Bottle or Breast...which is your intention?

[CdnMom]

I am bottle feeding and I did with my dd as well. It just isn't for me and my dr agreeded. Just wondering what others are planning. I have to fight with the nurses at the hospital when I give birth but hey it's all about my choice.

[sallymay101]

With both of my children I planned to breastfeed, and did.

With this one, her parents want to breastfeed her (her mom is trying to induce lactation), and I'll probably feed her from my breasts while we're in the hospital (so she can get the colostrum). After that I'll pump for them as long as they need/want it and we can get it to them.

We're hoping, though, that Mom is able to make enough milk.

[LeslieT]

I breastfed my dd until about 9 months old (she weaned herself by starting to bite me!) and plan to with this one too. However, for all you 1st-time moms who plan to breastfeed, I have 2 big pieces of advice:

1) Make sure to get your child acclimated to also taking a supplemental bottle of formula on occasion! You would not believe how much help this can give you in times of emergency when you can't nurse and don't have any expressed milk on hand. And trust me, in the 9 months or so that you will nurse, this need will happen at least 2-3 times. You don't need to do it much, 1 bottle of formula every few days, but get them acclimated to it by 8-10 weeks so that you have that flexibility when you desperately need it.

I know, some of you will say "oh I would never give my child formula!" Trust me, you will emotionally and psychologically need to take a break every once in awhile and be able to have someone give your child a bottle. And you think...oh, I'll just express breastmilk and store it just in case. Well, it's not that easy. Refrigerated breastmilk has to be thrown out after a very short period of time (I think it was 72 hours), and you'll inevitably not have any in the frig at the exact time you need it anyway. Frozen breastmilk can't just be thawed in the microwave or hot water, it has to be thawed in warm water so it doesn't spoil. And your baby will be screaming long before that breastmilk is thawed if you find out at the last minute you can't be there in time.

I waited too long to get my daughter acclimated to a bottle...about 3 months old before I tried, and by that point she would refuse it. That meant I had very little flexibility in ever being able to be away from her for very long. Plus, I was a bottlefed baby and so are many in my generation, I'm very healthy and quite intelligent and so are many others who were bottle-fed, and the formulas now are great. And again, we're just talking about 1 bottle every once in awhile (every 3 days or so, longer once they're used to it), not once a day.

My final point of "I'm going to get her to take a bottle no matter what" was when she was about 6 months old. I was stuck in the DMV for 2 hours with broken air conditioning, sweltering hot, hundreds of people milling around, no chairs available, sitting on the floor trying to nurse with her covered with a blanket, causing both of us to sweat like crazy and making her quite the cranky beast. At that moment I said, this is nuts! She WILL take a bottle. And I solved the problem, swearing that if I EVER had another baby I would make sure they'd take a bottle of formula occasionally for exactly this situation.

2) You may get samples of Enfamil at the hospital or your doctor's office, and think that'll be OK if you're breastfeeding as a supplement. I found out myself and from many other breastfeeding moms that Enfamil is horrible-tasting to breastfeeding babies, and that's quite often why they refuse it. I assumed all formula is the same but it is NOT...quite different-tasting. Enfamil smells ghastly, but what's especially missing is sweetness. Breastmilk is very sweet, and that's what your baby will be used to. Enfamil absolutely is not sweet at all, and my daughter acted like I was trying to put the most God-awful substance down her throat when I tried to get her to take it occasionally.

Finally at a mom's group when she was about 6 months old, I was discussing my problem and they immediately asked me which formula I was trying. I told them Enfamil and they immediately said, Similac if you're breastfeeding! It's sweeter and even better smelling than Enfamil...much more similar to breastmilk. And sure enough, she took it the first time I tried it. Similac has an Advanced formula that's great (gold ribbon on the label), with DHA and RHA added for brain development. Who knows if she would have taken a formula bottle earlier if I had known about the Similac vs. Enfamil taste thing. But all I know is I will only be trying Similac this time.

