Were you BF or FF?

did this influence your decision when deciding what to do for your own child?

I was BF for 18 months and am planning to do the same for DS :)

I was BF for 4 months.

i was bf, till i was about 7months i think..
i must admit it did influence me in the beginning to bf, until i learnt all the positives and health benefits bfeeding had on my baby to which i stuck with it for almost a year, would have been more if i didn't have to go in for spinal back surgery in a few weeks.

I was BF for around 18mths

I think because both my sisters had babies before me, and they both BF that it was just normal for me - and I didn't even think about NOT BFing!

It was the same with having an epidural - my sisters have had 6 children between them and never had an epidural - so my attitude was if they didn't, why would I need to?

i was FF pretty much right from the start i think & im an only child so had no real exposure to BFing via siblings or anything like that either. it didn't have a huge influence on my decision - i think i've turned out okay :lol: but i have chosen to BF & plan to do it until DS is at least 12 months. BFing just seemed right for me/DS & i felt it was the natural/best choice for us :)

I was not breastfed. My Mum tried feeding my brother (older) and her milk 'went off' in hers words and so she was unable to breast feed, when I was born her milk simply did not appear at all.

I do not remember anyone in my extended family breastfeeding (although appartently my aunty did feed 2 of my cousins, 1 for 6 months and the other one longer, I cannot remember this). I have 8 neices and nephews (between 5 Mums) and not one of them were breastfed. My cousin also formula fed her DD. To be honest, I do not know anyone IRL (apart from BB girls) who breastfeed!

I, on the otherhand do breastfeed. I expressed fulltime for my DD1 until 11 months, when I fell pregnant with DD2 my supply dropped dramatically and so I finished expressing, when DD2 was born I started expressing for DD1 again (she has 750mls of EBM a day) as well as breastfeeding DD2.

I am very pro breastfeeding as is my husband.

I was formula fed.

I always wanted to BF and I managed 12 weeks with DS and about 9 with DD. I was really pleased that I did this for both my munchkins.

My Mum not BF didn't have any influence on my decision to try. I just thought BF was "normal" so I did it. I remember the midwives being surprised when I told them I was going to BF. (I've had breast cancer so could only feed from 1 breast). They assumed that I would formula feed. I asked for a lactation consultant after the first day as they were neither helpful or supportive of my decision. I had the most wonderful lactation consultant (she was an older lady) help me, and most importantly give me the confidence to do it, that BF was easy and enjoyable for us both!

Mum breastfed all 4 of us kids. I don't know how long I was breastfed for, but it was considered the normal thing to do (small town NZ). My Mum assumes I'll have no problems breastfeeding (cos she didn't) and doesn't think I'll need to get an expresser (we were looking at buying one). My Dad's even printed me off the latest research on BF, which is sweet.

DH was FF, so doesn't understand my emphasis on it, but is supportive of the idea. He does feel like he might miss out by not being able to feed bub a bottle though. We'll see how it goes when the time comes.

I was breastfed for 6 weeks, then on to formula as that apparently was the thing to do back then according to mum.
I'd never really been exposed to b'feeding before, my two SIL's never b'fed, they used some lame excuses as to why they never did, and were always asking me when I was going to wean DS, so obviously this nor my mum had any bearing on my wanting to breastfeed for so long.

Mum BF all 3 of us kids. I was the longest BF however Mum weaned me at 10mths but even then I didnt' want to stop (understandably!) she was told to put us on cows milk from 9mths onwards.... (:rolleyes::rolleyes:)

I always wanted to BF my own babies and having known I was BF also helped influence me too. For me, its the only way to feed a baby.... I never saw feeding my baby as a 'choice' between FF and BF you know? (but that is me so please noone attack me on that statement)

We plan to continue BF for as long as DD and I are happy to. :D

I was bottle fed .

I breast fed #1 for 7 months and #2 for 4 months (reflux which required medicating formula).

To be honest i breastfed due to social pressures and other than the closeness with my children i felt i didnt enjoy it at all. it was messy, painful, unco and frustrating lol.

x

me, my brother and sister were all BF until close to 2 yrs old.
i BF DD for 2 weeks until i was admitted to hospital and therefore was sepearted from her for 3 days and then put on meds which i couldnt BF with.
if i ever have any more kids id like to try BF again but have no hesitiations FF if i have to

That's awesome Kris, you must be so proud you were able to do that for your kiddies :)

My mum breastfed all of us. Not quite sure if it was exclusively or not. In my baby health book there is a little chart of there of how to mix evap milk, water and pentavite. Not sure if mum ever did though.

I remember her talking about how she chose to bf even though it was the done thing. I gathered she enjoyed it, but there was also the money saving aspects of it as well.

