Why did you choose to BF/FF

[LankyDoodle]

For me PERSONALLY, I felt b/f would be best for my little one and I liked that I could do that for her. It's also free and I'm a cheapskate.

 

[hancake100]

I was really open minded when it came to both BF and FF due to my sil going through a really tough time with my niece getting her to lantch on and it really got her down. But I didnt buy any formula or anything as I did want to give BF a real good go. My lo was really good and latched on straight away and I didnt nothing but BF for 3whole days and nights but then went down hill from there, I couldnt get her to latch on and me and oh were up all hours and spent most of the day trying to get her to latch on but both me and lo were getting so stressed, so we went out and got her some formula and she took to it straight away, I did carry on trying for a good few days but I go an infection and it became VERY painfull and I kind of gave up as I found at the time that to FF would be so much easier. I do wish I carried on and tried a little longer and it got me down for awhile but now I feel ok with FF.
I will 110% try again with my next one though

 

[ljo1984]

BF is how babies are meant to be fed. Everyone I know breastfeeds unless there's some problem that comes up to prevent it. Besides I'm too lazy and cheap to want to deal with bottles and paying for formula.

oh yeh!i forgot to mention its free!! lol. every one i know with babies FF their LO's!! they had no intrest in BF, i dont get why someone wouldnt even want to try, or atleast let their LO's have the colostrum for the first few feeds!!

 

[Vici]

I always wanted to bf and ff hadn't even entered my head. I went to bf classes for 8 weeks to prepare and be fully armed with all the info I may have needed. Even after a 44 hr labour and a very traumatic emergency c section, the mw managed to get her latched on in recovery. She then became very poorly and spent 2 weeks in scbu. I exclusively expressed for her during this time and once she was past the worst tried to get her latched on at every feed with no success. I then continued to do this at every feed for 6 weeks while still expressing and still she would not latch!!! I had the support of hv, mw and bf supporters but nothing worked - it did and still does break my heart that I couldn't feed her

 

[MummyToAmberx]

I BF amber for 1 week but i was soo exhausted i just couldnt hack it basically.
Id been in labour 26hrs no sleep. 6am in morning when i had her, come night time she would rather be awake so another night without sleep, had bit of nap next day but obv had keep getting up to feed, then another night didnt sleep this went on for a week then i just broke down to my mam, i was soooo tired it was unreal, then she started to not latch on, all around it was best to FF.
With #2 i BF for 24hrs, she wouldnt latch well, for us FF for the better option.

 

[hivechild]

I don't think I ever really thought about it or felt that there was a choice to be made.

 

[Jolinar]

I had no choice but to use formula, would have loved to BF him solely but it wasn't to be despite everyones best efforts.

 

[bubbles123]

I had always assumed that I would BF. LO was born with 90% tongue tie, refused to latch on etc etc as is so common. Finally got the TT snipped at 5 weeks and I just wasn't physically or emotionally strong enough to fight with him to get him back on the breast once it was done - tried pretty much constantly for a week. He just screamed and screamed and screamed and refused to latch until I started to fear for my sanity. Formula it was and it was definitely the best decision for us. I managed to express, gave him colostrum in a syringe as that was all he could take it from and combi feed for 6 weeks though and am very proud of myself for that, considering I have never felt so utterly, utterly exhausted and hopeless in my whole life. I felt horridly guilty to start with but all that is fading now as LO starts to thrive and develop.

One thing I have always wondered though - Bf is of course the most natural thing for babies but why do some of them seem to find it so hard to do?! I had always assumed that baby would just pop out, open it's mouth and BF away! Never had occurred to me that they would find it so hard in some cases (including my LO). I wonder if other mammals have the same problem or if it's just a human thing?

PS anyone who BF's a tongue tied baby is a hero in my opinion! I can not give you enough praise!!!

 

[jojo2605]

I 100% wanted to BF & even when LO was found to have problems prenatally they asked what my plans were and I expressed my wish to BF.

