Why did you choose to BF/FF

[kerrie24]

I chose, having ff my son and bf my daughter,breastfeeding is what I preferred.I never had any support either,which made me more determained.If Im honest I wanted to prove people wrong when they says I couldnt stick it!
We have just been to get Owen weighed and he has put on 1lb7oz in three weeks so thats all the encouragement I need

 

[Janidog]

After a long hard think about BF or FF, I have chosen to FF as im due to go back to work 3 weeks after this LO is born. I will be taking him to work with me, so need to establish some kind of feeding routine, and also didn't like the idea of customers and delivery men turning up whilst I have LO attached to me, also it means hubby can do some night feeds too

 

[tinkerz23]

I decided when I became pregnant that I wanted to BF. I didn't with my son, and he had all kinds of allergies to the formula. We had a bit of trouble to get started, but we got the hang of it pretty quickly. I BF her for 3 months. I then decided to try combination feeding because I am going back to work. I had every intention of giving her formula during work hours, and BF when we were home together. But, ultimately she decided she wanted nothing to do with the breast anymore. I don't feel guilty about it since it is what she chose to do, but I am sad because I really didn't want to give it up totally. She is healthy and happy though and that is what counts.

 

[bubbles123]

Reading everyone's threads it seems to me that so much depends on the baby. Some baby's get it and some don't. My Mum (who's been a childminder for years and BF all of us) stayed with me for a month after my son was born to try to help me with the feeding and even she said that he was the most difficult baby she had ever to seen to feed and that BF would have been very hard for me (it was!). I think there should be more support for mixed feeding instead of the current either/or choices. My mum BF me but I only recently discovered that by that she meant mainly BF'd me but also gave formula top ups before bed and during growth spurts. Her friends did this too and she told me this is what they were advised at the time- if you're finding BF hard, give a bottle of formula and try again when you've had a bit of sleep. They all went on to BF successfully. I honestly think that if this was the advice rather than avoid formula at all costs, more people would carry on.

I also think the reason that people in African countries etc succeed with BF whilst those in the west are not as successful is largely to do with the level of support - they tend to live in large communities with people on hand to help 24/7, if they are tired or ill, have latching problems etc there is a wealth of women on hand who can help or even wet nurse the baby if necessary. Here in the west, we live on our own, often a long way from family and have no one to help us when we're struggling to latch a baby in the middle of the night. Couple that with the extreme exhaustion you feel after birth and it's a recipe for disaster. Anyone who gets through it and establishes BF deserves many congratulations! X

And it's lovely to see a FF and BF debate with everyone getting on!

 

[jms895]

most of my friends FF but i just knew i wanted to at least try BF with my first. It was really hard, bleeding nipples and he didnt have a very good latch which made the pain even worse, but i kept telling myself thats what our boobs were for and if they could do it in 3rd world countires then it must get better! and it did! when he was about 4 months i started giving him a bottle of formula at bedtime so i could leave him and go out if i fancied it and that worked great.

i fed him untill he was 9 months. i was already nearly 3 months pregnant again so stopped because i wanted a break before the next baby arrived!

i have just started giving Kitty a bottle at bedtime too as it worked so well with Fred x i didnt think too much about the benefits of BF as opposed to FF i just WANTED to BF thats all, i love doing it and love seeing new rolls of chub appear knowing im doing that x

i must add there were times 2nd time round at the start when i cried as i was constantly feeding her AND running around after a toddler but i kept telling myself it would get better and now she goes about 3 hours between feeds in the day and has slept through the last 3 nights, yay!!!!

wow I really hope my no.2 is like that so early on, I still have a nightmare with Caine sometimes xx

 

[BradysMum]

I have breastfed both my sons. It is free and easier. Personally it just felt right. I would have no problem FF or bottle feeding if there was a reason I couldn't. I do pump and Jake has breast milk from a bottle too

 

[hellohefalump]

I breastfed Madeleine partly because 'breast is best' and partly because of pressure from my mum. After the initial 12 weeks I actually quite enjoyed it so I carried on breastfeeding her until she self weaned at 21 months.