I asked my Dad how I long I was fed for and believes a long time as it was the only way she could get me to sleep, my own girls are paying me back for that now :lol:

I was formula fed. My mum tried bf for a week and was told she couldn't bf because she had inverted nipples. When she had my brother they told her not to try, it would be impossible to bf him because she hadnot bf me.

I did lots of research while pregnant with my first baby because I really wanted to feed him. It was difficult as my milk didn't come in til day five and there were other issues. It was very diffficult and I basically hated the experience but had decided to keep going while he was gaining weight. I bf him til he was five months old.

I've been bf this bub for ten months. He's had one ff a day for the past two or so months cos the expressing was driving me mental and I had to cut back.
Lots of things went differently this time around from the birth of my son onward that I belies have made the experience so very different that the first time.

I was breastfed until around 12-18 months. My partner was FF from birth.

Brendan I expressed until 5.5 months formula was introduced at around 4.5-5 months old.
Tristan is 9 months and I am still feeding him :D

To answer your question, no I was not influenced, my view has always been that breasts are for feeding babies.

I was FF. My mum tried BF my sister and had a lot of difficulty and din't bother with me or my brother. I also think there wasn't a huge emphasis on BF back then and b/c formula was available it was seen as on ok alternative - perhaps I'm wrong? I too remember also reading in my health book about evaporated milk!

I wanted to BF, no question about it. I went to the class the hospital run, asked tons of q's to friends who BF, my gf bought me a BF pillow, I even considered joining the ABA and never bought any bottles etc.... I lasted 8 days and on the eighth we switched to FF (hardest decision ever). I had shocking cracked nipples & mastitis in addition my milk took until about day 5/6 to fully come in & DD was so hungry that I was feeding her every half an hour & she still wasn't satisfied, so the mw/s started topping her up with formula. I got refered as they thought I may have had post natal depression (I don't but was diagnosed as having anxiety relating to my BF issues - physical & psychological)

When I fall pg with # 2, I will still try to BF.

my mum didn't BF either of us - with my brother, she was 17, her milk was late coming in, flat/inverted nipples, and she had a nasty nurse that wouldn't help her and ended giving her the ultimatum - either FT BF or FT FF - they weren't going to help her with supplementing any further - she put him on the bottle

with me, she had a c/s and her scar is an vertical one, not the horizontal bikini line one i have. she was determined to BF, but was trying to feed, started coughing, had to try and hold me, hold a pillow against her stitches to keep them from popping, and get herself a drink of water to stop the coughing = almost dropped me and had to get another mum on the ward to grab me. apparently that marked the end of it all. i can't quite work out the logic behind it as i'm sure she would have had to still hold me to formula feed - but 30 years on, i don't question it1

for me, BF was partly to prove to myself that my body worked - after all the IVF and stuff, i HAD to do something. plus i'd done my reading on the benefits. i was going to give it a fair try, but wasn't going to force it if it wasn't working for us. i too have very flat nipples, so i was accepting that it may not work - but did want to try. my milk didn't come in til day five, so it was a very trying situation. i had one midwife tell me i HAD to give my DD formula that morning at around 5am - i cracked it at her. i'd been really calm and done everything the middies and lactation consultant had suggested - this one was tired and grumpy at the end of her shift, and the fact DD was awake at 5am must have meant she was hungry. i stood my ground though. not once was DD out of my care without DD with her so i know she never had any formula. i didn't know exactly what i was doing (hell, i still wing it sometimes!) but i knew enough to know that supplementing with formula at that point would be harmful to my supply - i NEEDED her to be feeding from me - even if she wasn't getting a lot.

anyway - my mum is proud of what i've achieved with BF DD. she has said more than once that she is envious that i am able to BF, and loves to see the relationships DD and I have as a result. she admits she is looking forward to me going to work and leaving DD with her as she will get to have those feeding snuggles (i will express for her) - as she hasn't been able to have that bond with her that she has had with FF bubbas she looked after while doing FDC. she has a wonderful bond with DD anyway - but she is looking forward to this aspect of it i think

I was BF'd, I think for about 6 weeks. In mums words - strictly 4 hourly, strictly ONLY 10 mins per side (!).

I don't think I thought about my own experiences (can't remember anyway!) when it came to feeding my children but I have a huge family everyone seemed to BF and FF'ing looked like a lot of faffing around when I got old enough to care about it.

I was formula fed from very early on - I think there were attachment issues right from the beginning. Apparently I wouldn't open my mouth wide enough.
However, my younger sister was born when I was 9, and my mum breastfed her for 12 months. I do have a vague memory of it, and I'd say that has influenced me more than how my mum fed me. For me, breastfeeding was just what you did, so when I fell pregnant that was what I planned to do - and when I read about all the benefits, etc, my mind was even more made up.

