Is FF a pain in the arse? Or is it a bit easier?

[manchester1]

Just will add my 2 cents - I've been exclusively pumping for ages now which is like the worst of both worlds, so FF is much easier for me. My LO gets 1-2 bottles of BM now and the rest is formula. My supply dropped rapidly after putting her on formula so do be prepared for that possibility.

i exclusively expressed for 6 weeks and that a nightmare, well done for doing it for 6months!

 

[Nicoleoleole]

I breastfed my daughter for 28 months without a drop of formula (just recently weaned a couple days ago). It gets lonely, and you're the only one who can feed them night and day.
BUT you get so much more sleep, it's easier and faster, and no bottles when you go out! Just diapers!

My son, however, had a tongue and lip tie cut and couldn't Breastfeed AT ALL at 2 months old. I was suddenly thrown into the world of bottles... Something I've never done.

Washing bottles suck. Your baby is breastfed, so chances are, until baby is used to a bottle routine, baby will drink way more than 5/6 bottles a day (my son drank 20 the first couple days-- I was super exhausted, and even at 3 weeks of bottles, he takes 10 - 15 bottles (anywhere from a half f an ounce to 3oz).

Sterilizing, paying money on formula, changing formula if it doesn't work with your baby, finding the right bottles, etc.

Your hormones get a bit crazy as your milk dries...

HOWEVER, I do enjoy knowin exactly how much he eats, that others can feed him, and that his feeds are way more spaced out than his or his sisters have ever been (she fed every 1.5 hours until she was 14 or 16ish months?) and he fed every 45 minutes.


Both have pros and cons, it's just up to the individual.

(Oh, and if I had a choice, I would bottle feed breastmilk lol nice in between).

 

[Vickie]

The biggest con for me is the wait time between when he wants a bottle and when it's warm enough for him (he likes them really warm and will refuse it if it's not warm enough never had that issue with my daughter!).

The biggest pro for me was that hubby did all the night feeds with DS so I was able to get enough sleep to deal with both kids the next day. But this really isn't an issue now that he goes from 10ish to 6ish without a bottle. We never did allow anyone other than the two of us to feed either of our kids.........I always felt it was something for us alone.

Washing can be a PITA, especially if we are out all day. The most annoying part of the washing though is that my bottles have to be thoroughly dry before I can make them up (otherwise they leak!) so I need to make sure to have them completely washed and sterilized well before I'm ready to make the bottles

 

[Mummythree]

In some ways formula/bottle feeding is easier. but weather your bottlefeeding or breastfeeding its only easy if everything is going well with feeding. both can be hard work. i bottlefed dd1 and had no probs with feeding so yeah in a way it was easy, however as a single mum at the time i had to do every feed. but i would have had to do that whichever way i fed.
with dd2 i breastfed but had so many probs for first few months so that was hard.
with ds i breastfed at first till i had no choice to stop so that was hard what we went through with bfing and then when we ff everything was great till 12weeks then ds got reflux. so thats been hard.

so either can be easy if its going well. same way if theres probs both can be hard. good luck

 

[HellBunny]

Yeah the only faff for me is when you have been out all day (and taken about 5 bottles) when you get back you have to do the bottle washing/sterilizing/making up, where as if i was still BF there wouldn't be any of that. Saying that its a ten minute job, and overall isn't that time consuming compared to when i was Bfing.

 

[dizz]

Yeah the only faff for me is when you have been out all day (and taken about 5 bottles) when you get back you have to do the bottle washing/sterilizing/making up, where as if i was still BF there wouldn't be any of that. Saying that its a ten minute job, and overall isn't that time consuming compared to when i was Bfing.

Unless you go out for the day and get back to find the dogs have eaten your bottle brush! (yes this really happened and I was picking bristles out of his arse for days!)

 

[sandilion]

Unless you go out for the day and get back to find the dogs have eaten your bottle brush! (yes this really happened and I was picking bristles out of his arse for days!)

Ha!!!

