Breast or bottle fed??

[bearface1983]

Hi everyone. I am interested in what you're planning to do about feeding. I am due in September. Who's breastfeeding and who's formula feeding? I'd love to know xxx

Hi, I'm due November and I'm planning on breastfeeding, I tried with my first she was really small and wouldn't take to breast feeding and I just wanted her to eat something so moved her on to formula pretty quickly. I'd like to try again with this one if it won't take to breast I'd like to try expressing, hopefully it won't be as awkward as it's older sibling. The most important thing is that a baby is being fed x

Bottle fed my now 2 year old DD, entirely myself and my DH's choice - I had my reasons but won't elaborate. She's perfect and I will be doing the same with DC2 who is now on the way.

My plan is to breastfeed, primarily as I'm lazy and (if you get into a good routine and Mum & baby are happy) then it seems like the simplest option. (Before anyone chimes in, I also know it can be hard work to establish BF)

However, if for any reason it doesn't work for us, I'll have no qualms about bottle feeding! I'll research it too just in case breastfeeding doesn't work out and we need a back up.

Intending to formula feed but intend to pump out colostrum st the start. Bf just isn’t for me. I have lots of anxiety surrounding the baby and don’t have s massive support network. Bf just feels like another layer of pressure on me that don’t think I can deal with.

I am terrified of being shunned / judged by other women though.

I am breastfeeding twins. Sure they see the benefit but to be fair it's very convenient for me.

Breastfed my three DC so will be doing with this one as well.

I used formula from six months with DC1 and found it such a palaver, I'd much rather breastfeed. That's not to say breastfeeding is easy per se, it's just obviously there and on tap so simpler.

My worry with breastfeeding is how do you know how much they have taken? I think I might try, but have heard that breastfed babies are more likely to do the “little and often” thing and I don’t want to have a baby hanging off one of my boobs constantly (happy to be corrected on this!).
Also dp is a bad sleeper and usually awake at silly times so I was hoping he’d be able to do a few of the nightfeeds himself. I suppose I could try pumping to bottles for nightfeeds, so he could still feed baby himself if he wanted.

Just wanted to add it doesn't have to be an either/or choice. Combination feeding can be the best of both worlds.

@Ebeneser you look for the nappies. Midwives will direct how many wet/dirty nappies you should get in 24 hours. That combined with predicted weight gain will inform that they are getting enough.

In the early days you will more than likely spend a lot of time feeding. There will also be points where baby increases the amount they need (growth spurt etc) and will feed more often/for longer to increase your supply. It doesnt last forever and can be nice to have an excuse to chill on the sofa with a box set.

IME DD had more frequent bf and was much less predictable than on formula. However, once established its so much more convienent, it's always there, at the right temp and no bottle faff. I ebf for a month, combi fed for another 5 and at 6 months stopped bf totally.

Currently breastfeeding my DD. It is very hard at the start and if you hope to breastfeed I would recommend going to a breastfeeding session before you have your DC. Also make sure you have contact details for support groups in your area.
Having said that I now love breastfeeding DD . I agree with others all that sterilising sounds a right pain

Breast feed most definitely - I've tried both and would never choose to bottle feed.

My first was combi fed due to lack of support in Special Care Baby Unit and subsequently becoming a failure to thrive. From 4 months it's was bottle only as I didnt have the energy to continue breast feeding then giving a bottle anyway. Biggest regret ever for me personally but know I done my best.

My second dc was purely breast fed - it was hard in that first month BUT once established (and the thrush had gone ) it's a doddle.

No worrying about taking bottles / powder / hot water out with you everywhere and planning how much of each to take (as all bottle should be made up fresh for every feed).

Also means at night you don't need to get out of bed and go downstairs- just lift baby up and bring into your own bed

Breastfeeding gives you so much freedom once baby knows what their doing but it can be so exhausting and it doesn't come naturally.

I think their isn't enough truth / support to parents on the realities of breast feeding to be honest as the NHS is so stretched .

@Ebeneser Don't worry about millilitres and quantities. You just have to pay attention to wet and dirty nappies and baby's weight gain. You can't overfeed a BF baby. It's true that a BF baby tends to clusterfeed in the early weeks and it can be really hard to take, but it's important to let her if you want to continue BF, as it stimulates milk production. It's more than food for them though, it's also for comfort and closeness. So baby being on the boob all the time doesn't necessarily mean you don't have enough milk, as long as the nappies and weight gain are ok. And you can't overfeed her. It does get much better after the early weeks.

@Ebeneser

You know baby is strong enough the same was as if you bottle feed.

That baby gets wet nappies and good weight gain.

That baby is feeding well / alert / content.

Whether breast or bottle feeding you should feed responsively to babies needs so even bottle fed babies have growth spurts / fussy periods / may sometimes only go an hour between feeds or have reflux issues.

Every baby is different.

