can't do it.

Well I do think it would be insensitive to say that to someone unable to run a marathon or someone who had tried to run the marathon but had to stop halfway through due to injury.

Little chicken post what you wish we've already explained all there's no more I can say.
There are lots of ff and ff/bf posts.
If you want to see the negatives then I can't stop you. But this page is helping people who have struggled with bf and is clearly stated that.
Have a good day I can't answer you anymore.
Thank you for all the lovely comments and sharing your stories. U fortunately it looks like this lady will continue until this thread is closed so bf people who are struggling and have done cannot talk openly about there experiences way. How sad.

A breastfeeding support thread would be a great thing. I'm very active in my local breast feeding support group.

Support is very different to expressing pride.

Mumsnet won't shut this post down, it doesn't go against their rules. I just wanted to point out to you the harm you can cause by making some comments to a wide audience.

What a sad world where I can't support and reach out to breast feeders with out someone trying to "make me kind" as if this makes me unkind.
I've loved seeing all your stories and it's upset me some of the things yourve had to go through. I really hope one day people will learn that like making comments to a ff mum that it's a bad to say it to bf mum.

Please keep sharing your stories though and encouraging the bf mums who chose to do it by doing so.
And continue not putting any one else down 😀

I've not made any negative comments about your breastfeeding. You're doing a great thing.

You weren't trying to support or reach out to breastfeeder in your OP though.

@Keepdlingwhatyourgutsays haven't read all of the posts but the negativity I've seen is exactly why you needed to write this!

I'm a young FTM to a 6 month old and I am still bf. I live miles away from family and friends and so haven't had much support other than over the phone and from my partner. I am SO proud of myself for getting through the tough weeks and being able to keep it up as long as I have done. But I feel like I'm not allowed to be proud of it or speak of it for fear that FF feeding mums will go off at me for gloating or being 'one of those pushy bf mums' .. which I'm not at all!
He's had formula on the rare occasion that I've been away from him as it's been easier than expressing..
I just hate how it's now got to the point where we can't even speak about breastfeeding without people going crazy.

I see so many posts where women say they ff but none on bf

This is absolute bollocks. How many posts are solely people saying "Hey everyone, look at me, I'm formula feeding. I am so PROUD"

It's disingenuous to say the reason you are making this post is because there are scores of motherhood celebrating FF purely for the pride of doing so (as opposed to attempt to break the stigma around FF perpetuated by people who view BF as an elitist goal rather than a natural way to feed an infant).

Most people who post about BF do so for advice or shared experiences because it is typically hard work. Most people post about FF for advice or solidarity because they feel guilty due to the perceived (and by people like you, perpetuated) divide around BF and FF.

If you have really created a post to brag about your BFing in response to a poster who struggled, that's deplorable. If you have created this post so you can read the rightfully bemused or irritated comments and sigh "see, no support for breastfeeding mothers" then that is deplorable.

We don't live in a vacuum, we all know the scrutiny mothers face around infant feeding, so don't patronise anyone by pleading innocence or ignorance. This thread has no positive or compassionate motives behind it; you should be ashamed and it should be deleted.

You can speak about it of course. It's just the pride thing, ie the title of this whole thread which is misplaced

@tinykirst well done. Seriously it is so hard sometimes.
Keep doing what your doing. It sometimes feels like a long journey but so worth it at the end. And be proud of yourself no matter what. The only thing that matters is sticking to what you want to do. Don't let anyone else make you stop before you want to. You do what you want to do.
🤗 And be proud of yourself being a mums hard all the things you do you should be proud of.

I do feel proud that I have breastfed both of my children, but I would never voice it IRL for fear of upsetting someone that wanted to BF and couldn't for whatever reason. I was a single mum with my DD and just barely in my 20's so there was a few comments mainly from my family when I chose to EBF. With my second 8 years later there was no surprise at all from my side but a number of comments from the in laws which I felt confident enough to ignore since it was my second time round.

I have never received a single negative comment from a stranger about BF and I have been lucky enough to have had no issues at all either time I BF, but maybe that is why I don't feel it's appropriate to announce my pride? Maybe if I had overcome negativity and the many potential BF problems I might feel more as you do. I still think that if this was the case I would be reluctant to say anything about my 'achievement' in case I accidentally hurt a mum who wasn't happy over her own BF experience, because this is such a sensitive subject and mums face enough judgement as it is. I would never want another mum to feel I was looking down on their choice (or not their choice at all, just circumstances) by crowing about how proud I am to have breastfed.

Incidentally, I have also had a VB and a crash c-section under GA and I couldn't care less what anybody thinks of women having c-sections.

Women who slate others for c sections are just rude women who slate bf are rude and women who slate ff are. No women like that are wanted anywhere especially this thread 😀