Some benefits of breastfeeding

[jojojonsey]

The bottlefeeding gals have a great list that talks about the benefits of bottlefeeding (yay for them!) but i know what it is like when breastfeeding is going through a difficult phase and the bottle starts looking tempting. I know reading these sorts of things can sway a decision so I thought I would talk about my exprience as some of these points are relevant to breastfeeding as well. I didn't want to crash their thread. We all need support no matter what our choice to feed is. So again, this is just my experience. Other mums are welcome to add!

1. Hubby can feed - The best thing I have ever bought is my breastpump. I can express and put ebm in a bottle and hubby can feed. This is fantastic during growth spurts when a skipped feed is very good for ones sanity.
2. Siblings can feed - see above :)
3. Can feed anywhere any time! - Can and do. Recently I breastfed in the movies and during a seminar at the mind body spirit festival LOL
4. You know exactly how much they drink - It's funny people always say this to me but I know that my bubs get enough because i'm forever changing nappies and they grow!!
5. Can eat curries - still do. none of them have ever seemed to mind.
6.you know the exact amount they are getting - I think this is repeating point 4
7. you can fortify calories up to 1cal per ml - I'm not sure what is meant my this so I can't comment as I've never needed to.
8. can easily thicken for reflux - My number 1 baby was a little refluxy and we just fed through it. I found that she was more settled with breastmilk. The formula seemed to cause her to be uncomfortable.
9. if bubs dairy and soy protein intolerant you
10.can get neocate on a script and know it is 100 percent safe not guess work - Again I've been lucky enough to not have to worry about this. So would love to hear from mums who have changed their diet to suit their bubs.
11.formula has a longer hang time for tube feeders - again I have not had experience with this.
12.neocate formula is predigested That sounds intriguing!
13.you get thick skinned when people bag your for it LOL Well this is where we are all sisters when it comes to feeding our bubs. WE ALL get bagged for our choices no matter what plus we get asked to go feed our babies on toilets! (of course we politely tell people who ask that to rack off!)
14. Can go out without hassle - OOh that is why I love boobies. I don't trek around a nappy bag! stuff that! A spare nappy or two with some wipes in a normal handbag and I'm set.
15. no painful or cracked nipples! - Get them out in the open girls! I learnt early on that going amazon was the best way to help with painful or cracked nipples and certainly causes interest amongst the neighbours.;)
16. no mastitis - Thank goodness breastfeeding doesn't always come from mastitis. Three kids breastfed and never got mastitis. There are no guarantees that it will happen so don't let that scare you.
17. Your milk doesn't let down when you are away from your baby and think about them - This has never been a big problem for me. But what a great excuse to stay near your baby!!
18. When out and about, you can make the bottle up, give it to the baby in the pram and keep walking...no need to sit and feed for an hour Hmmm I don't like that idea too much anyway. I love feeding whether it is a bottle or boob. Looking at their face, touching their hair it's bliss! Why would you not want to do that?
19. Bubs more likely to sleep through - Not always guarantted. My bubs at the moment sleeps from 9.00pm till 6.30am without waking if he is asleep in his cot. If I co-sleep he goes for the breastaurant but I barely notice LOL. I love my sleep.
20. Dont have to wear nursing pads to go out I've never really worn pads. I hate them! I am lucky I'm not leaky. It's not guaranteed that you will be either.
21. Can TTC as soon as you are ready! LOL This has never been an issue. Luckily I love a good gap. I like only one in nappies at a time because I hate nappies!
22. You can sleep all night as you aren't the only one who can feed. I usually cosleep so I don't even notice the feeds. I've never understood the whole baby sleepless nights thing as it has been very very rarely that my kids have kept me up.
23. You can sleep on your stomach. - ooh I still do!
24. we can drink alcohol - I'm happy to build up a supply of ebm in the freezer so if I want to have a drink and am concerned about my milk I will pump and dump with no worries.
25. You can leave bub at home with DH or family/friends without worrying what time you need to be home to feed them - Again breastpump! What a great invention.
26. You can wear whatever you like without thinking "can I get a boob out with this on?" ooh one of the benefits of summer babies - You can always get your boob out of a tank top. Not so easy in winter though.
27. You don't have to worry if you are vitamin or mineral defficient, because formula covers all vitamins and minerals. You know exactly what they are getting. never underestimate a good pregnancy vitamin supplement
28. If you have a really poor diet it won't affect the baby. Again consider a supplement. But what is more - eat well for you!! You will feel better.
29. Bottle feeding saved my mental health!Literally - Oh hugs. I know that breastfeeding can be difficult. Understanding that it is important to do what is best for both mother and child is important. It doesn't necessarily need to be a bottle or a boob. Just one of them will do :). Being able to feed EBM for a break is also a big saver.
30. IT DOESN'T HURT WORSE THAN CHILDBIRTH DID!!! I was lucky again and had relatively pain free for my feeding (though I have an uncomfortable let down). I find that when feeding hurts though it is like childbirth. It doesn't last forever.
31. You never run out of milk and look on helplessly as your child screams with hunger (unless you forgot to buy formula!) - Understanding the biology of breastfeeding and trusting your body is a great way to stop this. And I have to say I have never had this happen to me personally.
32. You don't have to lift shirts/jumpers up etc in this freezing weather and get cold!! - Thank goodness for the Lovable nursing tank!!! Keeps my belly warm when feeding and covers my baby muffin top LOL.
33. You don't get bitten!! - I only get bitten once at a feed otherwise the boobie goes away. it's amazing how quickly they learn.
34. baby gets used to be held and fed by other people and isn't as clingy. - Three breastfed babies and not a clingy one amongst them - I think that has more to do with personality than the way that you feed.

