Bottle Feeding from birth

[Karen75]

Hi Guys

Just a quick question to those of you who bottle fed from birth. Can you tell me about your experiences? How did your body react to not feeding? Did it cause any probs with baby's poos etc.... I am considering bottle feeding my new bub (due sept) due to a terrible time feeding (mastitis which led to an absyss) with my first baby. Just curious to see how you guys went - also what was the attitude of m/wives etc while in hospital?

[aussienic]

A friend of mine did this and she had no troubles at all. The only thing is the hosp wouldn't give her anything to dry her milk up

[paradise lost]

Yeah in the UK they don't give drugs to stop milk. My SIL FF from birth (i was the birth partner and got to give DNeice her first bottle as mum felt shaky from the epi and was exhausted, very privileged feeling i can tell you!) and her milk came in and had dried up by day 10. She had a few annoying "leaks" so you might want to get some good breastpads for that initial period, but apart from that all was fine. THe midwives saw on her charts she'd planned to FF and only asked what brand of milk (they supply it in some UK hospitals) she wanted.

DN was fine and did great.

Bec

[Phoenix]

Hey Karen
I too had mastitis that led to an abscess first time round. I had to have surgery when DS was 7weeks old and then had a drain in my boob for about 2-3weeks. I was able to continue feeding with lots of support from Drs ect.
When I got pregnant again I consulted ABA counsellors and LCs and made sure I had a plan to get me through without this happening again.
Well 23mths on DS2 is feeding like a champ and only one mild case of mastitis when he was 9mths old.
Just thought I'd let you know it is possible to have a successfull BF relationship second time round.
Hope all goes well

[little sprocket]

I bottle fed my daughter from birth due to medication I was put on straight after birth. My milk came in around day 3 and I just had to wear a bra all the time and breast pads changed all the time cos I was leaking and sometime squirting. They were sore.

Baby wise everything went swimmingly. Hospital was very very supportive (was expecting the worst but all was good). They didnt question it cos they new of coarse I was on medication where I wasnt aload to breastfeed so I guess they thought "Well whats the point". Leah spat up a lot though. Only a little bit with the burps. There was one time in hospital she threw up her entire bottle and a midwife was there and she said that was normal cos it was also mucusy and she was just getting rid off left over stuff in her belly from being a c-section and not squeezed out. She did seem to get a little constipated after about 2 weeks but that passed with a little water fed to her between feeds. She also had thrush in her mouth however she had this in hospital and I kept asking the nurses what it was and they said nothing. I was in a chemist one day and a retired midwife walked up to me and said do u mind if I take a look (Leah was crying a lot). She took one look at her mouth and said "She has thrush'. She showed me what to buy and we put it on her in the Chemist and she stopped crying instantly. I was soooooo mad at the hospital about that. Surely they new what thrush looked like (I didnt cos I was new at this and had no idea) and why did she get it if they were cleaning the bottle and sterilising them properly. So watch for that. Other than that everything was ok. Leah had put on weight by the time we went to leave too.

[Anna**]

My friend chose to FF straight from birth (personal choice - no medical reason) and found she did need to express just a little of the milk off once it came in as she got pretty sore. She was comfortable again within 2 weeks but had a little bit of leakage for a while after. I know she mentioned wearing a snug fitting sports bra (wire free) and using cabbage leaves at times.
Like other have suggested it might be worth a call to the ABA to discuss things a bit further.

Best of luck with whichever path you choose!

[MantaRay]

Karen, I suggest the same as Caro. It sounds like you haven't made a decision yet, so it would be a good idea to get some more information before you do. I had mastitis twice with DS1 but haven't had it once with DS2. It was much easier for me second time around, so that might be the case for you too. Good luck with your decision.

[Leemar]

Hi Karen,

My Twins were bottle feed from birth and I was given a pill in hospital to dry up my milk. My boys are totally normal and I am planing to Bottle feed my Daughter as well from birth. Hospital and OB was and are totally supportive of my decision.

