not quite decided yet

[rubixcyoob.]

So I've not quite decided on which route to take BF or FF but was wondering if anyone who has already decided to FF could perhaps give me the reasons why they chose too?
And possibly tell me how long it takes them to get a feed ready, how long a feed lasts and how often?

Sorry if it seems like silly questions but I'm just trying to see the benefits of both before making my mind up

P.S I have nothing against FF or BF I was FF because my mum thought there was a taboo about it and my little sister was BF because my mum wanted to try it and we are both perfectly healthy and such .
Thankyou!

 

[AP]

i went from expressing my own milk to formula. i wanted to try bf, but alex couldnt latch on as she was premature and didnt understand how to suck.

I expressed but it was very time consuming, so i gradually moved to ff, which im happy with.

Formula also helped massively with weight gain, which she desperatley needed. So i am a fan of both - so no debate from me!

What i will say is that its easier to change your mind if you start with bf, but not so easy to change minds if you start on formula.

I always said i wanted to FF but I always knew i'd get too curious about
BF!

And if you choose to BF, no one says you have to do it for ages either!

Do whats best for you, and LO, and dont feel pressurised.

 

[divadexie]

I have pretty much decided to FF.

1- I have a dodgy left arm (birth defect) which means I cannot comfortably use my left arm to support a baby, and if I lean on that arm too long or hold anything heavyish it gets shaky and stays shaky for ages.

2- I have Low self confidence and don't want to get my boobs out infront of anyone! There isn't anywhere I can feed when out and about! And it means I can just measure out water and powder and take with me when I go out.

3- I'm crappy on low sleep as it it, without ''constant feeding'' for the 1st 4-6 weeks until milk comes in and LO gets a routine, my OH works full time and I feel that would have an effect on my son, who will have finished playgroup and be home for the summer.

4- I would prefer to know how much milk LO is taking each feed, and how can you do that when BF??

5- My son was Ff and he is perfectly fine Lol

Think thats it for now...

 

[rubixcyoob.]

thanks for the help x

 

[Vickie]

to be honest my main reason for FF was that it felt right for me and my daughter I don't really know how else to explain it it was a good decision for us

but if you are undecided I agree with one of the above posters you can always give BF a try and if it doesn't work for you switch over. Much easier to do that rather than FF and regret not giving BF a go

 

[Lazy Leo]

For me BF wasn't an option, I'm just not comfortable with it, its not that I haven't anything against it. There are some really big plus points for FF in my opinion though

- theres not the pain often associated with BF!
- you can share the feeding, helping dads to have time with the baby, and its easier to allow gran's etc to get involved and give a feed
- you don't have to express if you are somewhere and the baby isn't, for example a friend of mine left her baby with her mum for the first time to go to a wedding. She was finding it hard enough being away from her LO but had to express even though the LO wasn't there.
- I don't think you can get things done the same way, in my experience with friend's BF'ing takes longer and you can't really move about - I'm quite expert at moving about tidying etc, while feeding lol!
- there are plenty of vitamins etc in the milk, indeed there is more vit D in formula than breast milk
- finally I don't know any baby thats suffered because they were FF not BF.

HOWEVER, there is an astounding amount of evidence out there I believe which does prove BF'ing to be better than FF, so ultimately its your own decision. For me however, it fitted my lifestyle to FF and those are the main benefits as I see them.

As for the practicalities, when the LO was first born she fed every 3 hours, so I went through 8 bottles per day. I had bought 4 large and 2 small bottles so I had to wash 2 for re-use in a day.

I decided to go for a cold water steriliser and I change the water out in the morning while I wait for the kettle to boil to have my coffee. I use milton tablets as there is no need to rinse anything out. I make my coffee and put the rest of the water in a jug ready to use through the day for the LO

Now I use 5 bottles per day, I make sure they are all washed before bed, except her morning one which I make up before I go to bed.

I use a powder dispenser with the right amount of powder in.
In the early days I would fill three bottles with the appropriate amount of water in and just have them ready to add the powder. Bottles can be ready in less than 30secs. (I give my bottles at room temp). Now when I finish one I just make up the next one.

Sounds very complicated but its definately not - just comprehensive babbling methinks!!