I'm breastfeeding.. Have been for 9 days now since my little girl was born last week had really good breast feeding consultants at the hospital and my Mum is a doula so she helped me too. Bottle was never an option for me!

It's hard but being a new mum is hard in general! It's totally worth it. And she feeds for around 20 - 30 mins and sleeps plenty inbetween.. Sometimes for 4 hours!! The midwife weighed her on day 5 and said I was doing really well and must be feeding her right!

I would highly recommend it.. The bonding is magical! my partners jealous he can't do it haha!

I'm breastfeeding my 4 month DD.

In a totally un-smug way, I have found it really easy. The only person who actually described there breastfeeding experience that way was my mum, this was amongst a sea of women recounting stories of how hard it was establishing breastfeeding and all the problems they had had. I don't often see eye to eye with my mum, but I am really grateful to her for not being negative about breastfeeding at all, it made me believe it would all be fine and possible.

This does not mean I haven't had any problems so far, but none of them were insurmountable.

I love it and hopefully will be able to continue until DD is 2 as per would health organisation advice.

My one tip, would be to give prenatal colostrum expression a go, I did, and up until that point it was hard to imagine my boobs producing any milk, seeing the colostrum I produced made it all seem possible. It is also really helpful if there are any unforeseen problems (or foreseen problems like c section).

@laurG I formula fed for similar reasons and was also concerned about people judging. The only person who has been a bit was a middle aged male doctor and given he hasn't given birth or breast fed I kind of thought his opinion wasn't very valid!

I think people hype up the judgy-ness - or else I've been lucky.

I breastfed DS for 2 years. I intend to breastfeed this baby for 2 weeks then combination feed if possible, or bottle if not.

@Eryri2018 I also found breastfeeding easy, which was a total surprise but I still hated it managed to keep at it though which I was pleased about as it's very convenient.

Thanks for the reassurance. I guess i’m just a bit overwhelmed by everything lol. I’m not due until October either 😂

My sister tried breastfeeding with her first, but got really stressed out about it. The baby wasn’t taking as she should and I think she felt pressured by the mid wife. Turned out several months later that my sister had post natal depression so I’m not sure that was helping either. For her second baby she just formula fed and she had no issues with him feeding and she was much more chill (and had no post natal!).
So I guess i’m a bit coloured by that experience as well.

Has anyone heard of the positive birth movement? They have some discussion classes on various topics starting near me soon and I was wondering if they were worth going to. One of them is on feeding your baby.

BF my dd and will be B/feeding this one due in September. Hoping it will be easier this time as I now know where I went wrong before (not attempting to latch soon after birth). Loved b/feeding last time once we got the hang of it. Was so convenient and one of my fondest memories of her babyhood.

I tried to breastfeed my first but she was preterm, under 5lbs and just couldn't latch properly. I ended up expressing for her for 6 months. I was determined to breastfeed my second. Luckily he was full term, a healthy weight and took to it straight away. It was seriously painful at first but now I'm so happy that I don't have to faff with bottles, it's so easy. With a toddler and a baby I'm all about the easy option.

Another here who found BF really easy after first 4 weeks of cluster feeding etc. Tbh, you are much more likely to hear of people who have had issues feeding than people who haven’t in my experience.

Fed my DD1 for 15 months and plan on EBF DD2 who’s due any day now. All of my friends where I live have all BF very successfully

Ebeneser I found that reading absolutely loads helped with the stress of those first few days- it made me understand that feeding constantly was normal, screaming and thrashing at the breast is normal. Latching on, pulling off and crying then doing it all over again was normal. It really reduced my worries. Basically if baby cries/ whimpers/ opens its mouth, shove the boob in and most importantly, if it isn't working or you don't like it formula is NOT bad or wrong and is in fact a valid feeding choice! (Unlike my ex friend who told another friend it was akin to poison there's a reason she's an ex friend).

I just wanted to say I had exactly the same experience as Ebeeser's sister. I also tried combi feeding as that is what our paediatrician advised but it's one or the other I think but op, you don't need to decide now.

I ended up bf dd for 2 weeks. Beat myself up about it for months. Bf ds for 2 days. At least I tried.

My DD is now nearly 9 months old. She’s weaning now and loves food (like her mum!) so we’re down to one BF a day, and then a bottle of formula at night. Prior to six months I BF her most of the time, with one bottle of formula at bedtime. That was the routine from 3 weeks or so, bar a very difficult week when BFing was very painful and she was having more formula to give my poor nipples a break.

I think some of the difficulty around BFing comes from the NHS being so keen to promote it that the early difficulty/pain isn’t sufficiently acknowledged. That and the “natural” language - it may be natural, but that doesn’t necessarily make it easy, especially at first.

I agree with a PP - find the details of your local BFing cafe, lactation consultant, La Leche League etc, and put them on your fridge now. Support is the main thing that made a difference to me. That and a metric fuckton of Lansinoh.