I was breastfed for almost 4 months before Mum switched me to Formula due to insufficient weight gain and that was the longest she'd gone as my brothers all refused earlier on then that for the same reasons after the bottle needed to be introduced. I was determined to BF DD but had similar problems, never had a full supply and meds/expressing/lactation consultants etc didn't enable me to ever get full supply so had to top-up with formula from 3 weeks since she hadn't even regained her birthweight. But I still breastfed her till 7 months when she refused altogether in favour of the bottle only.

I don't think Mum's not really breastfeeding us made a difference to my desire to, more the education and support that's around today - but it helped to have someone who'd experienced the same problems and feelings I was with regards to sucking as a dairy cow.

I was BF for about 4 months and then had to be put on formula bc Mum's milk supply went down and I was hungry. No one told her to feed more to make more milk, they told her only to feed every 4 hrs. She did differently with my siblings and they were all fed for 1 year.

Being breastfed myself didn't influence me but seeing my Mum BF my siblings did. I can remember her BF them and so I just thought it was normal. Like Shanti, I didn't see it as a choice, BF is the normal way to feed a baby. When I had problems at the start I was determined to overcome them, I remember thinking if my Mum could do it I sure as hell could too!

I was BF till 20 months and my brother was BF to 14 months. I plan to BF all going well, mum has told me all about the cracked nipples / infections etc put as bluntly as only a mother can :D but she loved BF and tells me she cried when each time she weaned so her positiveness makes me want to give it the best shot I can.

My mum breastfed my brother for a while, and she struggled with sore and cracked nipples so she stopped. She didn't even bother to try BFing with me.

My decision to BF was a no brainer to me though, I just decided it was completely natural, and there is tons of support out there for us now, whereas back when mum had us, there wasn't. Plus, formula isn't something we can afford, and my sleep is way too important to me to spend time in the middle of the night preparing a bottle! :lol:

5 weeks and so far no problems! Am hoping to go until around 6/7 months, maybe more :)

great thread!!


i was ff- and ff both kids did clostrum though
maybe add a poll?

i was BF for 4 weeks i was making my mum bleed and getting more blood than milk :o
and was then found to be lactose intolerent

i BF DS for 5 days but i had planned on doing it longer and i also plan on trying to overcome and BF this time till at least 12 months be it successful

I was BFed for almost three years. My Mum still tells people (anyone who is listening) and is very proud of it - she weaned me when she fell pregnant with my sister, by telling me that I had drunk all her milk. This came back to bite her later, because I told her she couldn't BF my new baby sister because I had drunk it all :rofl:

My Mum was Secretary of her local Nursing Mothers (now the ABA) and I used to wear a t-shirt that said "Breast Fed is Best Fed!" when I was a toddler. Oh, and my Dad was infamous in our local community for "teaching" other mums to BF (he was a nurse). I remember mums and their bubs coming to our house for a lactation lesson with my Dad. Where's the "proud as punch" emoticon? :D

I hope and plan to BF. No doubt my attitude is partly due to being brought up in such a pro-BF household. But it never really occurred to me to not BF, and I will be sad if I can't.

Mum regrets not having Bfed us all for longer. I think I was the longest Bfed of three of us, weaned at 7 months.
Most of the kids I had relationships with were bottle-fed (cousin, nieces etc), ABM or EBM.
None of the above has had any bearing on how I've fed my babies. I am however grateful that my immediate family has been very supportive of my breastfeeding - no one ever suggested to me that I try a bottle. It therefore never occurred to me not to BF.

I wanted to add:
After I was born (early 1980's, Australian hospital, vaginal delivery) my Mum was actively discouraged from BFing on demand. She made a sign for my crib "I am 100% breastfed" to stop the nurses at the hospital from topping me up with formula. She was scoffed at and told "this won't last." She says this only made her more determined to BF exclusively, but I can see why so many other mums gave it up or only ever tried FF, with such a lack of support.

Both my sister and I were BF for 6 months - then I think Mum was over it!

At first stopping at 6 months did influence me a bit (coz DS was going through a fussy stage around about the same time) but I persisted and BF him till 15 months.

I was BF for 6 weeks, then onto formula, like another poster said, that was the "done thing" back then, also my mum was 17 years old, had no support from the hospital etc, and was the first out of her friends and family to have a bay so felt she had no "role models" as such to show her otherwise.
She tried again to BF my next brother, with no success, inverted nipples and no support.
FF from 4 weeks...
My next brother she BF for 6 months until he kicked her so hard in the boob, she ended up with raging mastitis, dad still likes to tell the story of mum sitting in the bath, sobbing with pain and expressing "thick pus" from her breasts...:rolleyes: niiice, not!
Then with my youngest brother, she did it, it all worked, and he was fed till he almost 2! mum always said it took her that long to work out how it all worked and to have the confidence to do it!

