Forum : Pregnancy

i bottle fed my first baby i was 15 when i had her and at the time i felt breast feeding wasnt right for me because of my age, with my second baby i attempted to breast feed i managed the first four days but then my nipples became chapped and started to bleed and i was in too much pain to continue so combined breast and bottle for as long as my milk lasted then had to continue with just the bottle, my 3rd baby is due next month and i intend to re-try breast feeding however i havent entirely set my mind on it because of the last time and have bought all i need for bottle feeding aswell (just incase) i like the idea of breast feeding because of the benefits the bonding and all those things however the choice to breast/bottle feed is the mothers i believe that its a very personal choice and no one has the right to force you or persuade you either way the decision is yours and you should choose what you feel is right for you and your baby there is no right or wrong method of feeding your baby and you shouldnt be made to feel that way in my opinion!! xx i was bottle fed!

hi
i bottle fed my oldest daughter who is now 16and she was rarely ill... tho recently had some stomach problems and has to eat a high fibre diet and low dairy but i doubt it has anything to do with her bottles as a baby..
i breastfed another child for 5 weeks and she had exzema and still get it and she is 11 years old..
i breastfed samantha as everythign i read and the midwife said it was so much better, tho after 4 days i was low on milk and she was crying all the time i hadnt been to bed since the day she was born and was exhausted.. obviously no one could help she was just hungry.. so i hubby pushed for me to give her a bottle which i must say was the hardest thing ever i cried the whole time as i thought i couldnt give her the best.. after the bottle i tried for 2 days to get her to latch on and she wouldnt but was happy to have a bottle and was so content so changing from brest to bottle hurt me emotionally more than it did baby in fact baby was better for it.. the midwives and experts dont explain how you might feel if you cant breastfeed... anyway now 7 and half months sam has no weight issues and even when others in the house have had colds and belly bugs she hasnt so much as had a sniffle, her only thing has been teething. so i think breast v bottle is really down to what you prefer..

i am the oldest of 2 children - i was breastfed for 6 weeks and my mum said that she had to stop it as it was just so draining, i wouldnt leave her alone etc etc. she breastfed my sister also but not for as long. neither me nor my sister have ever had any chest infections, eczema etc, or other illnesses.
as for me, i have two children:
my eldest (nearly 4yrs old) i started off breastfeeding her - it lasted 2 days before she was admitted to hospital with jaundice and too ill to breastfeed. i expressed while she was in hospital and tried to keep it up after she was discharged at 5 days old. i expressed, put her to the breast as often as possible and topped her up with formula. after 3 weeks, it all took it's toll on me emotionally and physically (keeping up with all that expressing etc was hard work, my nipples were raw and i was expressing more blood than milk!!!) and by the time she was 3 weeks old my milk was drying up anyway, so she was put fully on formula. she has always gained weight well and is a very happy, healthy child.
my second daughter is nearly 6 weeks old. i breastfed her until she was 2 days old. we had 2 days of screaming as she was hungry and was obviously only getting colostrum. i held on in the hope that on the 3rd day my milk would come (as it did with my eldest) by this point though my nipples were cracked and bleeding despite a good latch (as confirmed by the midwife). day 3 came and no milk, so i gave her formula and we then had a very happy baby. i expressed in the hope that it woudl help my milk and plus i really did want to breastfeed, but given breastfeeding wasnt working expressing was the next best thing. it took 5 days before i got any milk so things would have been horrendous if i had continued to breastfeed her as the poor little lady was so hungry and not getting anything from me. i expressed and topped her up with formula for the first week. that wasnt the only reason i stopped breastfeeding her - at the end of the first week, i ended up with a suspected infection from retained membranes and put on a week's course of antibiotics - was warned that the tablets may make my milk funny and give her diarrhoea (great i thought!). the following week i got mastitis which continued for 2 weeks so another 2 courses of antibiotics but by this point i was so fed up with the pain of mastitis etc that i had decided to give up expressing altogether and put her fully on formula. she is now 6 weeks old, is gaining weight well and is only having one night feed.
i felt terrible for not being able to breastfeed either of my girls. i felt like i was letting them down and i have beaten myself up about it. but, both my girls are happy and healthy, we are all much happier for it.
breastfeeding is best, but it has to work before it is best! sadly, it hasnt been the case for me. i also dont feel our bond is any different - i tried and it didnt work, sad but happens in so many cases.
i can go about my days and be happy with the decisions i made regarding feeding my girls, but the thing i have found hard and the thing which brings it all back to me and makes me feel like i failed is when i read, for example, the bounty book which is in the bounty packs you get at hospital. there is 6 pages dedicated to breastfeeding and how it is best, but you get one page on bottlefeeding. we all know that breast is best and i feel it is things like that which make those of us who fail feel bad.
it is such a personal thing and if you can do it, then that is absolutely brilliant, but breast is only best if mum is happy about it too.