Anyway as I said before this was NOT to take anything away from the bottlefeeding mums but rather to shed some personal experience for new breastfeeding mums or those who are preggers and are hoping to give it a shot! :yelclap:Yay for all mummies!Sorry this was long!!

[our little treasures]

I love your post as it shows both sides.

I would rather have the closeness with bubs and the bitten nipples than to not anyway!!:hugs:

[Areca]

10.can get neocate on a script and know it is 100 percent safe not guess work - Again I've been lucky enough to not have to worry about this. So would love to hear from mums who have changed their diet to suit their bubs.

I'll answer this one....I changed my diet when DD was 10 months old and we found out she had allergies. Breastfeeding was still free, so regardless of how cheap the formula is on prescription, breastfeeding was still cheaper. Also, we didn't have to go through any nightmares until we figured out what was happening. I have a friend who FF from the very beginning and her son was lactose intolerant, only they didn't know for the first 8 weeks and she said she was a mess. They had a screaming baby 24/7 and her and her husband just kept saying 'what have we done?' All DD ever had was a spot of exzema on her cheek that wouldn't go away but never bothered her either.

I'm not knocking mums that formula feed, or mum's that decide altering their diet is too hard and choose a prescription formula. I always said I'd stop bf'ing immediately if I had to cut anything out of my diet. I cut out all milk, egg and nut products and never gave it a second thought. I'll do the exact same this time round if need be too. DD's allergies are already improving significantly and it is nice knowing that I made a difference and did the best thing for my child (have been praised time and time again from medical professionals for sticking with it, so again, not bagging out anyone...just saying how I feel and in our case bf'ing was the best thing.)

[shed]

I wrote number 17 on that list. It was the worst thing about going back to work, luckily they fired me but that's a whole nother thread, lol.

I also wrote number 19 but I can honestly say I have never been tempted to test it, no matter how tired I get.

The best thing about breastfeeding, for me, other than the convenience of course, is that I get to stuff my face with biscuits and chocolate and creamy pastas and I stay the same weight because it burns so many calories.

yeah yeah breastfeeding is good for bubs etc etc etc, sure, but the burning calories is DA BOMB!! admit it ladies!! :laughing:

I am one of the lucky ones who has never had a problem and bubby and I love breastfeeding. We aint stopping anytime soon, thats for sure :thumbsup:

[our little treasures]

Oh I so don't loose wieght while Bf that is so not fair!!

[Sazeby]

I love breastfeeding.. nothing beats the closeness i share with my bub, breastfeeding once you get used to it.. is a piece of cake!:thumbsup:
nothing like snuggling under a big warm doona all i have to do is unclip my nursing bra and bub does the rest..
Ready to go bottles on my chest 24/7:yes:

i'm not knocking bottlefed mumma's either, just stating the things that make me feel good about breastfeeding.

[mummajuice]

Can I add another positive??

You have an endless supply of eye drops/skin cream/ everything else that breast milk can fix.

