Formula feeding from start?

[smilingatyou]

I plan to formula feed and wondered what you do when baby is born. As I believe if you plan to breastfeed they encourage that straight away. Would you offer a bottle feed straight away too or just offer it as and when. Plus for anyone who is planning to only formula feed will you still offer breast after birth for the first colustrum milk? Or do you plan to not offer the breast at all?

 

[Vickie]

I FF from the start and Hannah was given a bottle within 30 minutes I'd say of being born

 

[honey08]

i FF and morgan wudnt even drink an oz at a time in the first 2days, but soon got the hang of it,wether its breast/bottle they still have to get use to it x

 

[OmarsMum]

At the hospital they refused to give Omar a bottle & they fed him with a syringe instead, as they wanted me to BF. As soon as I went home, I started giving him a bottle, he used to take 1-2 oz per feed then increased gradually. If u try to give him colustrum milk at the beginning & then wean him afterwards, I think u'll be having pain until all the milk is gone from ur breast.

 

[smilingatyou]

At the hospital they refused to give Omar a bottle & they fed him with a syringe instead, as they wanted me to BF. As soon as I went home, I started giving him a bottle, he used to take 1-2 oz per feed then increased gradually. If u try to give him colustrum milk at the beginning & then wean him afterwards, I think u'll be having pain until all the milk is gone from ur breast.

Yes this is something I wondered. If I started breast feeding it would cause the ball to start rolling as such and then I could end up in pain. I really don't want to breast feed at all, so I think it's best to start off as I mean to go on and feed from the off set. It's refreshing to read some of the posts on here from other women who have stuck to their guns and have ff from the start.

 

[OmarsMum]

At the hospital they refused to give Omar a bottle & they fed him with a syringe instead, as they wanted me to BF. As soon as I went home, I started giving him a bottle, he used to take 1-2 oz per feed then increased gradually. If u try to give him colustrum milk at the beginning & then wean him afterwards, I think u'll be having pain until all the milk is gone from ur breast.

Yes this is something I wondered. If I started breast feeding it would cause the ball to start rolling as such and then I could end up in pain. I really don't want to breast feed at all, so I think it's best to start off as I mean to go on and feed from the off set. It's refreshing to read some of the posts on here from other women who have stuck to their guns and have ff from the start.

There is also the guilt of weaning at a very early age, and esp. if ur Lo prefer to BF rather than taking the bottle. My LO couldnt latch on, so I decided to FF from day one when I saw how hungry he was at the hospital who starved him for 18 hrs & refused to give a bottle.

 

[helent1983]

At the hospital they refused to give Omar a bottle & they fed him with a syringe instead, as they wanted me to BF. As soon as I went home, I started giving him a bottle, he used to take 1-2 oz per feed then increased gradually. If u try to give him colustrum milk at the beginning & then wean him afterwards, I think u'll be having pain until all the milk is gone from ur breast.

Yes this is something I wondered. If I started breast feeding it would cause the ball to start rolling as such and then I could end up in pain. I really don't want to breast feed at all, so I think it's best to start off as I mean to go on and feed from the off set. It's refreshing to read some of the posts on here from other women who have stuck to their guns and have ff from the start.

Can I ask why you don't want to breastfeed at all? Sorry if you think I am being to personal but I just wondered! xx

 

[smilingatyou]

Just personal choice for me and my partner and what we believe will be best all round.

 

[helent1983]

Do you not even want to give the colustrum (spelling?!) milk? Only this is really important.

I may be wrong but I thought even people who FF gave this first milk.

 

[smilingatyou]

Do you not even want to give the colustrum (spelling?!) milk? Only this is really important.

I may be wrong but I thought even people who FF gave this first milk.

That's part of what I was asking to get other peoples views

 

[helent1983]

Ok well my view is you should try and give the first milk even if you don't continue to breastfeed. x

 

[OmarsMum]

At the hospital they refused to give Omar a bottle & they fed him with a syringe instead, as they wanted me to BF. As soon as I went home, I started giving him a bottle, he used to take 1-2 oz per feed then increased gradually. If u try to give him colustrum milk at the beginning & then wean him afterwards, I think u'll be having pain until all the milk is gone from ur breast.

Yes this is something I wondered. If I started breast feeding it would cause the ball to start rolling as such and then I could end up in pain. I really don't want to breast feed at all, so I think it's best to start off as I mean to go on and feed from the off set. It's refreshing to read some of the posts on here from other women who have stuck to their guns and have ff from the start.

Can I ask why you don't want to breastfeed at all? Sorry if you think I am being to personal but I just wondered! xx

Before giving birth, I was planning to BF for a short period then FF.