With Michael I formula fed because I'm on medication and I don't want him to be having it too, through my milk.

 

[redpoppy]

I desperately DESPERATELY wanted to breastfeed and did for 3 months (which is something I forget to add because when people ask I still feel like I failed to feed her and say "I was unable to breastfeed" when in reality i have to remember that I did for three months!).

I chose to BF because it is the best thing for your baby if you can do it. All those antibodies especially!!!! and its the most easily digested AND you don't have to sterilise! haha! Feeding on the go is easy (I used ot feed her in my moby wrap when out and about) and you dont have to lug aorund bottles and formula.

I now formula feed and am glad it exists as I was unable to produce enough milk (I'm sure the doctors stressing me out played a big part in that too!) but I hate sterilising and I hate cooling the milk down but I LOVE LOVE LOVE not being worried about her weight.

 

[Sparkledust09]

I am formula feeding Jessica, I didn't even try breastfeeding. When I was pregnant I made the decision I would FF and when she was born I didn't change my mind, although I have to say I wavered. The idea of BF freaked me out originally but now I have to say I wish I'd tried BF and I regret not doing so. Jessica is thriving on formula and is very contented, my boobs are still slightly leaking but i don't want to try and BF, she is happy on bottle milk and don't know if I could even swap at this stage. If I have another baby I think I would try BF xxx

 

[trumpetbum]

I chose to bf originally because i knew it was the best thing I could do health wise for my baby. My brothers have asthma and eczema and allergies and I knew that bf minimized the risk/severity of these.
I chose to ff/bf dd1 after 4 weeks because my H/V told me that like all her 'other girls' I was trying to do too much, because I couldn't understand why my baby was crying to feed all the time. ( I had never known anyone else who bf.)
I chose to ff completely from 6m because my supply had dwindled and dd1s interest in the breast had waned.
I chose to bf dd2 because again I wanted to give her the best start and because since dd1 I had read a lot more about bfeeding and realised that with the right info and support I wouldn't have needed to ff dd1.
I will breastfeed ds because I really can't see myself doing anything else. There's no reason for me not to, it's the best thing for his health and devpt, it's convenient, it feels right and it's free

 

[Tacey]

I chose to BF as I knew that there was nothing better for my baby than breast milk. The ease of it and the benefits to me are secondary. I couldn't imagine formula feeding.

 

[Nimbus]

my mum breast fed all of us and i saw her feed our brothers. never thought about bottle feeding in truth. I've been lucky as my boy is a dream to feed despite the problems to start off with - usual cracked nipples, ouchy, oh and a prolonged case of thrush. i love to breast feed, and so pleased to be able to.

 

[Mitsuko]

I chose to BF because I couldn't see any advantages to FF. BFing is free, easy and natural!

 

[jenny82]

I wish I could've BF. I see the other mums in toddlers/rhyme time and it just looks so nice and natural and I get real pangs of envy

I think because of my hormones and LO not latching on properly, and the nurses generally not being the friendliest, I gave up too quickly. Hopefully with my next LO, I'll know what to expect and it might be a nicer experience!

 

[Kris522]

I have been breastfeeding for over 5 months and in the beginning it was excruciating! My nipples were raw, but I bore down and got through it and am glad I did! It is so convenient to just be able to whip out a boob and feed my son, although having to handle ALL the feeds gets a little old (and tiring!). Believe me, at about week 3 or 4 I was sorely tempted to switch to formula, but I'm so glad I stuck it out b/c it really works for me now!

 

[Akira]

I wanted to BF not only for the benifits for Charlotte, but because I'm a lazy biarch and can't be bothered making up formula bottles, especially at 3am!

And yeah I'll admit it.......I'm dutch and truely live up to their tight-arsed reputation! I'm not paying money for formula when I can BF for free!