Once he was born however he was sent straight to a hospital 40 miles away & was tube fed a couple of days after an operation. After a few days of tube feeding I was told "go ahead and BF now then if you want", well I was lost to say the least, I tried to get him to latch but I just wouldn't and he would get frustrated. He was so tiny too (5lb 6.5oz) and my boob just seemed too big for him! I had no assistance whatsoever and I just felt like a failure.

After a few attempts and coupled with my worrying that he wouldn't gain weight, which was important for him, I gave him a bottle in the hospital & vowed to try BF once I got home and didn't ahve any pressures (i.e. a consultant/nurse/cleaner walking in every 5 minutes) but I just couldn't get him to latch.

I had to settle for expressing and bottle feeding him. I managed to express for 6 weeks before it got too much for me. LO was feeding every 2 hours and coupled with 3 or 4 hospital appointments a week, a colostomy to deal with, etc, I just didn't have the time to keep up with LO's demands. The final straw was when my nipples bled so much that the milk turned red.

So Sam is now FF. When I have another I will definitely want to have a good go at BF and will try and ensure I have some support at hospital or with HV - the support I had first time around was zilch, I found this strange as when I said I wanted to BF the professionals couldn't be happier

Editted to add: The reason I wanted to BF as to me it seemed like the natural and right choice for my baby. It felt as though it was what my body was intended for and I wanted to give him the best start in life. ALthough, I don't feel I have failed him by FF him as I did my best under some very difficult circumstances. FF is the next best thing in my opinion and no one should feel guilty for making it their choice, especially when things don't quite turn out how you plan them to.

 

[Nic1107]

Wanted to BF. Couldn't.

 

[Lara310809]

Up until I got pregnant I always said I would never BF. I thought it was horrid, and coudn't stand the thought of a baby on my boob; not because I consider them sexual, but because I just hate anything about my boobs. I should add that other people BF never freaked me out; it was just me BF that I had a problem with

When I started talking to people, they told me there were so many benefits to BF, and then I read up and was persuaded to try. As I got nearer to the birth I was actually excited about trying it. When LO was born, I was BFing, but obstacles came on the second day, and it only got worse from then on. I had milk, but I didn't realise that LO had to latch in a certain way, so I spent 8 hours trying to get her to feed, and ended up in tears because she was hurting me and she was screaming with hunger. The MW only ever said "just keep putting her on", and then I was left to it. You can't keep putting them on and expect to get results if you're not putting them on correctly, so in the end I just gave her a bottle.

Once I got out of hospital I tried to reinstate and found I didn't have much milk left. So I tried to boost my flow, all the time topping up with FF. The same week I had a family emergency that lasted a month, during which my time was taken away from LO, who was being FF by my OH, and I ended up only being able to BF about twice a day, and only having a little bit to give. I would have her on the boob for over an hour, and she would still be ravenous, but I was empty on both sides, which meant I had to top up with FF; but an entire feed's worth; it was like she got nothing from me.

In the end I was stressing so much, and LO was getting lazy and reluctant to feed, I was starting to resent her for it, even though none of it was her fault. I also realised that I wasn't bonding with her because every feed was a fight, and when she was a month old I made the switch to exclusive FF, and have continued that way since. People say you shouldn't, but I feel like a failure because of it. Everything was working against me, and despite everything I can honestly say I tried. Sometimes I look back and think I could have tried harder, but at the time I remember thinking I was trying my hardest, so I have to keep reminding myself of that. At the end of the day, she's happy and healthy, so that's all I could hope for.

With the next baby (if there is one) I hope to be able to give it more attention than poor Chloe had. She didn't get a full day with me until she was 6 weeks old

 

[saturn73]

I chose to BF because it is cheap, and I love the intimacy.

 

[Zoex89x]

I chose to ff,i just always new thats what i felt comfortable with doing and i liked my oh being able to help with the feeds and making up bottles,i will ff my next lo aswell.

