why did you choose to bottle feed?

[flossie787]

I've decided that I'm probably going to bottle feed too, and I'm also worried that people are going to shun me! My sister has already had a go at me for it, but I'm sticking to my guns.

I've read a lot of articles that say that women are treated less favourably if the bottle feed, and it angers me to be honest.
It's up to us how we feed out babies. And how many breast-fed babies who are 'given the best start' are then allowed to eat junk food every day when they get older?? So hypocritical!

I'd like to hear about peoples experiences of bottle feeding. Did you get criticised for it? Did you still lose the weight after the birth? Did your boobs stay pert? Did your baby get allergies?

Thanks for reading!

 

[ryder]

Jasmine has been mostly FF... I did try in the beginning to BF, but it was minimal amounts that she got.

I lost the weight within the first 6 months by eating healthy and just doing every day stuff (going for walks, gardening and riding my horse a few times a week).

Jasmine is perfectly healthy, she had one cold during the winter that only lasted a couple days.

I was still the only one who could feed her in the beginning and she still eats the best for me. I dont feel like we have any less of a bond by any means.

I think things like sickness and allergies depend more on environmental and nutritional things more then whether a baby was bf or not.

Bfing is great, and for women who enjoy it and are able to do it, its great... But no one wshould be forced into a decision or critisized for their choice.

 

[sparkswillfly]

I've decided that I'm probably going to bottle feed too, and I'm also worried that people are going to shun me! My sister has already had a go at me for it, but I'm sticking to my guns.

I've read a lot of articles that say that women are treated less favourably if the bottle feed, and it angers me to be honest.
It's up to us how we feed out babies. And how many breast-fed babies who are 'given the best start' are then allowed to eat junk food every day when they get older?? So hypocritical!

I'd like to hear about peoples experiences of bottle feeding. Did you get criticised for it? Did you still lose the weight after the birth? Did your boobs stay pert? Did your baby get allergies?

Thanks for reading!

sorry to break it to you but your boobs will sag whichever way you feed.

The only place I felt there was pressure to BF was the hospital. HVs dont seem to say much to me, didnt ask why I stopped or anything.

 

[ryder]

Mine dont sag... ha ha... but they have stretchmarks and arn't as firm as they were before. but I havent done any excersize to muscle them back up yet. Boobs are fat and milk ducts, pregnancy and labour makes everything relax so you need to build all the muscles back up again.

 

[claire-lou]

I didn't chose to FF Jack, Jack chose it. I just could not give him what he needed and I ended up quite depressed trying. However I did what was right for us both at the time.

Don't feel pressurised into either way hun, it's your baby and your body and you do what is right for you.

 

[Rachiebaby24]

I'd like to hear about peoples experiences of bottle feeding.

I bottle fed because Maley didnt like my boobs, didnt want them no matter how hard i tried, she wouldn latch on.

Did you get criticised for it? No.....if anything was said behind my back i dont know but sod em....my baby....
Did you still lose the weight after the birth? Ive put on but thats due to me actively trying to put on weight
Did your boobs stay pert? yes but i have a boob job so not sure if its that....have sagged a bit though
Did your baby get allergies? Maley hasnt got any allergies as yet and hasnt had a cold or anything worng yet

 

[lottiemum]

I had a GA c-section so it seemed to delay my milk coming in which meant baby was very very hungry all the time, I gave up breastfeeding after a week as it was completely shattering. I felt a faliure as a mother as I hadn't been able to give birth naturally and then couldn't breast feed. I felt soooo much pressure from magazines, all the literature you receive while pregnant, friends, family, health visitors etc to breast feed. When I decided to stop I was beside myself with guilt that I had failed my baby, but my midwife said to me all she wants is a happy mummy which will mean a happy baby. It was hard to stop breastfeeding I thought I would be judged by everyone and had really let my baby down, but I haven't been judged no one comments or seems to care how I'm feeding my baby, it's something I had in my head that they would!

 

[nievesmama]

all 3 of my children ended up being FF. my 2 youngest were very mucousy and just couldnt latch on. which was distressing for them and me so bottles it was.
as for the debate about which is better for baby my sisters baby is 6 days younger than mine and was breast fed and they both matched each other in means of weight gain and development.
with my son the midwifes made me feel a failure for not BF but with my youngest i basically didnt let them moan. theyre my children and its mothers instinct to know whats best for your own child.
asw long as theyre thriving and your both happy thats all that counts!!

 

[Vickie]

Did you get criticised for it? a few times but not by the people who are most important to me
Did you still lose the weight after the birth? was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes very quickly but I didn't gain that much weight during pregnancy
Did your boobs stay pert? no but they aren't as bad as I thought they'd be
Did your baby get allergies? none as of yet.

 

[claire-lou]

Did you get criticised for it? Not that I'm aware of
Did you still lose the weight after the birth? Am back in pre-preg clothing and was within 10 days, but am still a few pound heavier but I haven't made an effort to lose it yet. Been a mum is exhausting enough without trying to diet
Did your boobs stay pert? Yes but my boobs are so tiny that they could never be anything but
Did your baby get allergies? Too early to tell

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

I get annoyed when people talk about bottlefeeding as 'my choice'. I didn't choose it. Ruby got frustrated with my slow let down I think and she just kept coming off the breast after 30 secs at the very most. I was told that if she refused the breast she'd refuse a bottle as well, what a load of rubbish! When I gave her a bottle of expressed milk she gulped it down. But I couldn't spend all day attached to a breast pump so I switched to formula. She is SO much happier and so am I.