[Karen75]

Thanks for all your replies guys. I have met with a lactation consultant and have another appt with her in August to write a feeding plan. I haven't completely made up my mind yet and am interested in other people's experiences. I know my ob won't give me a pill to dry up my milk as he refused when I was so sick with Harry. His office told me there is a small link to stroke so I was more than happy not to add that one to my list of worries!! I'll keep you all posted on my decision and please keep your experiences coming in!!

[REEZY]

I bottle feed all three of my children after having bad experiences with breast feeding.

i found they where chubbier my DD slept through from the age of 6wks. i loved it not to mention my partner loved the fact that he could feed them as well.

my new bubba can't get enough of me had to buy her a dummy to get some housework done. i would have to say our bond is closer due to just bottle feeding her from the start. (tried to breastfeed my other two switching to a bottle which was a little stressful).

i wasn't tired either this time around. my friend breastfeeds and says she is up every 3 to 4 hrs feeding. charli usually goes 4 to 5 hrs between feeds and has done from the day she was born now sleeps through. i will be honest and say it made my life easier not to mention happier.

i have found charli doesn't have problems with her poos. (i use karicare gold plus)
with my other 2 i used s26 and found they were constantly blocked.

i hope that helps i would have loved to breastfeed but i think it doesn't matter.

[Karen75]

Thanks Reezy, I was so tired with Harry and cried and cried because nothing was working. The day I decided to put him on the bottle was the day I could really start to relax. I stopped beating myself up and started to take care of us both instead of just him. I would have loved to b/feed as I have previously mentioned but it just didn't work.... I'm glad you had such a positive experience with the bottle. Thanks again. xox

[REEZY]

my milk did take 3wks to dry up cause my doctor wouldn't give me anything

[Karen75]

So your milk still came in? Was it painful or were you able to control the pain with Panadol?

[Pandora]

I breastfed but it was not without problems. DS had a tongue tie, and bad attachment anyway but he was getting enough to put on decent amounts weight, and I didn't get mastitis, so we kept going until this changed (he stopped gaining weight) at about 6 months, and switched to formula then.

He slept through (5 hours) from 4 days old, I only ever had 1 night feed per night (there was one at 5-6am but I dont consider that a night feed) and he cut that out by 6-7 weeks old (by which time he was sleeping 8-12 hours at night)

I hope someone who has had both good and no so good b/f experiences will see this thread and be able to give you an experience from both sides.

[Evie76]

Hi Karen.

Daniel was pretty much bottle fed from birth. My milk didn't come in at all - even though I was on Maxalon - he is perfectly fine and healthy. Daniel did get the colostrum though - I thought that was important. He has not had one cold yet, but I'm putting that down to the fact that I was pretty much crook with various flus and colds my whole pg. I reckon there's a possibility that immunities crossed the placenta.

He lost more than 10% at the hos.

I think it's just the illnesses you have to watch, as they're more prone to them. Hygiene has to be really good - but not majorly OTT, otherwise he'll go outside and catch the first illness waiting in ambush.

He's a big bouncy boy these days. He eats a lot too, couldn't imagine having him hang off my boob now!! I kicked myself at first, but got over it. The little guy's gotta eat.

[ShootingStar]

I breastfed for 9 days then went to formula. CHN told me just to leave my boobs and the milk would go. She said you can take some panadol if they start to hurt or put cabbage leaves on but thats it. And they were fine. They were quite full for the first few days but then they lessened off.

Do what you wanna do.. dont let any midwife tell you what you should be doing, its your choice.

[Karen75]

It does feel like a tug of war doesn't it... But I'm trying not to think of it that way this time..
I'm determined to make this a positive experience whichever way I go.. That'll make things better for everyone.

[ShootingStar]

I dont think the midwife was telling her was she ?

No not yet, im saying for future reference as she's asking about the attitudes of midwifes when people have wanted to bottlefeed from birth. So therefore i was just saying dont let them tell you what you should be doing. Mother's instinct is the only thing to be listening to. If she feels she should or wants to breast feed then go for it, and if she feels she wants to bottlefeed, go for it too.