 

[special_kala]

I wanted to BF but had some problems at the beginning so couldnt in the end, River only latched on a couple of times and tbh it was really nice when she managed it. I expressed for a while but found it to time consuming so switched to FF which im happy with now.

River is happy and healthy so i dont regret my decision at all.

we put the steriliser on (8minutes) boil the kettle and leave it to cool for a hour and make up 5 bottles with the water in for the day (thats not the way your "supposed" to do it though)

We started on 2 hours feeds moved up to 3 and am currently on 4 hour feeds.

River is a big old chunk so guzzles her bottles in 10 minutes flat which a burp but it can take 45minutes with some babies.

My personal advise would be to try BF and see how it goes. I was FF and am just as healthy as my DH who was BF so im not sure it makes loads of difference in the long run but i think the colostrum is pretty beneficial for a newborn.

 

[shayandbump]

I really wanted to BF Amy but after a difficult birth, pethidine in her system making her drowsy and loads of failed attempts at latching on we switched to FF. It's the best decision I made for all of us, we were all getting stressed out and upset.

As for how long it takes to make up a feed, it depends on how you prepare your bottles. We wash all the bottles, sterilise them and then fill them with cooled boiled water at the beginning of the day. Our steriliser is pretty quick so it probably takes about 15-30 mins, depending on how many bottles I'm making up. When Amy wants a feed we just add the formula and heat the bottle, it doesn't take more than 5 mins.

Amy normally takes about 10-15 mins to finish a feed, sometimes a little more if she needs a lot of burping halfway. She's 4 months old now and she normally has a bottle every 3 hours. When she was 1st born she used to have 2-3 oz every 2 hours.

Hope this helps

 

[Nic1107]

I wanted so badly to BF, but Carmen never figured out how to latch on (she even has trouble with bottles sometimes, it takes a few attempts to get the nipple properly into her mouth). I've spent the last couple of weeks expressing, but it's tremendously exhausting, I have very little time to sleep and everything just takes so long when you have to pump and then give a bottle instead of just taking out a boob. I wasn't able to keep up to demand and now my supply is dwindling, so we mostly FF and supplement with as much breast milk as I can still produce. I'd say give BF a shot, you'll know whether it works for you or not. It would be great for your LO if you can at least feed/express the colostrum from right after you give birth, as it has very important antibodies and nutrients in it, but if you're not comfortable with it at all, baby will still be okay.

It doesn't take long to get a feed ready, as I use ready-to-use formula. At room temp it only takes as long to prepare as pouring it into the bottle, and after it's been refrigerated, I heat up a mug of water in the microwave and pop the bottle into the water to warm for about a minute. It's more expensive than using powdered, but while she's still not eating very much I'll pay extra for the convenience . Her feeding schedule is all over the place still since I demand feed and she eats different amounts at different times. One of the advantages of FF, I think, is that when she doesn't finish a bottle and I have to pour it out, all that pains me is the wasted money- when you have to pour out hard-won breast milk, it's heartbreaking. Anyway, just remember that whatever decision you make will be the right one if it works best for you and your LO! Good luck!

 

[loopylj]

I was going to BF but as soon as I had him I decided that I didn't want to do it at all and started on FF. I also wanted my OH to be involved as much as possible and I wouldn't have felt comfortable in public.

We've had no problems so far......might try it with future children, will see how i feel then.
xx

 

[hattiehippo]

I fully intended to BF but due to me being ill after the birth and Tom not being at all interested in latching on it didn't happen and he went onto FF at 3 days.

The pros for me are that dad can feed him to and I always know how much he's having - he was really reluctant to drink from bottles (as well as not wanting to BF) to start with so this was important for me. Plus I found I really wasn't comfortable with trying to BF in front of other people.

Bottles don't take long to do once you get into a routine that suits you. Tom has 6 to 7 feeds a day at the mo so in the morning I wash and sterilisze the bottles that need doing and make up 3 bottles with hot water. I cool these down and stick them in the fridge for when needed. It takes about 15 mins in the morning and the same in the evening.

Like other posters I would advise that its easier to try BF first and then go to FF if it doesn't work. i think it would be really difficult to do it the other way round.