hi, i was breastfed for 3 months and i never had any problems, my older brother was also breastfed for 3 months and he has asthma,eczema,chest infections, basically everything they say breastfeeding prevents. also he got really ill after all his injections and whenever a bug was going round he was the first to get it.
sp i dont think its as good as its made out to be as everyone is different.
i breast fed for 6 weeks and it was draining/demanding/tiring etc etc but i wanted to do 'what was best'. it was only after reading posts on here and talking to my partner that i realised it wasnt the best for my baby as i was so tired all the time and it wasnt fair on him, i was crying all the time because it was hurting (i had mastitis and very sore nipples) and i dreaded the baby waking up as i knew he would want feeding so i never cherished those first few weeks like i should have.
bottle worked out so much better as we could share the feeding and i could get longer to sleep between feeds. saying all that though.... i will try again when we have another but im not gonna beat myself up if it doesnt work out, like livis mummy said... its only best if mums happy.

Hi, I have breast fed both of my little ones. I made the decision to breast feed for a number of reasons but the main one being that my husband has severe eczema and serious allergies and his father has chronic ashma which led to him being severely disabled from the age of 30. He also had severe eczema and allergies which resuled in anaphalactic shock if he came into contact with the allergens!! I was willing to try anything to avoid the same plight for my little ones. There is clear research evidence over a number of years that exclusively breastfed babies get less allergies, eczema, asthma, infections, are better bonded and have higher IQs BUT its really hard and doesn't suit all mums or all babies so its really important to do what suits you and makes you and the baby happy. I am happy breast feeding as it is free, convenient, sterile, at the right temperature for baby and their when required but if the mum doesn't want to do it or can't do it then bottles are fine as carrying on when you don't want to do it will just make you and the baby misserable which counteracts all of the benefits. As it turns out my little girl had eczema when she was very little but now has beautiful skin and my little man has lovely skin too with not a hint of allergies (we even use cheap Aldi washing powder!) They are also both very rarely ill. However, I was bottle fed and weaned earlier than they suggest now and haven't have a day off work in the last 10 years an very rarely ill so who is to say whether it is due to breast feeding or just them inheriting my good genes and not their dad's rubbish genes!!

Hi I breastfed my daughter for 9 weeks, its was draining, I couldn't go anymore.. and she wouldn't latch on to the left breast. It felt like the most natural thing to do, and after a planned c-section it helped me to bond after the drugs wore off.

But remember not to feel pressured cos things may not go according to plan. And your baby will be fine what ever you choose. xxx

i think it is swings and roundabouts really - they say it prevents these things and i it probably does, but we have seen in just the few cases above that it simply isnt always the case!
as i said and some of the other posts have said - breast may be best but it doesnt mean that formula is bad. what is best for baby is to have mum who is fit and well and when you are in pain and like sam said, dreading baby waking up to be fed then that isnt a healthy environment.
as i said, i feel bad for not breastfeeding my two for longer, but i'm just sat here looking at them both now - my 4yr old doesnt have any of those problems (her dad has eczema so i thought she'd have it particularly if i didnt breastfeed, but that isnt the case, her skin is lovely!), she is happy and healthy and my baby has a full tum and i know exactly what she has had instead of worrying about the quality and quantity of my milk.

i agree shelly
a happy health mum by far is better for baby than whether a child is breast or bottle fed... i was so determined to breastfeed sam that when i couldnt i cried evertime she had a bottle... and as for the bond being stronger i dont think so..
i have another daughter who is 11 years (long story behing that one) but i breast fed her for 5 weeks and the bond i have with lucy and samantha is far stronger and i think the reason for this is that i was happier not in pain and loved feed times rather than dredding baby waking up..
so it really is personal choice whats good for one isnt always good for another dont be pushed into anything you dont want to do.. and even with the best intentions and determination things dont always go to plan..

i dont believe in that bond thing either. when i switched from breast to bottle i didnt suddenly lose the relationship i had with them. freya (as did olivia) looks at me in the same way when i am bottlefeeding her as she did when i breastfed her - except when i was breastfeeding her, i had a wince of agony on my face!

hi, i breastfeed my son who is 10.5 months old, i love breastfeeding, but i had a good time and hardly no problems, only down side is, is that it is demanding and at 1st they tend to feed alot, my son was feeding every 30 mins for a few weeks, and now he will not take a bottle or cup as he rely's on the comfort of me. good side to it is, its convenient, milk is the right temp, sterile etc.
do what you think is right, i love breastfeeding, some dont, you need to be happy with what you do, im not happy breastfeeding now, but my son is, and i dread giving him a feed, i cant go anywhere as i have to be back to feed him and i cant have 1 day with having a break
so do what makes you happy and what you want, ignore what people say breast is best, yes it may be, but happy mummy=happy baby, that is the best form of feeding and bonding you can get xx
ps im not trying to put you off, im all for it, its the best thing i have done, and i will do it again and feeding when out is so easy, just find somewhere to sit, cover up and feed, dont need to mess about with bottles xx