Pro's of Formula Feeding?!

[SnowWhite90]

Hey Ladies, I am still very dissapointed I couldn't breastfeed my daughter.
I tried for the first, maybe 24hours then I had to accept I couldn't continue.

LO has tongue tie which made it very difficult for her to latch.

For the last five weeks I have been feeling like shit about it. I want to cry my eyes out everytime I feed her

Nothing wrong with formula at all, I just really wanted that bond of breastfeeding her.

So ladies, to cheer myself up, I was hoping you could share the formula feeding pro's with me!

The only one I can think of is that OH can feed her so the night feeds can be shared!

 

[skunkpixie]

-You can see how much milk your lo is drinking.
-FF is easier than BF in the first few weeks with no cluster feeding or nursing for hours at a time to worry about.
-FF babies tend to go longer between feeds than BF babies.
-Someone else can feed lo if you need to be apart for any amount of time for any reason.

Im sure there are loads more but they are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head xxx

 

[Kage76]

oh sweetie- I don't believe for one second all the guff about a better bond with a BF child. From my experience i bonded better with my LO once I let BF go- for no other reason i was able to actually relax into being a mum. As someone else on another thread said a mothers love comes from her heart not her breasts.

As to benefits- i can only speak for myself, i know how much she is eating, anyone can feed her, I don't have to be attached to a pump in the times between feeds- and i know she is content and well fed. I dont have to worry about feeding in public and being embarrassed.

 

[Lady_Bee]

Maybe a silly thing but... my LO looks intently at me while I bottlefeed him. It's lovely When I bf him he always shut his eyes tight or stares vacantly at the wall. Then the first time I gave him a bottle and he looked at me the whole time.. my little heart burst and I seriously cried I was so overwhelmed, especially as I was having such a terrible time with bf at the time and struggled hugely with guilt as he had been losing weight and going hungry. It was like he was telling me "it's ok mummy, I love you and thank you for feeding me!" :> It still makes me melt when I feed him and he locks eyes with me. He looks so content.

 

[Laucu]

WSS ^^

I love the fact that I can make eye contact with my boy, and that daddy can have that special time too.

 

[dragonhawk]

just because a baby is formula, it doesn't automatically mean s/he will be overweight, despite what we're led to believe... ds is still in the lower 25th percentile.

 

[kanga]

You can still get the skin to skin bonding snuggling up time but not have to worry about your milk leaking everywhere x

 

[amy19604]

I bf and she also has a couple of bottles of formula a day, i actually prefer bottle feeding! theres no difference in terms of bonding, and i agree with what others have said that it's actually nicer while bottle feeding as you look into each others eyes and talk to them etc, when bf the baby is just staring at my chest or falls asleep, and i watch tv or go on the laptop!
dont beat yourself up about the way you feed, you are obviously a loving mummy and thats all that matters xx

 

[clarsair]

It's much easier to go for a sleep during the day, or a walk around the block, when someone else can feed your baby! As someone who ended up with an emergency c-section and PND, this was what saved me.

You don't have to worry about fitting in expressing or getting baby to take a bottle when/if you return to work.

You know how much they are drinking.

You can eat/drink what you like without it affecting baby (flippant yes, but it's nice to have what you like, when you like!).

 

[kickass_MOM]

I know my baby really wants me and not for selfish reasons
My 4 month old baby actually keeps watching me while I mix her formula and smiles knowing I am fixing her meal.
and I just bought a fabulous jumpsuit

 

[Laucu]

Oh! Being able to wear whatever top you like, without having to worry about whether you can pull it up/down easily!

 

[vintage67]

In the midst of all my grief over two failed breastfeeding relationships, and it is intense at times, I do love seeing my 7 year old son, my husband, and my 75 year old mother feed my baby a bottle with such joy and love.

 

[sg2011]

Thanks for this thread! My baby will be born by c-section next Tuesday and then besides getting her colostrum she will be ff due to a medical condition I have (same reason for c-section actually). I have struggled with this a lot my entire pregnancy and so it's nice to read some positive threads about ff without the guilt!

 

[Starry Night]

After the stress of failed BF, ff became so lovely in that it put me back in control and making sure LO got enough to eat. I felt like ff made it easier to go out and about in public even with the dragging a smaller cooler bag along with me. DH and I could have a date night relatively soon after LO's birth which helped me clear my head and feel like 'me' again.

I didn't truly bond with LO until I started FF because the bf was so stressful. When grandparents came to visit (they live very far away) they had a wonderful time getting to feed LO.

 

[mommie2be]

-No "opps" moments when you're in public & you leak all over your shirt !
-You can see & know how much your LO eats.
-You don't have to worry about being with LO 100% percent of the time, if you need some mommy time out, take it !
-Anyone can feed LO with a bottle.
-It's not as difficult in the middle of the night.
-LO will eventually learn to hold their own bottle, which means they eat while you do dishes, laundry, read, eat, etc...

There's lots of perks to bottle feeding as well as breast feeding. Personally, I'm happy to be a bottle mommy !

 

[Pielette]

When my little boy sees his bottle he gets all excited and reaches out for it now (so so cute!).
He gazes at me when I'm feeding him.
I actually love seeing my husband or my mum feeding him and them bonding.
Like a pp said, he gets so excited to see me, and looks at me in an entirely different way than to others, I know how much he loves me and it's nothing to do with his food! Although I know he appreciates it haha.

 

[clarsair]

This is so nice to read. I do want to try to BF next time around but, at the same, part of me isn't really looking forward to it as it sounds so much more restrictive than FF.

 

[mrs.amillian]

Arh sweetie hope you feel better about it all soon.

I'm combi feeding at the moment and the thing I notice most about the difference is that when I FF Tessa because she's up higher I can give her loads of kisses while she's drinking.

Like PP have said they stare at you so intently and I get so overwhelmed with love I just gotta kiss her little head, lol!!!

 

[SabrinaKat]

I can't add to what other posters have said, but Mommie2be's comment 'LO will eventually learn to hold their own bottle, which means they eat while you do dishes, laundry, read, eat, etc...' Absolutely hilarious! My 3 month old is trying to hold the bottle himself and gives me the 'I can do this now, thank you!' look....

best wishes

 

[Lady_Bee]

I can't add to what other posters have said, but Mommie2be's comment 'LO will eventually learn to hold their own bottle, which means they eat while you do dishes, laundry, read, eat, etc...' Absolutely hilarious! My 3 month old is trying to hold the bottle himself and gives me the 'I can do this now, thank you!' look....

best wishes

LOL mine too (he's just a week shy of 3 months). Well, he THINKS he can do it. But... he can't. He is hilariously uncoordinated but it's cute to watch him try.