Bottle feeding culture in the UK

[TeenyQueen]

This morning I saw a Facebook photo of my former colleague's newborn baby being bottle fed by her older sister (toddler). I suppose it was a cute photo, but I fundamentally disagree with the idea that anyone should be able to bottle feed a baby. What I mean is not just the baby's parents but all sorts of friends and relatives. Isn't infant feeding part of bonding? When did it become a 'thing' for siblings to feed a newborn?

I have three issues with this. 1. Breastfeeding mums are still being told that breastfeeding in public is undesirable and photos of breastfeeding are censored on social media (but it's ok to have pictures of bottle feeding).

1. We seem to be moving away from this idea that feeding a baby is part of social interaction and bonding between the baby and parent.
2. We're teaching young children that bottle feeding is the normal and usual thing to do and breastfeeding is not.

FYI the baby was in a completely wrong position for feeding anyway and didn't look very comfortable.

Any thoughts?

I have noticed that most of the woman I've met who have done NCT do go on to breastfeed, or attempt it. I wonder why this is.

I did NCT and did find it really helpful as it prepared me (and dh!) for things like cluster feeds, being pinned to the sofa etc, so we kind of knew what to expect. It also meant that when my mil kept constantly saying I couldn't possibly have enough milk because baby was always feeding (also apparently because I'm so small?!) we could explain to her about supply and demand. Of course the comments only stopped once I started texting her every time he was weighed, I think it helped her to see the numbers. I also found NCT really useful for bottle feeding info (I was undecided on feeding so wanted lots of info on both) they explained the different types, paced feeding etc. It was pretty balanced.

We did a private birthing class at our maternity hospital and it was a full day with just 6 couples so lots of time for questions etc. All of the couples there said they were planning to breastfeed and the midwife was able to talk us through different positions, how to achieve a good latch, using a pump and what to expect in the early days. So although some women here have said that midwives and HVs have tried to pressure them into breastfeeding maybe there's still a lack of awareness, especially amongst younger and working class mums.

@Parker231 it's great that you had help early on. Tbh I would have really struggled to let my MIL take over feeding DD. I was in a lovely baby bubble with her and although the early nights were really tiring I was able to rest during the day because DH took over everything else during the day.

MIL did come over to visit and DH thought she'd be able to help me, but she basically sat on the sofa with my newborn and I struggled to get my baby back from her. She obviously wasn't trying to be mean to me but she just didn't think how it would make me feel to see her walk away from me holding my baby (because she avoided being in the same room as me when she was holding MY baby). I cried tears of relief when she went home!

I’m lucky and have a great relationship with my DMil. She lives in Quebec and was still teaching when DT’s were born. She was good enough to give up her school holidays to fly over and help us. DFil came the first weekend but couldn’t stay longer due to his work. My parents live in Belgium and juggled their jobs with visiting us at the weekends. I was very spoilt by them all and DH.

It's a lot of assumption based on a photo!

How do you know it was formula in the bottle and not expressed breast milk?

Why is feeding only for bonding between parent and child and not to help sibling bonding?

Why do you assume that because a child is taught to help bottle feed her sister, she will think breastfeeding is not normal?
That's like saying every child who is bottle fed will go on to bottle feed their own children, without the consideration of breastfeeding!

It's good for you that you fundamentally disagree with the idea that just anyone can feed a baby. But it's not your baby and not your business!