Who bottle fed from birth???

[~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.

[Arimeh]

Congratulations Leigh


Well done for going with what you felt most comfortable with, and not succumbing to pressure to go with something that you didn't want to do.

[Glamourcide]

Don't worry girls, I formula-fed my first bub from birth (long, long story and a lot of reasons behind it) and I have never, ever regretted it, nor felt the slightest bit of guilt about making what I know was the right decision for both my daughter and I. I get really tired of breastfeeding advocates sticking their noses in and looking down on mums who formula feed, for whatever their reasons (and I know the reasons are so much more and varied than 'I'm too lazy to breastfeed') - we formula-feeding mums love our kids just as much as breastfeeding mums and we make our decisions based on what our own personal circumstances are, and we know that our decisions are in the absolute best interest of our kids, nothing more, nothing less.
Of course I support mums who breastfeed, it's a hard job and I applaud those who have great difficulty getting it established but stick it out until it works, but I don't think there is any reason for anybody to feel like they are a failure or a bad mother for choosing to formula-feed.

My story was that I suffered a massive post-partum haemorrhage giving birth to my daughter, and it was only today when I talked about it here that someone pointed out to me that milk is a blood product and losing so much blood would have affected my supply. I also had needles in my arms that prevented me from holding my daughter properly, so we couldn't establish her attachment soon enough and by the time we went home, my milk had nearly dried up before it began and I'd had to feed her formula to stop her starving to death. I didn't care, I knew it was better to have a formula-fed bub than a weak, dehydrated, starving one, so I had no qualms about stopping off at Priceline on the way home from hospital to pick up a tin of S26 Gold and a few extra bottles (we'd already bought some and a steriliser in case BF didn't work out for me). I also got a breast pump and some nipple shields (I have always had extremely sensitive breasts, to the point where I sometimes cry while wearing a sealtbelt if it rubs against my chest the wrong way, and my husband isn't allowed to touch them in any way) and tried my best to get a supply going, but we were staying with my parents for a few months and my inconsiderate mother wouldn't refuse guests when I was trying to BF (and if I was trying to give DD a feed and a guest came over, mum would ask me to stop so the guest could have a look at and hold the baby even when I told her I was trying to feed and to ask them to come back later on, and I wasn't comfortable with trying to BF in front of others yet), so I gave up on trying to latch DD on and instead expressed as much milk as I could.
However, I was soon exhausted as she was waking every two and a half hours for a feed, and it was too exhausting trying to get enough sleep, recover from a traumatic birth AND spend so much time expressing and storing milk, and besides, no matter how much milk I expressed it never seemed enough for her, so at six weeks I started cutting her down from half-breast half-formula feeds to all formula and she has never, ever had a problem.
I was a little bit worried about her getting antibodies etc from breast milk because she was born in the middle of that horrific flu season that was going around in 2007 (when several people died) and everyone in my family (including my husband and I) were very ill, but she never even got a runny nose. Her immune system is impeccable, she is incredibly smart and she has always been a beautiful, chubby little thing who loves her feeds and will happily take them from mum, dad, nanna, poppy, whoever (which is good for me because I can take a break from her when I need to without worrying that she won't take a bottle from anybody else).

I lost most of my pregnancy weight in the first two months after having her, but then I put on a good 30kg during the pregnancy so I'm not at all surprised that I still have a few of those kilos hanging around (not that I've tried very hard to lose the weight either, I MUST start exercising!).

I'm having another bub in May and I intend on doing what I did with DD - expressing breast milk (my mum looked at it when I was expressing and told me it was 'amazing quality', really rich and creamy and good), but if it turns out that the new bub is destined to be formula-fed, then so be it. I will make the decision based on what is best for this baby, and for me, and I know it will be the best decision, so anybody who wants to look down their nose at me because I didn't 'persevere' with BF can stick it in their pipe and smoke it.

I just want to give a big hug to the ladies out there who are made to feel like failures because their experiences with BF didn't turn out well for them, and so feel guilty for 'not doing the right thing by their babies'. Pfft to that - of course you are doing the right thing, you are making sure your baby has the best nourishment you can provide, and I have never noticed a difference between formula-fed and breast-fed babies (other than that FF bubs tend to be a bit fatter, but that's good because if they get sick they have a bit of extra weight they can afford to lose!!). It won't affect them in the long run and I'm sure it's only propaganda from BF advocates that tries to tell us all that they'll end up sickly, retarded and whatever.

[mellys bubby belly]

Hear, hear gothmum!!

Great post!!

i have a happy, healthy 11 week old baby girl who just happens to be bottle fed - I have suffered enormous bouts of guilt about this, mostly after visiting the clinic or, sadly enough, other mums. I am currently sitting thru mother's group where 90% of the discussion relates to breastfeeding, so once again, am feeling like part of a minority group. However i know the decision to bottle feed my baby was the right one for her, me and my family. It makes me very angry that no one explains that breast feeding doesn't work for everyone. I recently caught up with the girls from my antenatal class and the (lovely) midwife who ran the group attended also. When the topic of bottle feeding cameup, she advised that she also bottlefed from an early age, despite having all intentions of breastfeeding for 12-18 months. When I asked why this was never discussed during antenatal classes, she advised that the midwives running the group are not allowed to discuss the cons of breastfeeding in case it causes some mothers to decide not to BF when they are perfectly capable of doing so. To a degree i can understand this, but i know that if i had of been even slightly prepared for the fact that breastfeeding doesnt work for all of us, I would not have struggled for so long = both emotionally and physically!!

*sigh* anyways, that is just my rant for the evening, so once again, thank you gothmum for a common sense post!! (and thanks for that hug )

[Mrsmac77]

I was not going to breastfeed and took formula to hospital. However after bubs was born I did breastfeed while I was in hospital because of the enormous pressure the midwives put on me and then swicthed to formula when I got home. Looking back being a first time mum it was hard to cop the looks and comments from those people who think its thier right to advocate one or the other. I had one midwife saying formula will hurt your babies digetsive system and another saying you cannot do both its one or the other so I ended up a very upset confused first time mum. My DS has happily guzzled his formula and we have enjoyed our feed times just as much as when I was breastfeeding him. Just remember its your choice and bubs will be happy and healthy either way. As for the weight I'm 59kg with a 4mth old so yeah weight comes off with excersie.. I was bottle fed from my mother and I have been extremely healthy all my life. up until I was pregnant I was skinny and althetic. I've never had any food or allgery, weight issues.. .. A friend of mine who lectured me on breastfeeding feeds her 4 year old milo for dinner because he refuses vegetables!Your childs health will ultimatley come from his entire upbringing so please dont feel guilty.. Feel empowered by the fact that your a mum and only you know whats best for your bub xoxox