 

[Sarachka]

Yeah the only faff for me is when you have been out all day (and taken about 5 bottles) when you get back you have to do the bottle washing/sterilizing/making up, where as if i was still BF there wouldn't be any of that. Saying that its a ten minute job, and overall isn't that time consuming compared to when i was Bfing.

Unless you go out for the day and get back to find the dogs have eaten your bottle brush! (yes this really happened and I was picking bristles out of his arse for days!)

omg lol! I really agree with you that it isn't as much faff as it's made out to be.

I can only tell you my experience and my opinion. I BFed for the first 3 months and it was always quite a challenge. She had a posterior tongue tie which the NHS wouldn't snip bc they don't do posterior ones. She'd want to cluster feed alllllllllll evening every evening. I never ever felt like she was getting enough or satisfied and he weighted dropped a whole pound after she was born. Took her almost 5 weeks to regain her birth weight. So I never had a really happy, positive relationship with BFing that some women have. It was always a source of anxiety.

At 3 months old I was really ready to be done with it but was just trundling along. She was having 1 bottle a night most nights by that point bc it seemed to help her sleep from 11pm to 6:30/ 7amish which was good at that stage! Then I was really ill for 10 days and hospitalised with acute Cholecystitis, inflammation of the gallbladder due to my gallstones. I couldn't move without pain and so BFing was just too tall an order when I felt so rough, so it was then that she moved totally on to bottles. After coming out of hospital I tried for a few weeks to keep my supply going just in case I regretted it but I soon realised that I didn't miss it at all!

I really don't find it a hassle at all! I have 5 bottles and she has 4-5 feeds a day so I only need to wash once in the evening. Takes a few minutes. Then I pop them in the microwave steriliser which is the easiest place to store them as it keeps them all together with a lid on. Doesn't take me 30 seconds to pop them in the and hit "6 minutes" and let them go round. Now it's easy to predict when she's going to be hungry so it's easy to boil the kettle and make it in advance, and cool it in some water with ice. I never have a baby crying for a bottle and waiting for it to cool down. Especially now she eats breakfast, it can be cooling down as she eats brekkie. I actually enjoy washing the bottles as I find it a nice Mummy ritual. When I go out I put together the bottles, teats, lids etc from the steriliser and put them in my bag along with a few cartons and I can go out all day, not having to worry about nursing in public or finding somewhere private to do it and missing out on being with people etc. It also means that Granny gets to enjoy sleepovers with her, I really love that my daughter stays over with my Mum, they are building up such a lovely relationship.

I do think though, that FF a newborn would have other drawbacks though. As you can't really predict when they'll be hungry, you often could be waiting for the kettle, cooling down etc with a crying baby, and I personally would worry about over feeding etc.

If I was to have another baby I'd do the same again, start of BFing for as long as it lasts, and move on to formula when I know the time is right.

wow, essay!

 

[HellBunny]

Yeah the only faff for me is when you have been out all day (and taken about 5 bottles) when you get back you have to do the bottle washing/sterilizing/making up, where as if i was still BF there wouldn't be any of that. Saying that its a ten minute job, and overall isn't that time consuming compared to when i was Bfing.

Unless you go out for the day and get back to find the dogs have eaten your bottle brush! (yes this really happened and I was picking bristles out of his arse for days!)

Oh no, of all the things to eat, why do they do things like that?! haha

 

[fides]

The biggest con for me is the wait time between when he wants a bottle and when it's warm enough for him (he likes them really warm and will refuse it if it's not warm enough never had that issue with my daughter!).

^this. I have a fussy baby who cries or screams while he is waiting for his bottle, so, for example, a 4am or 5am feed - I hate the time it takes to go down and prepare a bottle while he is left up in his crib screaming - you'd think we were hurting him the way he carries on!

washing/sterilizing: more of a hassle, yes, but if you luck out and have a baby who can wait patiently for a few minutes while you make up the bottle, then I would think FF isn't so bad.

