The Loss of Breastfeeding - Guilt, Grief & Support Thread

[patch2006uk]

Hey Patch, Gill comments at the end of the blog about this, so her experience for the study is in the article

What I particularly like about the blog is one of the sentences about her little one already being able to control their intake whilst FF too. I also can't force my beautiful but extremely stubborn daughter to take even a ml more when she's had enough! X

Thanks! I did spot it on that link on the second look (it's been a long couple of days). I knew I'd read her say that she could see no reason to not BLW a FF baby

 

[buddyIV]

I BLW my son, and it went absolutely perfectly We never experienced any difficulties using this method, even though he was bottle fed for a couple of months previous to starting.

Weaning was one of the most fun stages of the first year! He got stuck into solids with the gusto of a Masterchef judge, and still gets so excited at mealtimes. He seems to be developing a fantastic relationship with food! FF had absolutely no negative impact on weaning, so if any of you ladies fancy BLW and you think it'd be right for your LO, I'd say go for it!

 

[sequeena]

Am I being dense? What's the difference is a FF or BF baby BLW (I assume none in reality?)?

In other news OMFG Thomas is holding his bottle... oh wait it fell out of his mouth

 

[patch2006uk]

Am I being dense? What's the difference is a FF or BF baby BLW (I assume none in reality?)?

In other news OMFG Thomas is holding his bottle... oh wait it fell out of his mouth

The BLW book always assumes a BF baby, and the original study Gill Rapley did only involved BF babies. I think the argument against BLWing a FF baby is that FF babies are probably fed a set amount, which could 'override' their ability to stop eating when full, whereas BF babies always choose exactly how much they eat, and so BLW is an extension of that.

However, she's responded that that's not how she imagines it at all, and she only excluded FF babies so as not to add too many variables into the research, and she sees no reason a FF baby shouldn't have the same appetite control as a BF baby.

 

[sequeena]

Oh right! Well Thomas certainly has no problems in telling me when he's done

 

[buddyIV]

Am I being dense? What's the difference is a FF or BF baby BLW (I assume none in reality?)?

In other news OMFG Thomas is holding his bottle... oh wait it fell out of his mouth

Not dense at alllol! In my experience, it made no friggin difference at all. I reckon that if your LO is up for it, BLW will go well regardless of FF or BF. I hated reading the book about it though, as it would always put "or formula" in brackets...which made me feel somewhat marginalised.

And...go Thomas! My boy hasn't ever even attempted to give himself his bottle, though he does love to put the cap back on once he's done.

 

[sequeena]

Ah it was only a fluke. His hands grab everything (my face is currently his favourite)

 

[BabyBoo36]

Oh right! Well Thomas certainly has no problems in telling me when he's done

Neither does Freya. I hate this assumption that all FF fed babies will just carry on drinking regardless. Freya takes the bottle out of her mouth and batts it away with her hand once she's done, whether that's 5oz or 7oz. She's also pretty handy at dropping food over the side of her highchair once she's had enough!

 

[sequeena]

Thomas just starts spitting everything out when he's done. I stop feeding him pretty sharpish then

 

[MrsPOP]

Am I being dense? What's the difference is a FF or BF baby BLW (I assume none in reality?)?

In other news OMFG Thomas is holding his bottle... oh wait it fell out of his mouth

The BLW book always assumes a BF baby, and the original study Gill Rapley did only involved BF babies. I think the argument against BLWing a FF baby is that FF babies are probably fed a set amount, which could 'override' their ability to stop eating when full, whereas BF babies always choose exactly how much they eat, and so BLW is an extension of that.

However, she's responded that that's not how she imagines it at all, and she only excluded FF babies so as not to add too many variables into the research, and she sees no reason a FF baby shouldn't have the same appetite control as a BF baby.

Whoever has created that argument has clearly never met my daughter!

 

[fides]

same here - i'm lucky if on the rare day i can get him to eat 3.5oz in one sitting - he also just pushes the bottle away with his hand when he doesn't want more. i mean, i worry about him not drinking enough b/c some days he doesn't reach that minimum 2oz per pound of body weight suggestion - certainly not worried about him overeating or "over-riding" his sense of being full.

 

[buddyIV]

Am I being dense? What's the difference is a FF or BF baby BLW (I assume none in reality?)?

In other news OMFG Thomas is holding his bottle... oh wait it fell out of his mouth

The BLW book always assumes a BF baby, and the original study Gill Rapley did only involved BF babies. I think the argument against BLWing a FF baby is that FF babies are probably fed a set amount, which could 'override' their ability to stop eating when full, whereas BF babies always choose exactly how much they eat, and so BLW is an extension of that.

However, she's responded that that's not how she imagines it at all, and she only excluded FF babies so as not to add too many variables into the research, and she sees no reason a FF baby shouldn't have the same appetite control as a BF baby.

Whoever has created that argument has clearly never met my daughter!

Or my son!

I genuinely have no idea how any baby, regardless of whether the are FF or BF, can be overfed! When they're newborn they bring up any excess, and as they get older they self-regulate by coming off the breast or pulling away from the bottle teat. The babies behaviour doesn't alter, and you don't suddenly start force feeding them just because you're using a bottle any more than you would attempt to force them back on the breast once they'd come off, clearly satisfied!

Ok, I'm saying all this as if it were universal, but I know it's not. That said, my son's feeding behaviour didn't alter at 3.5 months when we switched to FF...and neither did mine!

