For the BF mums, why did you choose to BF, esp if you found it tough at first?

[lovealittle1]

I always knew I would BF to me there was no other option. There are so many benefits to it - breast is best for LO, it's inexpensive, it's convenient, it slims you down, baby will be more lean etc etc...... It is amazing that you can watch LO grow all because of you!! I knew that when I had a baby they would be number 1 not me anymore so if my baby is attached to me then so be it. I do not feel the desire to leave LO with anyone else so I can go do things without him.

That being said we did struggle from day 1 but I persevered. The hospital insisted I supplement with formula for no good reason I didn't. I kept at it. I have flat nipples so I have to compress the whole time I feed so I never have a free hand. I ended up with really scabbed and bleeding nipples but I just kept going. Each day is easier than the last. I am so proud to have come this far and I plan to keep on going. I plan to BF for the whole year I am off work and then i will have to pump so he can have breastmilk while I am at work.

 

[funny_face]

2years for me today and so glad I tried it.

Only the best people were born on the 6th

Happy birthday to us!

 

[T-Bex]

For me, it just never occured to me that I would choose to FF. If it's the cheapest option and best for your baby, I didn't understand why you wouldn't choose it.

Feeding for the the first few months was hell, but I just rationalised it that, just because it hurt, didn't mean that I should give up. I gave up smoking and drinking because that was best for my baby, so the pain of breastfeeding for me was just another part of that - you make sacrifices to give your child the best possible start - end of discussion.

And now, I really enjoy it - anything that lets me have an extra half hour in bed is good by me!

 

[Greta Chick]

I only managed to bf my DS for a week as I had huge personal, emotional issues with it relating to my past. I hadn't got my head in the right place when he was born and hated every second that he was attached to me so I put him onto formula as soon as I could.

With DD1 I knew I wanted to get over my issues as I didn't want my past to have a hold over me, and I was determined to bf her, so I started researching it to get my head around it and to convince myself that it was normal, natural and the best thing for my baby. She seemed to instincively know what to do and I never had ANY pain whatsoever, not once, not even at the very beginning. I bf her for 10 months, when I gave up because she began waking every hour during the night to suckle and I couldn't cope with the lack of sleep again. I did regret it after a couple of days but it was too late to restart. My DS was 3 when she was born and I used the time bfing to sit cuddling him on the settee and reading books or watching his favourite tv programmes/videos. I have the most beautiful picture of both of them snuggled up on me, fast asleep, DS 3 yrs and 4 months and DD1 a month old

DS had had breathing issues since 5 months old, had been in hospital with gastroenteritis and upper respiratory infections and he used to projectile vomit across the room.

With DD2 I was again defiant and determined to bf as I knew it was best, cheapest, easiest etc. And I didn't want my past to have that hold over me again. I started reading my books again and got my head around it, eager to successfully bf again. I had pain this time, which I didn't expect. DD2 wasn't opening her mouth wide enough so I got really sore and a couple of tiny blisters appeared on one of my nipples which was agony, but I've stuck at it and she's now 14 days old today and we're still exclusively bfing. It's getting less painful and now DD2 seems to open her mouth wider so although my left side is sometimes a bit painful, my right isn't anymore.

Sorry it got so long lol

xx

 

[summer rain]

I only managed to bf my DS for a week as I had huge personal, emotional issues with it relating to my past. I hadn't got my head in the right place when he was born and hated every second that he was attached to me so I put him onto formula as soon as I could.

With DD1 I knew I wanted to get over my issues as I didn't want my past to have a hold over me, and I was determined to bf her, so I started researching it to get my head around it and to convince myself that it was normal, natural and the best thing for my baby. She seemed to instincively know what to do and I never had ANY pain whatsoever, not once, not even at the very beginning. I bf her for 10 months, when I gave up because she began waking every hour during the night to suckle and I couldn't cope with the lack of sleep again. I did regret it after a couple of days but it was too late to restart. My DS was 3 when she was born and I used the time bfing to sit cuddling him on the settee and reading books or watching his favourite tv programmes/videos. I have the most beautiful picture of both of them snuggled up on me, fast asleep, DS 3 yrs and 4 months and DD1 a month old

DS had had breathing issues since 5 months old, had been in hospital with gastroenteritis and upper respiratory infections and he used to projectile vomit across the room.

