Who bottle fed from birth???

[visitor1]

Hi hun,

I bottle fed DD1 from around 16 hours old. I wasnt able to BF at all, nothing would come out and i got no help from the hospital staff, they suggested i FF.

Do i regret it.or feel guilty....YEP! She is now nearly 2 years old and i look back on her birth day til now and wish id tried harder and found other support and not listened to my heart or the hossy staff.

I then said to mself DD2 would be BF no matter what....it wasnt to be...BUT she was having EBM and formula for the first 3 weeks of her life so that made me feel like id succeed a bit more.

IMO if yo want to FF then go for it...dont think you HAVE to BF because thats what everyone around you thinks you should. Its your body and your choice.

As for loosing the weight...i had no time between #1 and #2...they are less then 11 months apart in age....between #2 and #3 ilost a bit..but nothing id admit to be happy about. BF can help loose the weight....but im not sure it works that way for everybody. I know friends who have BF for around 10-12 months and still not lost much at all.

[queenbee]

I bottle fed my DD from 3 weeks and never felt guilty. She got all the nutrients she needed from formula and has always been healthy. Every situation is different though, only a mother herself should listen to her own intuition and not to others.

As for weight, I am now 2kgs under what I was when I fell PG.

[Arimeh]

DS was bottle fed from 3 days old - lost the weight no problem, plus a little more.

DD was bottle fed from birth - am losing weight now.

I don't really believe that BFing helps lose weight for all women - doesn't seem to work for any of the women in my family!!!

As for guilt.... I don't feel any guilt - but saying that - will make an effort to BF #3 as that will be my last child and I will be a SAHM then.

[Leigh26]

Thanks for your replies and thoughts girls.

I breast fed DD1 for 5 months but always had a low milk supply no matter what I tried and I did seek help from a lactation consultant. Because of the low milk supply I didn't enjoy breastfeeding at all so I think this is why I want to bottle feed from day one.

[BekZ]

Goodluck Leigh...enjoy your new bub I have low supply too, it is a struggle

[Trillian]

Is that the only reason why you would FF from birth? It might not be like that this time round. Anyway, it's up to you hun and only you can make that decision. I had to FF my last one when he was a few days old as I had no milk and he was getting dehydrated. I have no idea why it never came in though when it did with the others. As for guilt, I don't hold any guilt this time as it was completely out of my hands, so it wasn't a choice I made to go to FF. And as for everyone else's opinion, well that doesn't matter either because it wont matter which one you do there will still be people who say you should be doing the other.

[samanthaBee]

I never breastfed. It was just something I knew I didnt want to do. It was hard when I was pregnant because I copped alot of negativity about it and I don't think anyone had a right to stick their nose in. Fair enough to say how good breastfeeding is but its your body and your the mumma. Formula is fine for babies and I have never heard anything go wrong with it aside from if you need to switch. And you know that your bubba is getting everything he or she needs in each bottle.

So no I dont feel guilty although for the first few days when I was emmotional and tired I did a little but mostly only because of what others had said and made me feel like I wasnt going to be a good enough mum.

I lost the weight easily enough and like someone above said - a little more

[New Dawn]

Thanks for your replies and thoughts girls.

I breast fed DD1 for 5 months but always had a low milk supply no matter what I tried and I did seek help from a lactation consultant. Because of the low milk supply I didn't enjoy breastfeeding at all so I think this is why I want to bottle feed from day one.

This is what happened to me with my girls I only BF DD1 until 4 mths but knew I had no milk at 3 days but I tried to do the " Right " Thing and keep going... It didnt help that she wouldnt take the bottle when I tried to supp feed her... It wasnt until she was 4 mth and basicly straving that she took the bottle ( she had two bottles so she was very hungry )...

With DD2 I knew that I didnt have enough milk from day one so I BF and FF from birth... once again only managed to BB until she was about 3 mths, but as she already had a bottle it wasnt so bad...

As for guilt I felt guilty with DD1 but that was because I could feed DS and couldnt feed DD so felt I was not helping my child grow as she was under weight and wouldnt feed... But with DD2 I knew that as soon as she took the bottle at birth I was helping her get the right amount of food, so have felt no guilt...

I am planing to try to BF again with #4 but wont feel guilty if I cant... You can only do what your body lets you, there is no need to feel guilty about it....

[Leigh26]

Hi Girls,

Thanks for your replies. I ended up having my baby (little girl) on Sunday at 37 wks. I have been formula feeding & haven't had any dramas. She is such a good sleeper (probably due to being formula fed).

So far I don't feel guilty for formula feeding. I do have some friends who are against formula feeding and I am a bit nervous to tell them that that is what I have decided to do, but in the end it is my choice!!! Thanks for all your support.

[Trillian]

Glad to hear that everything is going well so far for you. Don't worry about what people have to say about it - opinions are like bums - everyone's got one. It wouldn't matter what you did, there will probably always be someone who doesn't like it, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter because she's your child, not theirs.

[~clover~]

Congrats!

I BFed my girls to 6 & 4 weeks as I had alot of troubles. I always felt guilty.
Now with DS he is still BFed at nearly 8 months & now I feel like people are thinking 'are you ever gonna stop?'

Its your choice, noone elses. Goodluck.

[samanthaBee]

aw congrats on having your little girl

[queenbee]

Well done Leigh. I never felt guilty at all. Makes you happy when you don't carry that guilt doesn't it? In my opinion (and not everyone would agree), feeding is only one small part of the rest of their lives. Take care xx

Hi Girls,

Thanks for your replies. I ended up having my baby (little girl) on Sunday at 37 wks. I have been formula feeding & haven't had any dramas. She is such a good sleeper (probably due to being formula fed).

So far I don't feel guilty for formula feeding. I do have some friends who are against formula feeding and I am a bit nervous to tell them that that is what I have decided to do, but in the end it is my choice!!! Thanks for all your support.

[BekZ]

You are going to feel the pressure even more once you have had the baby!

I would recommend exploring the possibility of breastfeeding and making your decision an informed one. YOu may have a reason for not wanting to bf but upon investigation your issue maybe fixable.

I only bf DD1 for 6 wks and gave up, in a way I regret this big time because I did not seek any help. I bf DD2 for 15wks, better but not perfect. In both cases my girls have been happy on formula so I am content with my decision.

I have a couple of friends who decided to ff from birth and I can honestly say that their kids have not suffered from it at all. They did get a few looks from the bfing mums at playgroup though!!!!

Whatever you decided as long as mum and bub are happy then so be it.