I had an aunty or 2 who were very pro bfing, I do recall them bfing their children, most however did bottle feed with formula.
Mum has always been a huge support to me with BFing, she always said she wished she could have done it longer with all of us.
I have Bfed DS for 17 months now, we will see how long he goes for...:lol:

My mum BF me for a little while, not sure how long, maybe 8 weeks? She had inverted nipples, attachment issues & I was a lazy sucker - she was sent home from hospital & told 'she'll feed when she's hungry'. Zero support back then :(
Of course I didn't feed (not very well, anyway) and we both had long crying sessions, me because I was hungry, she because she was sitting on her own (Dad off at work, no family or friends nearby) with a fussy baby who wouldn't feed.
She didn't try to BF with my sister.

I really wanted to BF; I fed DD1 for a week, came home expressing with cracked bleeding & scabby nipples and I just couldn't keep it up.
I fed DS1 for 8 weeks until I thought he needed formula. Nobody explained to me that it's normal to have growth spurts or for BF babies to poo less :doh:
DS2 was fed for 14 months and was a fantastic experience, I felt like I had finally got it right.
DD2 is currently still drinking EBM & has been since day 4.

I don't think mum influenced my decisions; breastfeeding is the 'default' option for me, always has been & if it doesn't work, then you try something else.

I was FF as I was adopted, it didn't really have any influence of my choice of BF all my children.

Regards,
Dianne

I was bf for 4 months. My mother told me that she hated bfing. Whilst pregnant with DD1 she told me repeatedly to ff. Of course I didn't get much support when DD1 was born. Through research and BellyBelly I have learnt much more about bfing and that it is actually natural and not some only hippies do.

I was BF for about 3 weeks and then onto FF as I wasnt gaining weight, this happened to both my brothers as well and the doctors thought it might have been linked to the blood pressure medications that mum was on.

I never really wanted to FF, for me BF was easier and I remember the pita sterilising etc from when my little bother. It helped I think that the girls were both premmie and that I had heaps of breastfeeding support in the NBIC beofre them coming home, Fia is still breastfeeding at 30 months

My mum didn't BF at all. We were the youngest in our extended family so I didn't even really see any women BFing growing up.

TBH the women on here had more influence on my BFing journey than what I grew up with.
Actually the positive factors of BFing were heavily influenced here....the bulldog 'never give up' attitude came from my dad :D

We were all FF nearly from birth. My second brother (baby #3) was BF the longest at 1 month but then she gave up because he was constantly on the boob and she found it hard to do that and look after my other brother and I properly. But she is a heavy smoker I'm actually glad that she didn't feed us I would rather have all the goodness of formula ;) than all the chemicals of cigarettes. What she did in no way impacted on what my plans were for my babies.
Dh was BF exclusively for about 3 wks and then he was supplemented with formula and rice cereal because that's what her mothercare nurse told her to do, so she did it.

i was prem (almost 4 weeks early) so mum said it was too hard for her to BF (going back and forth to the hospital) i HONESTLY think its a cop out and if it were me id do whatever it took to BF my baby.
I only got to 4 and a half months, which for us was AWESOME we had so many problems so i am so proud of us for making it this far, so sadly now she's FF but she's getting what she needs and thats all that counts.
My mum bf 2 out of 5 (but didnt bf for very long)
My next baby i will work as hard if not harder to make sure i can BF until they are ready to stop, i know i did all i could this time but ill be armed with experience next time.. this time i walked into it blinded thinking it was all going to be so easy and natural..
next time ill know better :)

I was bottle fed as mum had really huge boobs and aparently got no help with working out how to feed me without my choking on her boobs.
I was actually on solids from 6 weeks too! scarey stuff hey! The funny thing about it is that I was the only one in my family to be bottle fed (i am the eldest and mum got some help after having me) and to be put on solids so early- YET... I am the one and only one out of 6 kids without allergies. Everyone in my family has allergies!!

I however bf my girls DD#1 for 15months and DD#2 only for 4 months as i didn't have the supply which i was devistated about!

Breast - not sure if I had anything else, but quite probably did. 4 hourly from birth then at 6 weeks feeds were dropped so I could have rice cereal and water instead of a feed. By 11 months I was fully weaned.

I let DS self-wean at 16m. He had the occasional bottle of formula (the hospital were most insistant that I'd never BF and DS needed formula at just 3 days old) and I prefered to feed him over giving him food. But he liked his solids too much.