With DD2 I was again defiant and determined to bf as I knew it was best, cheapest, easiest etc. And I didn't want my past to have that hold over me again. I started reading my books again and got my head around it, eager to successfully bf again. I had pain this time, which I didn't expect. DD2 wasn't opening her mouth wide enough so I got really sore and a couple of tiny blisters appeared on one of my nipples which was agony, but I've stuck at it and she's now 14 days old today and we're still exclusively bfing. It's getting less painful and now DD2 seems to open her mouth wider so although my left side is sometimes a bit painful, my right isn't anymore.

Sorry it got so long lol

xx

Well done you Hope it continues to go well for you hun xx

 

[summer rain]

For me, it just never occured to me that I would choose to FF. If it's the cheapest option and best for your baby, I didn't understand why you wouldn't choose it.

I agree, I don't want to sound rude but I just never heard of ladies choosing to FF before I came on this forum, as I always say each to their own but I just find it a bit hard to get over maybe because in my family there are so many long-term health problems directly linked to formula use also I did have to give formula to two of mine for medical reasons and I would have rather have not done. I also am a bit of a cheapskate lol and thats another reason why I BF; but seriously formula if you take the Aptamil one; is costing up to £20 a week in the UK now if your baby is having more than one tub a week, thats a huge amount over the course of a year especially for those on low incomes or with only one partner working and for those on benefits thats a massive chunk of your money; the healthy start vouchers in no way cover that either.

 

[Dragonfly]

2years for me today and so glad I tried it.

Only the best people were born on the 6th

Happy birthday to us!

few of my friends where born that day to I was a week before and my other half. We all have birthdays running closely here. Except Alex where we get a break to save for a big party then Christmas. Williams party was excellent! more came to his than would ever come to mine and they where all adults though, the kids in my family dont seem to play well but he was more interested in his cosy coup and digger lol

 

[hivechild]

Thats really good that your hospital supported you through the jaundice with helping you to keep BF and giving you the option of donated milk; mine sent me home the first night he was in the phototherapy incubator and insisted on putting him on a drip for 6 hours and giving him one bottle of formula which I still feel awful about. The underlying feeling they had was he musn't have been getting enough from me. The only 'benefit' of them giving him formula is through that I realised it doesn't agree with him and I have eliminated all dairy products from my diet very early on. They realised on the second day/night that the formula and glucose did nada to bring down his levels any quicker; and they ended up dropping most quickly when I fed him myself when I came in the next day, and they weighed him and he gained 3oz during the course of that day as well as his levels dropping significantly overnight minus the lights as I was feeding him constantly, so they had to eat humble pie. I had experience of similar with my eldest as well because jaundice runs in my family no matter how the baby is fed or how well fed and they just don't get this. I also had an outpatients consultant try to get me to top up with formula when he was 2.5 weeks to flush the jaundice out 'quicker' despite him having gained 7 or 8oz in 4 days, in his mind it wasn't possible a BF baby was getting enough food/fluids. Of course I didn't do it.

It made me a little sad for you that you were treated that way.

I was so lucky that I had such great support in the beginning, both from family and from the hospital and lactation consultants. When Ronan got admitted for jaundice at 6 days old with crazy high bilirubin levels they told me I'd have to feed him every x hours and then top up with ebm or formula after that as he needed to drink as much as he could to flush his system. I straight up said I didn't want to give him formula to which they said 'ok,' and went and got me a pump. I barely slept for the 3 days he was in there and was an emotional wreck! I actually cried when I had to give him a bottle, even though it had my milk in it, so they had the lactation consultant come in to check on me and give me a lovely pep talk.

 

[lucy_lu10]

Before my son was born, I learned all about BFing in my prenatal classes and the numerous benefits were too good to pass up! I never really considered formula anyway because the thought of getting up in the night to make up a bottle seemed daunting.