I had a traumatic CS, & was in shock after birth. Above all my Lo couldnt
latch on as I have v. small & flat nipples. I was soo stressed out & didnt want to increase the stress by BF. Besides, it was very stressful at the hospital as they kept insisting on BFing, & refused to give my LO formula and let him starve for 18 hrs! This made me hate the idea of BFing.
So I decided to FF & I dont regret my decision as I have a happy & healthy baby

 

[Lazy Leo]

Hi honey, you are hinting heavily that you do not want to BF - don't feel bad if you don't want to do so for whatever reason.

I felt very similarly to you and even one of my friends said to me wth an incredulity in her voice at the same time - 'but surely you'll feed for the first bit, the colustrum's meant to be really good?' A very sharp 'no' followed with a silence ended that conversation. If someone asks you why a simple "I just don't want to" usually suffices.

You could well come up against comments with the tone that my friend added and that type of coment can make you feel that you have to justify yourself and if you are not comfortable why should you feel that you have to?

Smiling, if you want to FF go with it. You don't have to explain your reasons to anyone, except perhaps your partner lol! If you want to BF that colustrum at the beginning then that's fine too. Perhaps the best thing if you are unsure is to stay flexible, see how you feel after the birth. It may well be that you decide BF is the most natural thing in the world to you when you hold your baby and if so then go with the flow.

For me BF was never an option, the very thought makes me feel quite queasy, although I've no problem being with friends who BF (and most of them have!) Its absolutely been the right decision for me, my baby and my hubby.

 

[Vickie]

there's nothing wrong with FF from the start if that's what you want to do As LazyLeo said it's a very personal choice and yours to make. Hannah had no breast milk, I knew before I had her that FF was right for us. You need to do what you feel is right for you and your baby

 

[mommyof3co]

I did try nursing Landon at first but I wasn't successful so I did have that stimulation from him nursing at first. But from friends that didn't breastfeed at all they still had the pain from the milk coming in, even without stimulation it's just a natural process that still happens to pretty much all moms, in rare cases moms don't produce. So IF you want to try it and give that it's not going to make much of a difference in whether you have the engorgement when the "real" milk comes in. It usually takes a couple days to come in and it will start to feel better around 7-10days after birth. So if it's going to happen either way and you want to give it a try or you feel it's important for them to have the colostrum I would do that part. But that's up to you, not trying to push you to or anything, but since you were talking about the pain if you were stimulated Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

[aimee-lou]

Earl was FF from Day 1. I decided not to give any BFs as I didn't feel it was right for us.

How you feed your LO is entirely up to you - you could give BF a go, or you can say that you want to FF. Whatever you feel is right.

You still get your milk coming in a few days after, regardless of how you choose to feed.

And Earl was fed about 4 hours after he was born - he went straight into a 4 hourly feed routine all on his own lol he would only take 1oz at a time for about 3 days.

 

[Kit]

I wouldn't have thought that doing the first few feeds as breast feeds to get a little colostrum into him would created difficulties as far as milk is concerned. I get the impression that for the majority of people you have to work at it (ie feed as regularly as possible) to make sure your milk does come in properly. I could probably have stopped after the first couple of days with no problems whatsoever. It is purely a personal decision, but if you are not 100% against breastfeeding then it might be worth trying to do the colostrum feeds - you shouldn't have to worry about what other people think, but the reality is that people will question your choices and you might find that you are more comfortable further down the line if you can say "I did the important bit before switching to my own choice of feeding method". Again, you shouldn't have to defend your choices but you will probably find yourself doing so at some point - I struggled and only managed very minimal breastfeeding for 3 months and I still have had to defend/explain myself on more than one occasion.
Obviously if there is a personal reason why you simply do not wish to breastfeed then you must make your decision clear in the hospital and not be pushed into doing something you are not comfortable with. But if it is a long-term, "this is best for our family" type decision then I would be inclined to give the first few feeds a go. You never know, you might be one of the very lucky few who find breastfeeding a breeze and an enjoyable experience!

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I didn't think people who FF from the start gave the colostrum?

My baby wouldn't latch on but I expressed from day 1, despite not having very much milk I did give Ruby quite a bit of BM. I never had any pain/engorgement though, I wish I had because that would have meant there was milk there!!

If you are dead set against any Bfing, then I would write in your birth plan that you have decided to FF from the start, and that you do not want, under any circumstance, for any professional to talk about BFing.

 

[divadexie]

My son was FF right from the start as I had collapsed and had an emergency section.
He wasn't any unhealthier than any of the other babies so if you want to FF then do it

 

[kate.m.]

I plan to FF from the start.

Not sure why someone would think that a lady who has said "im gonna FF from the start" would be giving colostrum?? Wouldnt that be "breastfeeding for a tiny little bit n then switching"?! Not "formula feeding from the start", surely?

Just confused me is all!