How you came to formula

[3Cherubs]

Forgive me if there is already a thread like this but I am new here and didn't see one.

I am curious how those of you that formula feed came to your decision to do so. I think many moms are criticized for all kinds of things but I know that the breastmilk/artificial baby milk is a real big debate today as we are getting more and more information on the composition of both.

Does anyone care to share their story on how they came to this choice?

 

[Vici]

I wanted to BF with all my heart but after 6 weeks of perseverance and exclusivley expressing (first 2 weeks of this in hospital) I "gave in". It broke my heart to do it but I just could not find the time to carry on expressing, feeding and doing everything else i had to x

 

[Claire788]

I wanted to BF with all my heart but after 6 weeks of perseverance and exclusivley expressing (first 2 weeks of this in hospital) I "gave in". It broke my heart to do it but I just could not find the time to carry on expressing, feeding and doing everything else i had to x

Ditto, almost the same here.

been combo feeding, trying to wean off FF, but no arse of a health professional noticed he had tongue tie, and couldnt BF until last week..

I'm nearly 8 weeks, and lost it this morning, trying to do it all. Decided to express as long as I've got a bit to give, but going to quit BF and stick to FF

 

[Vici]

Imi only latched on on the first day then after a week tube feeding in SCBU she didn't do it again despite trying at EVERY feed for 6 weeks!! I had the milk there but physically didn't have enough time in the day xx

 

[OmarsMum]

Omar only latched on the 1st 12 hrs after he was born, then he couldnt. I had a traumatic emergency CS & it was difficult for me to hold & position my baby to breastfeed. BFing consultant tried to help & they starved my baby for 18 hrs to encourage him to latch on but with no success. His jaundice increased so they had to give him formula every 2 hrs at the hospital.

Tried to express at the hospital & at home but didnt have any milk due to the trauma.

 

[AP]

I expressed for 15 weeks, as LO was premature. The milk was either used on its own or mixed with 50% formula to help LO put on weight. We were advised to use this method as long as we could, she needed the weight and my expressed breast milk on its own wasn't doing the job on it's own.

Enevitably my milk supply dropped and I was really stressing. I had to go easy on me, LO and OH and finally we decided to move onto formula.

Whether prem or not, I will do that again. I will start expressing and slowly move to formula.

It upsets me that there can even be a debate about milks, as I personally have seen the benefits of both.

x

 

[littleblonde]

I have bf for 3 weeks. I loved the closeness. To start with i found it easy and i enjoyed it and LO seemd satisfied. But she has had problems with wind. She for unseattled and never seemed satisfied. BF babys tend to be fed every 2 hours. at night i was finding that i wasnt seattleing her for more than an hour and then less than an hour later it all started again. So we thought we would try formula and ease slowly starting at night. The 1st night she was more staisfied, more alert, seattled easier,winded better and slept longer (onlt slightly) she was more content. So i have put her on it full time. Im sad that i couldnt do it and wish i still could.

 

[aimee-lou]

We formula fed from birth. We had both decided (hubby and I) that this was best for all of us. Hubby could take his share of the feeds, there was a history of PND in my family and I didn't want to risk it, There was a history of hungry babies in my family too who drink their mother's dry and I just wanted to avoid that stress of establishing BF just to have to switch. Basically, it made sense for us to do it this way.

Earl has flourished, he is a hungry baby and while I know that milk supply will go up and down (I had the speeches from the MW while I was in the birthing pool!) with the demands of the child, I highlydoubt my little body could have coped with his demand for over 50oz a day at one point! I know we did the right thing, and I will do the same thing with Number 2.

 

[NuKe]

I bf only for a week. It got to the point where both my lo and me were screaming at every feed- I honestly think bfing for me was more painful than labour. my nipples were blistered and bleeding. It all came to a head at 4am one morning and I sent my oh to tesco for formula and bottles and havent looked back! i do feel very guilty, but poppy is thriving so it cant be that bad, and at least she got my colostrum!

 

[Marleysgirl]

I've been expressing since Andrew's premature birth until now - 7 months in total - because he could never maintain a latch for BF. I am now reluctantly giving up expressing on the advice of the Paediatrician, who is unhappy with Andrew's growth rate and wants him put on super-high-calorie formula milk instead.

 

[welshwarriors]

I was desperate to breastfeed and was pretty much set on the thought to do so until at least 4-5 months. I discussed it with hubby and he was happy for me to express milk so he can feed LO as well.

Well our son had different ideas. lol
I had pethadine in my labour which made him really sleepy, so he wasn't hungry after he was born. Several nurses tried to latch him on and gave up.
The next day several nurses squeezed my boobs to get the smallest amount of milk out cause he wouldn't latch on (my nipples are very flat). After 45 mins of squeezing and me nearly in tears we had 1ml
They released me from hospital with a couple of siringes. When we were at home I tried to express for ours just to get the same result as in the hospital 1ml. which was of course not enough for LO. After a night of crying on both sides, Mummy and baby, I just gave up and send hubby out to get formula.
The MW came later that morning and helped hubby to make up the 1st bottle, LO drank in mins and demanded more.
The MW told me not to worry and that the main thing was that Mummy and Baby are happy, but I felt like such a failure.

