Should I give BF a go for baby?

[PayingMyWayYouSay]

DH is really wanting me to do it for the baby. He has outlined the benefits and is keen I BF because he says my only real reason for wanting to not BF is better routine/sleep. He is correct.

To me, these BF studies aren't long term and show no real evidence about development etc. However, I do wonder about mouth and speech development? Midwife is adamant their jaws or something form better with BF.

I want to formula feed. I think (generally), children who are FF sleep better. I know there are rubbish sleepers full stop, but more often than not a baby will sleep better with formula providing they don't have something like colic etc. I did read a few studies on this. Will try and get the links

I think settling DS might be easier with formula too? BF is all very milk machine maker, on demand 24/7 etc.

I just don't fancy it. Is that selfish of me?

I'm more than happy to give him the colostrum for a few days

It's a lot easier to go from BF to FF than the other way around, so I would say worth giving it a go. I have EBF both of mine, and one was a terrible sleeper, the other slept right through from 8 weeks old!
There are obviously pros and cons to both. Of course, with BF, you do all the feeds yourself, with no help from anyone, but I used to find I dropped off very easily afterwards (I'm sure I read that BF at night produces hormones to make the mother sleepy as well). But I didn't feel at the time I would have managed to stumble downstairs to make up a bottle, and taking the baby into my bed was so easy.
This is not meant to be a biased post, it's solely based on my experience (which was that BF was easy, and wonderful!!)

Anecdotally I would agree that FF babies seem to sleep better. There are biological reasons why babies wake regularly and bfing is the biological norm, so it makes sense I suppose. Bear in mind there will always be sleep regressions, teething etc and sleep can and will go to pot at times! It probably won't be a magic bullet but it will probably help.

There are some small but statistically significant benefits for mother and baby. It is however true that by age 5 you couldn't pick the bf or ff children out of a line up.

Ultimately, it's nobody's choice to make but yours.

Reasons I breastfeed-

It's an amazing bond between you and baby that no-one else gets
It's free
It's on tap instantly when baby needs it
It convenient- no need to take bottles out and about
It settles baby instantly. I can give him just a little bit to calm him when he is upset whereas I would need to make a full bottle.
It's a comfort even when baby isn't hungry

You could mix feed and use formula at next get if you really think Baby will sleep better.

I was able to BF with routine. My first would feed every 3 hours. Slept feed to feed and would sleep from 11pm to 5am from around 9 weeks.

My second was a little bit more difficult so so didn't BF for as long. LO also fed every 3-4 hours and was a great sleeper at night. There were days of feeding on demand during a growth spurt.

If I were you I would probably just give it a go. If it works, great! If you find you want to try FF, go for it.

Most important is a happy mother for a happy baby.

Your baby, your body - you decide. Your DH gets to decide whether to BF or not as soon as his body is involved in that

I'd suggest to you to go it one feed at a time - you said you were quite happy to give colostrum for a few days: great! Do that and simply see how you get on.

I have FF, BF and mix-fed to varying degrees my 4 DSs.
I did not like BFing but felt it was important. I had it cracked by the time DS3 came along - he still got occasional FF but purely for convenience. I got through the difficult bits by telling myself 'just this next feed, then we'll see'. Somehow I got to around a year for him and his younger brother.

We are lucky to live in the West with a reliable source of FF and clean water. We have a choice how to feed our babies and chances are they will be well.

I did very much enjoy the lack of faff re sterilisation and packing bottles and stuff when going out - I used to have one nappy and a small pack of wipes in my handbag and we were off, milk on tap.

Do whatever you want and tell your DH 'calm down, dear'

Oh, and I found that there was NO relationship whatsoever how my DSs slept - the best sleepier was the 31 week preemie DS2 who I expressed BM for

I breastfeed my baby because I'm lazy........
As long as you are with baby it gives you so much more freedom, nappies, wipes and a change of clothes and you're good to go. Wouldn't even know what to carry if formula feeding, but I'm sure I'd forget something vital!

I really needed this thread. I'm fighting a battle in my own head about BF. My son was FF (Aptimil for 8 weeks and prescription dairy free after that). It was great at the time. I had PND and it was good that I could get help. My son did sleep absolutely brilliantly and his development is fantastic. He's very bright and very clever, with fantastic speech at two and a half. For these reasons, I have no regrets. With that in mind, I do know that BF is absolutely better but I'm so worried about the demand. I'm worried that my mental health will suffer as it did with DS. I feel so nervous about it. I feel nervous about feeding in public or even being around family members. I have big hurdles to jump but I'm really hoping I can. Did anyone else feel like this?

When you have a newborn the most important thing is that you do what is best for you as a happy mum=happy baby. You will only know whether that is bf or ff once baby is here.

For what it's worth I was surprised at how convenient bf'ing was - no preparing bottles etc. Esp in middle of night. I also had a fantastic sleeper but I think sleep depends more on the child and your routine not how you feed them.

Hanna - I totally shared your concearns. I hated feeding in public and in front of family but I learned to feed reasonably discreetly and after a couple of weeks I got used to it and was able to relax and found BF so easy and hasstle free. I can also calm my crying baby really quickly by breast feeding him which really helps my MH - a crying baby waiting for food really upset me.