Who bottle fed from birth???

[Leigh26]

Hi Girls,

I was just wondering if any of you who chose to bottle feed your baby from birth ever felt guilty about it? I am going to bottle feed my baby from birth and people have been telling me I should be breastfeeding & that it will take me ages to lose weight blah blah blah and that how can I bottle feed this baby when I breast fed DD1?

Also for those of you who did bottle feed, did you have any problems losing your baby weight afterwards?

Thanks

[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

[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....

[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.