Anyone planning to bottle feed?

[messylittlemonkey]

Hi there

Just looking for some feedback about bottle v breast.

I bottle fed my DD who is now four. I had intended to breast feed, but she was ill at birth and had to spend time on SCBU. By the time she was returned to me a few days later, my milk wouldn't come and she was starving! Anyway, bottle feeding worked fine with her.

I'm now 28 weeks with DC2 and trying to decide what to do re feeding. I have friends who are currently breast feeding their babies and they seem to be feeding constantly! It seems much harder to have any routine with breast feeding.

I know the midwives will try to bully me into breast feeding, but I'm really not sure I want to. Then I think 'am I being selfish'? All I know is that I don't want to be tied to feeding all day. I have my older child to think of plus I think I might go a bit mad with constantly feeding!

Any thoughts?
MLM

I say have an open mind, see how it goes?

I had a good routine with BFing and did not feed all the time.

DD would have fed non stop had I let her but after 45 mins that was enough so pulled her off. DS only wanted to feed for 10 mins so it was very efficient!

i breastfed dd to 8 months, she's now 3.7, and now i'm bfing ds who's 6 weeks. like others have said, he slots into her routine. i can't imagine having to fit preparing bottles into our routine too.

i FF my 2 ds's and im pg with dc3 and have decided it may be easier on me to BF this new baby, less messing about with sterlising and making up feeds and also the at least i can say ive tried it as dc3 will be my last baby.
i had silly reasons not to BF my 1st and ive no idea why i didnt BF my 2nd, no support i suppose. but this time my attitude changed as soon as i decided to ttc, i said i'll give BF a go.

a relative said to me they didnt BF either of their dcs but had planned to BF 1st but didnt and then felt too guilty to even consider it with the 2nd dc.

i think no one should feel guilty about which way they feed their baby, you can only do whats best for you at the time

ds was breast fed and quickly fell into a routine of feeding ever 4 hours...... so bf doesn't mean no routine. Depends on baby.... Also he slept through fairly early, as did many bf babies I knew (and several ff fed babies slept/didn't sleep). Anyway, I liked bfeeding it was lovely....so obviously it suited us. You'll work it out, if you're realxed either way then it'll be ok

I totally empathise with anyone who feels worried about breastfeeding, but here's my experience... I was embarrased by the thought of breastfeeding (not sure why) but because of all the health benefits I was determined to do it. My DS breastfed 3 hourly from day one and I used the purple tube of nipple cream (can't remember what it's called)'just in case' and never got sore nipples. I ended up feeding him till he was 13 months, but was never comfortable feeding in public or even in front of family except hubby, and the friends I made who were also breastfeeding. I know that my experience isn't ideal because I remained a bit private about it but if that's how you feel it is possible to breastfeed! And possible to have a routine if you and the baby are happy with this. I'm preg with number 2 at the moment and hoping to be a bit more relaxed about breast feeding but once you get into your stride it's soooo much more convenient than bottle feeding - no washing up and sterilising etc. Good luck to everyone, whatever you decide.

Hello,

OP. Have you considered mixed feeding? Combining bottle feeding (with expressed milk and/or formula) and some breast feeding.

Our personal circumstances meant many health workers suggested I formula fed and I found there was VERY LITTLE support for me wanting to mix feed. Now, I understand about supply and demand and came to conclusion that yes my supply would be less if I gave some formular but that this was fine as the demand was less.

Basically I gave myself the option of breast or bottle and found this worked fantastically. I generally chose to breast rather than bottle as it was easier (and there are proven health benefits). You could breast feed while your eldest is at nursery/school then perhaps give a bottle duing evening or morning when routine is more required.

2 things:

Your friends who feed lots - prob would be feeding lots if they were formular feeding!!!! But no bottles, sterilising etc required!!!

Personally, with our misxed feeding. We found very little support. FFeeders didn;t understand it, breast feeding kept warming m ahgainst it. DD had about 70% of her milk from breast and had mummy milk till 18 months. Also nursry, leaving with grandparents was fine as she had a bottle.

Oh and somehting that did occur to me is that after the first couple of weeks, all 3 of mine have been very speedy feeders - about 10 mins max for a feed. I don't know how long a bottle feed takes, but would imagine longer particularly when you factor in bottle prep. So while you might feed little and often in terms of actual time it may be much of a muchness.

Also, all three have had the same basic upbringing, but all have had very unique and personal feeding habits. DD never turned down a feed, and couple be topped up before going out just to keep her going. Had colic. DS1 would feed only on his terms - as and when he wanted thank you very much. No colic and slept well. DS2 is a puker, and sleeps better than dd but not as well as ds1.

Just emphasises that every baby is unique.

Yes, breast is best but bottle comes a very close second. It's not poison in there!