 

[Katy Bug]

I have no problem ff. Yes I have to wash bottles but I have the time and it's worth it. I find it way more convenient to pour powder in a bottle and shake than to pop my boob out, mainly in public. Yes it's natural but I'm also way modest. I would have to find someplace private to bf. That's just me. I feel like my son stays more full on formula and let's me sleep longer because of ff. It may sound bad but I did try to bf and beat myself up because he wasn't doing well latching on. If I bf I'd be a nervous wreck. I like ff. I know how much he's getting. And the washing bottles thing, those that pump have to wash them too. So I'd be pumping and washing bottles. Not trying to bash bf, it's obviously better and cheaper. Just don't get why people think ff is a pain to deal with. I find it incredibly easy :/

 

[holliepop]

I ff but bf is probably alot more easier. Probably not alot easier in the first weeks or so of the babies life as some people struggle to bf but definitely in the long run. No need to sterilize bottles, no making up bottles and obviously a whole lot cheaper. Definitely going to try bf number 2!! I'm getting bored of sterilizing and making bottles up

 

[eulmh82]

I was never able to BF so i wouldn;t know - but I do know it was a pain in the bum. making sure the bottles were sterilised before I left etc and taking out cartons of ready made formula. It;s far easier to get your boob out however I don;t know how comfortable I;d have been with that but least you don;t have to worry about having the right stuff with you long as you;re there it;s fine

 

[socitycourty]

I BF for 6 weeks until we stopped. with her reflux and allergy (before it was diagnosed) BF was a nightmare.

i am used to washing, mixing, sterilizing. not a big deal now.

well done BF for so long! your LO will do well no matter what

 

[Lady_Bee]

BF is only easier if you have enough milk and no ongoing latching problems. If you have to pump and supplement.... aaargh sooooooooo much more work than just formula! I felt like I was a frantic juggling act for 4 months.

For me formula has been way way way easier.

 

[youngwife20]

As the title says - is it more work?

I am considering starting to FF LO now but if it's going to be more work and fussing about is it worth it? (if i am able to carry on BF that is)

What are some of the perks to FF?

theres no perks of ff as far as im concerned the whole " your partnner can feed".. erm you can do that with expressed milk lol. if you can continue bf i would because i direct bf but had to pump coz she refused to latch so i exclusivly pumped for 6 months .

so from a direct breastfeeder to exclusive pumping to combi feeding to complete formula feeding. bf is the easiest! dont broke what dont need fixing. on the other hand if you have no choice you put up with it and its fine but its expensive! but if your just done with bf thats fine too whenever you wanna stop stop but its so much work lol xx

theres alots of issues u can have with ff. switiching and u find ur baby might have alergies to the milk reactions etc.

 

[youngwife20]

The biggest con for me is the wait time between when he wants a bottle and when it's warm enough for him (he likes them really warm and will refuse it if it's not warm enough never had that issue with my daughter!).

The biggest pro for me was that hubby did all the night feeds with DS so I was able to get enough sleep to deal with both kids the next day. But this really isn't an issue now that he goes from 10ish to 6ish without a bottle. We never did allow anyone other than the two of us to feed either of our kids.........I always felt it was something for us alone.

Washing can be a PITA, especially if we are out all day. The most annoying part of the washing though is that my bottles have to be thoroughly dry before I can make them up (otherwise they leak!) so I need to make sure to have them completely washed and sterilized well before I'm ready to make the bottles

Hi have you tried like this its quicker x

if you baby drinks 6 ounces.

3part boiled water then add formula shake then 3 part cool boiled water . you can play around with the parts but its ready instantly and you can make it warm xx hope that helps i used to make up bottles for the day but it takes ages to warm xx

 

[dizz]

Good to see the entire thread's now been hijacked into a FF being negative (as fricken normal). No way that would be tolerated in reverse - why is it ALWAYS acceptable on here?

 

[socitycourty]

^ I know, that's why there is a separate FF forum. Stay out if you don't like it, it's not rocket science. Really annoying. Bashing is never tolerated in the BF forum or Baby Club either. URGH

 

[socitycourty]

I mean it's not like this is Mothering dot com where you get chased out like a criminal if you mention not BF until your kid is at least 5!