When he'd had enough, that was that. If he'd not gotten enough, we soon knew about it! He made it very clear when he wanted fed, and we went by his own internal clock. It's 100% possible to feed a FF baby on demand, in fact, all the FF Mother's I know in real life were able to feed on demand. The only difference was that we had to go make up a bottle instead of unclip a bra.

 

[Eala]

We *very* successfully BLW'd my daughter, and it didn't matter a hoot that she was FF! I remember the book making some point somewhere that BF babies are used to a wider range of flavours before weaning (because breastmilk changes flavour depending on what the mother has eaten), and so it might take a FF baby longer to get used to a wide range of flavours. That certainly wasn't the case with Roo - the first thing she ate was avocado on toast

BLW isn't for everyone, but if it works for you, then it is pretty darn amazing. And fun

I too object to the whole "FF babies will be overfed" argument. I've not seen a shred of credible evidence to back this up. We fed Roo on demand, and ironically got told off by the HV for doing so, as we were letting her "snack". Like, she'd have 2oz and then want another 1.5oz about an hour and a half later. We were told to stick to a routine of waiting at least 2 hours since the last feed. I asked "Would I be told the same if I was breastfeeding?" and got told no, I'd have been told to feed my baby whenever they wanted feeding. I asked what the difference was, then, given that Roo would take what she wanted and stop when she wanted. I never did get a satisfactory answer...

 

[patch2006uk]

We *very* successfully BLW'd my daughter, and it didn't matter a hoot that she was FF! I remember the book making some point somewhere that BF babies are used to a wider range of flavours before weaning (because breastmilk changes flavour depending on what the mother has eaten), and so it might take a FF baby longer to get used to a wide range of flavours. That certainly wasn't the case with Roo - the first thing she ate was avocado on toast

BLW isn't for everyone, but if it works for you, then it is pretty darn amazing. And fun

I too object to the whole "FF babies will be overfed" argument. I've not seen a shred of credible evidence to back this up. We fed Roo on demand, and ironically got told off by the HV for doing so, as we were letting her "snack". Like, she'd have 2oz and then want another 1.5oz about an hour and a half later. We were told to stick to a routine of waiting at least 2 hours since the last feed. I asked "Would I be told the same if I was breastfeeding?" and got told no, I'd have been told to feed my baby whenever they wanted feeding. I asked what the difference was, then, given that Roo would take what she wanted and stop when she wanted. I never did get a satisfactory answer...

I wish I knew where this obsession with making a hungry baby wait for its food came from. It doesn't make any sense, regardless of how the baby is fed!

 

[mushypea]

Indeed - as fully weaned adults some days we snack more than others, so why wouldn't a baby want to?!

 

[BabyBoo36]

Indeed - as fully weaned adults some days we snack more than others, so why wouldn't a baby want to?!

Freya's definitely like this - yesterday she ate like a horse. Today everything offered for breakfast has been met with a screech and thrown off the highchair. I'm guessing it's going to be a long day.........

 

[Snuffy]

Ah yes, the perception that ff means forcing your child into a routine or to overeat.

Let's consign that one to Myth Corner along with 'anyone can bf if they try hard enough' and 'Aptamil is closest to breast milk'.

I saw a comment somewhere recently - not sure if it was on here or Facebook - along the lines of "I hate seeing mums proudly posting photos of their newborn with an enormous bottle in their mouth". Just because the bottle is a 9oz one doesn't mean it is full surely? Perhaps they just didn't see the point in buying the diddy 4oz bottles for long term use and it actually had 3oz in it??

On another note, I gave my boobs a squeeze last night and there is still some milk there. My HV phoned to makle an appointment to weigh Ollie this morning and I mentioned the situation - that we have been dabbling but he lost interest and I am afraid to drop bottles altogether when he is gaining weight well at the moment and because Amy lost so much weight before we switched to ff - and she said we can have a good chat about it on Monday when she comes round. In the meantime I am contemplating buying a breast pump today when we are passing Mothercare just in case we can carry on at least trying for longer.

I have also found out that there is a local natural parenting group and tomorrow they a LLL meeting. Sod's law, it's across town, I still can't drive and I have arranged for my busted Kindle to be collected. I'm going to ask if its a one-off.

 

[Leopard]

I heard somewhere the other day that Ff babies are supposed to be weaned earlier than BF babies? How true is this? Oh and with regards to overfeed babies, I'm terrified that DF overfed her the other day, she had 5 100ml bottles in an hour whilst I slept! I nearly went off, but she seemed fine

 

[darkangel1981]

my son is just starting to show interest in our food. He seems fine on his milk though so im not sure that FF babies need solids quicker.

 

[BabyBoo36]

I too object to the whole "FF babies will be overfed" argument. I've not seen a shred of credible evidence to back this up. We fed Roo on demand, and ironically got told off by the HV for doing so, as we were letting her "snack". Like, she'd have 2oz and then want another 1.5oz about an hour and a half later. We were told to stick to a routine of waiting at least 2 hours since the last feed. I asked "Would I be told the same if I was breastfeeding?" and got told no, I'd have been told to feed my baby whenever they wanted feeding. I asked what the difference was, then, given that Roo would take what she wanted and stop when she wanted. I never did get a satisfactory answer...

What a load of crock! We demand fed with Freya even though she's FF and still do! She eventually put herself into a routine of about 4 hours between feeds, but if she wants one earlier, she gets one! x