Now, that we are thinking about #2 of course bf is on my mind again and I must say I'm gonna give it a good go again, but won't let anybody put me in so much pain again by squeezing my boobs until I could see their bloody fingerprints on them. I would stop that much earlier and go to the bottle instead.

 

[Nic1107]

I had every intention of breastfeeding and hadn't bought any bottles or formula before Carmen was born, but when she came out she had other ideas. I have very flat nipples and Carmen was a "lazy" feeder; she never once latched on despite the efforts of two lactation consultants. She hated being held against my chest, screamed when I tried to hold her to my side, panicked when I tried to feed her lying on my side. I expressed for her for a couple weeks, but inevitably had to supplement with formula as my milk started running low; now we've switched over completely.

 

[c1reid]

I BF but cole started cluster feeding at evenings so was spending my nights on couch from dinnertime till near midnight just constantly feeding him,i was finding it hard (have DD and she needed my attention too) so OH went and bought formula one night but i cried when he came in with it so knew wasnt ready to stop BF,a week later tho i decided one night to try him on formula,he took 3 5oz bottles during his cluster feeding time and seemed more settled and my boobs had a well deserved rest,the next morning i continued BF as felt recharged and as much as was good having that few hours off i wasnt ready to stop BF..Unfortunately that day he got taken into hospital and spent 2 weeks there,i BF him in there but as the 2 weeks went on i was getting more emotionally/physically drained, he was feeding every 2 hours and when on the boob was agaitated,extremely fussy and pulling at me (seriously ouch). The nurses were gently persuading me to let them feed him with a bottle to give me a rest but i felt i was failing him stopping BF at a time he needed it the most but i also knew he wasnt getting what he needed from me either so i combine fed him the last few days in there and when i got home FF. I regret stopping BF and wish id stuck it out but at the same time i did what i felt was best for both of us,it was a really stressful time,i wasnt eating and that wouldnt have been helping my milk supply either. I miss the closeness of BF and half of me was seriously thinking of going back to it but at the same time even before the stay in hospital i had been doubting if i could stick it out when it got hard so i know would feel like that again and its not fair on him for me to be changing my mind all the time. He loves his bottle,he's putting on same amount of weight and is on a great routine so im hoping i did the best thing.

 

[eldar]

The stories on here make me feel much better - I too intended to BF, for as long as possible - maybe even a year was in my mind but at least until weaning.

However, nothing prepared me for how hard and emotional it would be. At 5 weeks I began combination feeding as I was getting PND from the constant feeding and the draining effect of a serious lack of sleep. My husband wanted to help and felt powerless, in combination feeding I suddenly got a much calmer happier baby after a bottle.

I'm now at 13 weeks/ 3 months and I am stopping BF all together and swapping to only FF. I have found combination feeding still very draining as the BF can be very hit and miss for amounts and timings - I still spend the whole of the morning BF and am up in the night twice.

It's been a hard decision to stop BF but my baby is happy on FF, we need to get into a routine for both me and her, as well as for us as a family. My husband knows how much BF meant to me and how I loved the closeness of it. He has said that decided to stop BF for the family happiness is the most unselfish thing I can do and I love him for his support.

 

[hellohefalump]

I'm on medication I can't breastfeed on.

 

[jamielou]

I managed to express bottles of colostrum so he could get some good stuff but my jerks from my epilepsy weren't controlled after i had my son and they get worse (usually ending in a tonic clonic seizure) if i haven't had a proper nights sleep or wake too often or in "clusters" i didn't have any trouble though and now my fits are controlled properly (havent had any for months!) and if i had another baby i defintely would Though i have nothing against FF babies as my baby is thriving and had one sniffle since he was born and being a breast fed child meself i ended up with more health problems and getting colds all the time and my brother who was FF ended up with nothing, grr!

 

[Lullaby2009]

I had a horrific pregnancy and apparently this prevented a particular hormone from activating, which meant I didn't produce any colostrum or milk, so despite wanting to bf, I couldn't

 

[jen26267]

I breast-fed for 10 weeks until I went back to work. I really enjoyed breastfeeding and would have continued if not for having to go back to work. I have a stressful job and need a decent sleep, so decided not to combination feed so OH could share night feeds.

 

[bethy1512]

i have exclusively breast fed for nearly 12 weeks... i have decided to stop after discussion with the HV. Isobelle is a very tall baby , her lenght is basically off the chart (daddys genes) and although she has perfect weight gain at every appointment, it is still "underweight" in proportion to her height. she is very hungry feeding every 2 hours from 8am - 8pm, then waking twice in the night. its become quite draining, and is stressing us both out. I was determined to make it to the 3 month mark and now that im here i feel no guilt in switching to FF as i feel we struggled on for as long as we could, and alot longer than the HV expected us too. xxx


now that isobelle is on formula she is taking 6-7 ounces ever 4 ish hours thoughout the day and almost sleeping thru the night, and her weiht gain is improving. xx

 

[gemsio]

i wanted to bf but as some of the other ladies on here i had an emergency c section due to pre eclsmpsia, which meant my lo was prem, and too weak to latch on, i expressed for three weeks, but it was so much hassle, and she wasn't thriving. I started bottle feeding mainly out of worry that wasn't gaining weight.