 

[pennysbored]

my boobs dont work.

, sorry, I'm not laughing at the fact, just how you put it, because it was the same for me. I tried for 6 weeks, supplementing her with formula, and she just liked the bottle better.

 

[Aidan's Mummy]

Did you get criticised for it? Yes a few times. But you know what stuff them. I did what was right for me and my baby nobody else.
Did you still lose the weight after the birth? Yerp size 8 jeans for me, still got a bit of a flabby tummy but hey beggars can't be choosers
Did your boobs stay pert? Yerp,
Did your baby get allergies? nope not that i know of
xx

 

[tracie107]

My DS didn't take to BF and I didn't either. Anyway I changed to FF as he seemed very settled on this - so much so that he slept through from 8pm to 8am from 2 weeks old It was great!!

Hope my 2nd baby will settle the same way!

 

[NoSpringChick]

I breastfed for 2 1/2 days but got into a panic that i was starving my baby as she wasn't on the breast for very long and didnt get any help to see if it was a latching problem or what.
Put her on formula and the same again - lazy, just not that interested, but we kept up with the formula -- turns out she just needed some time to recover form the drugs I was on -- by this time my milk had come through proper but she's enjoying the formula now and my m/w told me to just stick with it even though I hinted I wanted to breastfeed.
In some ways I feel let down and let us both down - I did ask for help in hospital and it's in my notes asking and no one came to see me yet i saw all these young girls getting one on one help with it - then my notes say that b/feeding is satisfactory cos they saw her on my breast and she was content.

I guess at the end of the day if she's thriving and happy then it's my problem to deal with not breast feeding her - i don't think it will affect her in the slightest being a bottle fed baby.

 

[Wobbles]

^ Thats terrible

There is some letting down there hun but it certainly was not you!

I'm sure but not certain you could actually get this option back ...don't quote me on it though and I hope she doesn't mind but I would talk with Mervs Mum shes the one I'd say would be able to help/advise if thats possible and how to.

 

[ryder]

I agree, your baby isnt even 2 weeks old, if you want to breastfeed you should try again... it will be harder now, but if you can get her to latch on then you should try... it may take some work in the beginning because she is used to bottles now.

 

[dizzy duck]

I am bottle feeding due to medication I had to go back on to when Oliver was born but find it great, it means my DH has more time with him. Its working out great so far and the hospital were a great support too. you just have to do whats best for you and your situation and don't let what other people say to get to you, luckily no one has said anything to us. Take care XX

 

[mrsholmes]

I chose to bottle feed for various reasons but mostly because I felt that it was the right choice for my daughter and I. In all honesty I never told my doctor I was bottle feeding She never asked so I never said a word. I put it in my birth plan and they didn't really give me much trouble except for on pediatrician who 12 hours after I'd given birth (no sleep for almost 2 days) decided to question me on it. I think that the pressure goes both way. FF moms will tell you there's a lot of pressure to BF, but BF moms will say there's a lot of pressure to FF. I think each mom should do what she is most comfortable with and not be made to feel guilty either way for her feeding choices. As long as mom and baby are happy that's what really counts imo

I just want to add that I had pressure on me to FF (top up) when Scott didnt poo for a couple of days, I knew he was fine and the mw's agreed but there was pressure from the hospital. I also had alot of pressure from family to FF as they thought it was best for me as I could rest more, I think u will have pressure whatever u deicide x

 

[tasha41]

I chose to FF because I live at home with my parents & 2 teenage siblings - BFing would be awkward for me; I do not eat healthily; I didn't want to be 100% tied down to being at/near home with/near baby at all times (I'm going to be in college soon, didn't want to wean her from breast to bottle); and TBH I was never overly interested in breastfeeding. I did consider it and sometimes I think, crap it would be so much more convenient to just whip one out when she wakes up after I've only been asleep for an hour at night, etc lol. but this is working really well for us

In the end I believe if I chose to breastfeed I would have switched anyway. I had an emergency c-section and had to be readmitted to the hospital when Elyse was 1w2d old & I stayed there 3 nights. I came home from the hospital (both after her birth and my 2nd stay) on a lot of antibiotics.. extremely exhausted and ill also. I can't fathom how we would have survived BFing; I'm 19 and home by myself all day with her usually, and like I said I was so ill at first.. I had ZERO energy for anything really.. and I didn't really have any milk come in. My boobs never became engorged-they stayed soft.. no pain..

To answer the questions asked later in the thread...
I didn't get criticized for formula feeding much.. I felt enormous pressure to BF when I was pregnant, and my nurse heckled me to BF when I was pregnant, I got bugged once by a nurse in the hospital.. and OH's mum wanted me to try BFing when I was pregnant; but when she was born people stopped bugging me about it.

My boobs are pretty perky but they aren't perfect, they weren't perfect to start with either though. They are bigger now and heavier so they aren't what they used to be but not sagging down to my knees like a grandma, lol.

Elyse is only 3.5 months old so I have no idea if she's got any allergies yet