 

[leelee]

Despite having skin to skin cotact after the birth and doing the birth crawl with Max (and he latched on) he would not latch on again. I tried to latch him for a month and expressed and FF during that time. I made the decision to stop expressing when he was a month and don't regret it for a minute. I had fantastic support from the community midwives but out of 10 visits only 1 person could latch him on and he latched off again after 5 mins.

I don't think BF is natural for every baby - why else would there be so many problems with babies latching on? I think the ante-natal classes on BF should be more honest and explain the difficulties that some mothers and babies face. Every single one of my friends that have BF (except 1) have had issues with it. My Mum breastfed my sister and she was with me for 10 days after I came home from the hospital after having Max. She is very pro BF but even she said in the end that it was obvious Max didn't like latching on.

The best piece of advice I got during that time was from a close friend. She BF both of her children but said if she had her time again she wouldn't have BF the first boy as the latch was never right and she spent 12 weeks in tears at feeds and didn't bond properly with him. She advised me to switch to formula so I could enjoy my baby. I never looked back and we have an extermely close bond.

I just wanted to add that I am pro BF and when I have baby number 2 I will be trying to BF again. Hopefully I will be successful the next time!

 

[aliss]

My boy is 6 days old and I'm still struggling with both. He was injured at the birth and feeding has been so difficult. I've seen so many nurses, lactation consultants, gone through so many formulas, engorgement, pumps, UGH!

You can see it here...
https://www.babyandbump.com/breastfeeding/347334-first-night-my-own-please-help.html
https://www.babyandbump.com/formula...s-my-baby-vomit-breast-milk-not-formulas.html

I'm not sure what is going to happen. I'm almost at exclusive FF but hope to get back to the breast.

 

[jelix9408]

i wanted to breastfeed .. just for a few days .. but couldnt.
i was too afriad to after my C-section because they had to put so many different drugs in my during the C-section.
i was scared it would affect Willow.
so she been formula fed since day 1.

 

[mommyof3co]

I never even thought about the decision, I honestly didn't know that people CHOSE to FF. I was 16 and it is/was the norm in my family to nurse, my MIL nursed my DH until he was 2. So I never really thought about it. My first was born and problem after problem happened and I was only able to keep it up for about a month He was switched to FF which I thought I was ok with at the time but have always regretted and really think it has been a major factor in his eczema...that and starting solids early on the advice of my pedi. With my 2nd I was more determined to make it work and actually read up on it more, thought it would come naturally the first time around, obviously not. We were able to nurse for 11mo when he got sick and started refusing to nurse or take any liquids, got pretty dehyrated and was put on bottles just to make sure he was getting something for a few days and after that refused to nurse again. My 3rd my goal was to get to 18mo which we did, he self weaned at 19mo. My goal next time is at least 2 yrs I want to nurse my kids because I know it's what is best for them, it offers them so many benefits as well as me, I love the bond, it is def different from FF, after doing both I can say it from experience. I love my kids all equally but it is a different bond you have when you nurse and I just love that. Plus I think it's easier which is nice for those middle of the night feeds

 

[Melody74]

I didn't have an option. I had preventative mastectomies 4 years ago as I carry a breast cancer gene. FF was my only option, but it's working ok for me so far.
My biggest disappointment was the lack of support in the NHS for those who can't or chose to FF. It's a real shame.
xx

 

[coccyx]

I had 4 sections and BF them all. Hard work at the start, but worth it. Would say I had mastitis with first baby, thought I felt off colour due to the section!, but do feel it was lack of guidance..' is baby feeding ok???? ' , think so ' I said . no one ever sat with with to see if things were ok. ( Yes, i know I should have spoken up!)
Think more support needed whether you BF or FF

 

[MissRhead]

I BF for a few weeks but gave up as it was making me missreble, I've never looked back really my LO is thriving I think that's the only thing that matters xx