Breastfeeding definitely hurt for the first month or so and even after that I was still tender for another couple months. Not to mention the constant leaking (my supply was massive!!), most likely flashing my Dad and FIL , not being able to leave my son for more than an hour or two for months, getting painfully engorged when he occasionally slept through the night, not wanting my DH to play with them , etc.

Despite all the challenging times, nursing my son is the most amazing thing to me!! I love the closeness/bonding with him, the comfort that it provides him with when he gets hurt, sick, or is teething, the ease at which it calms him down ready for naps/bed, the convenience for me, the nutritional benefits for him, etc, etc!! My son just turned 1 a couple days ago and we're still going strong! I have no intention of kicking him off; he will wean when he's ready and since DH and I are trying for #2 at the moment, I may consider tandem nursing (I'm assuming he'll wean during the next pregnancy though...). YAY BREASTFEEDING!!!

 

[Kalah]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

 

[Kalah]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

 

[Feltzy]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

Mine does if I squeeze it

The other day Alfie bit me so I pulled my nipple up to see if it was bleeding and squirted myself in the eye

 

[Kalah]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

Mine does if I squeeze it

The other day Alfie bit me so I pulled my nipple up to see if it was bleeding and squirted myself in the eye

I wish mine would do that! I have got a bit of the fun I wanted out of it though, a few weeks into BFing my OH thought it would be funny to pretend he's a baby (even though I warned him to leave them alone!) he didn't think any milk would come out but he was wrong!! It was SO funny seeing his reaction, he never tried that again!

 

[lolly25]

I choose to BF all 3 of mine however the length and success is different on each. with DD1 i bf for 4 weeks , i was young , nieve to an extent an had lots of external presure to FF, and i broke down had very little support. With DS i cried and wished him to BF but he would not latch proparly so for the first 3 weeks he was exclusively BF and the combination feed till 3months then was soley FF - with him id gone back to college when he was 3weeks old and found it hard to express alot whilst away so milk supply slowly dried up. With DD2 i now know more about BF and with the trainin im doing know where to access support, know the benefits and im just feel more confident especially when BF out n about, i love it and the bond we have, we've had losts of exhausting nights but ive never thought of giving up, also im donating EBM to the milk bank also. The only thing im dreadin is going back to uni to complete my degree, i want to ensure my milk supply is kept up so I can continue feeding

 

[Feltzy]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

Mine does if I squeeze it

The other day Alfie bit me so I pulled my nipple up to see if it was bleeding and squirted myself in the eye

I wish mine would do that! I have got a bit of the fun I wanted out of it though, a few weeks into BFing my OH thought it would be funny to pretend he's a baby (even though I warned him to leave them alone!) he didn't think any milk would come out but he was wrong!! It was SO funny seeing his reaction, he never tried that again!

Lol my OH won't go anywhere near them, he keeps asking Alfie when he can have his boobs back!

 

[Dragonfly]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

I squirted myself in the eye several times putting boob into bra again, or drowing poor baby mid flow when he unlatches and falls asleep.


I called my other half over one day to pick something up and squirted him to hehe.
There really are hidden dangers to breastfeeding.

 

[lynnikins]

well with ds1 i breastfed caus i wanted to give him the best i could sadly when i returned to work expressing didnt work for us so he got move to organic formula,
with ds2 had bad latch and toungetie problems at the start which ment some weeks of exclusive expressing to make sure he was being fed i really didnt want to resort to ff so stuck at it and here we are 10months on still BF

 

[Foogirl]

The other day Alfie bit me so I pulled my nipple up to see if it was bleeding and squirted myself in the eye

that's hilarious!

 

[Srrme]

Ok I'll be honest here, the real reason I wanted to BF...
Was so I can chase OH around saying "moo" as I attack him with milk. I thought it would squirt out like a water gun! I was disappointed to learn it doesn't =(

Mine does if I squeeze it

The other day Alfie bit me so I pulled my nipple up to see if it was bleeding and squirted myself in the eye

I've done that quite a few times. I've accidentally squirted Elias in the eye too.