Anyway, some words of experience from a breastfeeding mom who's been there!!

[Monchhichi]

I just don't know...

I was adamant that I would exclusively BF my dd, but it only lasted 2 wks with her not gaining weight before my dr told me that I just wasn't producing enough, and I HAD to supplement. I was devastated, and felt like a total failure. I cried when she first took the bottle.

This time, I am thinking with a 3 yr old running around and demanding attention, I will be even less likely to succeed, and don't want to set myself up for failure again.

However, on the other hand, Jordan had reflux, colic, and a milk/soy protein allergy. Part of me knows that these would be less severe (if they were to appear in Brooklyn) if she were on breast milk... but the other part thinks that if these are going to appear if I end up having to supplement anyway, I would rather have the reactions at the hospital. The first 4 mos with Jordan are a total blur, and were absolute HELL! The dr didn't take my concerns with her screaming, gas, discomfort, spitting up, etc. seriously, and it wasn't until 4 1/2 mos that he suggested the milk/soy allergy (she had already been on soy, lactose free, Good Start, low iron, iron fortified, etc... I think it was 10 or 12 different formulas that we had tried). The reflux never was taken seriously, and she continued to spit up constantly until she was 9 mos old. If I had FFed from the beginning, and these problems had appeared at the hospital, I just feel that they would have been dealt with much more quickly...

So, part of me wants to BF, because I know it's better for her, but I am leaning toward FFing, because of the hell I went through last time...

[Monchhichi]

P.S. Aren't you sorry you asked???

[sharryn]

Hi
We will be bottle-feeding due to the fact I will be on medication after birth which may affect baby through breastmilk. My MIL is already giving me the breastfeeding lecture wish she would mind her business

[JuliaNY]

I went through hell on breastfeeding too with Ben. He was a month early and never learned to latch properly. I ended up pumping for 9 month. The amount I was able to get was never more than half of what he needed, he was taking more formular than breat milk. This time around I will try breast feeding again, but will keep an open mind if that doesn't work out.

[LeslieT]

I had issues with the breastfeeding thing itself at first too, the 1st couple of weeks. She was getting enough, but was latched improperly and causing me incredible pain. I almost gave up!! Then I went to a lactation workshop and they helped alot on how to get the proper latch so the pain would go away (it'll still be a little painful at the beginning, but not THAT painful if it's done right! I was in agony).

So this leads to ANOTHER BIG HINT: Most hospitals have a lactation consultant visit you while you're still in the hospital if you plan to breastfeed. MAKE SURE you're actually in the process of nursing or can start nursing when they come by, while they're in the room!! Mine came by while my daughter was sleeping, asked me how things were going. Well of course I had no idea, being a first-time BFer. I told her she seemed to be getting enough but it was painful, and she said, oh well it will be to start with. Turns out I was doing it wrong (my daughter had only my nipple in her mouth rather than my nipple plus part of areola, which is very important)! She described to me what I was supposed to be doing, but until someone actually shows you how you actually get the baby to latch on properly, including how to open their mouth and shove the right part of your nipple/areola combo into their mouth, it just goes over your head. The only way she would have truly helped me was to actually watch me and help me get it right WHILE my daughter was breastfeeding. Her visit was such a waste of time!

I finally went to that lactation workshop 2 weeks later and had them show me the correct way, including opening their mouth and shoving the right parts in with only 2 hands, and from that point in it was much more effective and the pain went away rather quickly. But the lactation consultant could have done the same thing in the hospital on day 2, alot sooner in the process!

[Kirbyluv]

As of now, I hope to breastfeed and pump so dh can feed her too! I will botle-feed if it doesn't work for me, so I'm keeping an open mind either way!

[chloe2]

i bottle fed ds and will bottle feed again. i have a daycare with 8 children everyday... it would be too hard to b/f and watch all the children. my dr. is very supportive and said it is entirely up to me! i was so happy he isnt pushing me!