DD had sticky eyes from birth and a couple of drops of breastmilk can work wonders to clear it up

[shed]

Yes, you can lose weight. I did Lite n Easy and was on 1500 calories plus cheating and I lost nine kilos.

Now I eat like a pig and I stay the same. If I didn't eat like a pig I would still be losing weight.

[Areca]

Can I add another positive??

You have an endless supply of eye drops/skin cream/ everything else that breast milk can fix.

DD had sticky eyes from birth and a couple of drops of breastmilk can work wonders to clear it up

Another positive...when sick no need to worry about bub getting sick cause the antibodies from the breatmilk takes care of that! Now that DD isn't bf I hate being sick cause I'm so scared I'll pass it on to her.
And if you're game, expressing a bit of milk (like a mouthful) and drinking it yourself a couple of times a day does wonders for curing illness's for yourself!

[Alisonp]

*Not really being able to drink alcohol has never been a big issue for me. To be honest I wouldn't feel right if I wasn't able to get up to tend to DD during the night because I was too out of it to hear her or wake up enough. It just would feel wrong to me.:o

*Neocate is "predigested" because it is chemically broken down to destroy the cow's milk proteins so they don't cause an allergic reaction (the proteins need to be whole to cause a problem). Not exactly a great benefit IMO :confused:

*Since my DD had eczema when she was under 12mo I did an exclusion diet to check for reactions. It wasn't that bad actually - I think any b/f mum would gladly do it in order to find out what was causing the problem. We never found a trigger so I went back to eating what I wanted and the eczema went away by itself.
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I have to admit though that some of the points are valid ones for me. Yes I did have mastitis and it sucked. Yes I also had some supply issues early on but we worked on it. Yes I do wonder sometimes whether b/f had an effect on my DD's sleeping habits. All of those things can be disadvantages but overall there is no question in my mind about how much I have loved breastfeeding my daughter and how much she loves it too (I know because she told me!)

That's my number one benefit!:p

[Beany]

Regarding point 4 ("You know exactly how much they drink") my paediatrician gave a talk while I was in hospital and said there was a reason why we can't tell how much our babies are drinking: it's none of our business. It's between the baby and the boob, they'd sort it out amongst themselves.

Makes sense, too. You see bottle feeding mums stressing out because their kidlets aren't drinking the amount it says on the tin or are still hungry after drinking that amount. We whack them on, let them have at it, and off they trot. Everyone blissfully oblivious.

[Beany]

Oh and point 5, the curry thing ... hasn't stop an Indian woman yet!

[sopolicha]

A bit of booby fixes nearly anything. Immunisations, bumps on the head, tired and cranky, fingers caught in doors, being left out of fun that big kids are having, waking up in the middle of the night........

[shed]

that is so true. The boob comes out first and it usually does the trick.

I saw a post once that said something about breastfeeding mothers rely on the boob to fix everything.

And it was said in a negative way.

I still don't understand what is bad about it :confused: :laughing:

[ikis84]

Shed, I agree about being able to stuff ya face being 'da bomb'!!! I joined ww at 6 weeks post partum, lost 10kgs (much easier than I have ever lost weight before), and now can eat much more than normal and stay the same... woohoo for booby feeding and chocolate, lmao!

[meme]

thanks for posting this, from my experience as a breastfeeding mum i too would question some of those points , as it just hasn't been my experience that breastfeeding makes it harder to go out, or sleep on my tummy.
i also wouldn't want to leave my baby or drink copioous amounts of alcohol while parenting in the first year, so i don't value that as a benefit when compared to the risks involved in not breastfeeding.

when i weigh up the choice of breast or bottle feeding , for me it is clearly an unequal choice, i would make many sacrifices so that my baby could be breastfed as i see it as important.
in weighing up any benefits , i would also have to assess the risks involved, for me i wasn't prepared to risk my dd's missing out on breastmilk if i could help it.


it concerns me that some mothers think that breastmilk can just run out, or that mastitis is a given, or that formula is safer than breastmilk, or formula gives a baby better vitamins than breastmilk.
i understand the need to feel good about the choices that have been made to use formula, but to justify it by perpetuating myths, or misinforming other mothers doesn't seem right to me.

it does emphasize what types of things are important for mothers though.

- knowing baby is getting enough milk and that it is good quality
- sleep
-independance from baby and ability to go out/drink/be seperate from baby
-help from family
- pain free experience (comfort)
- a sane mother
-independant children

apart from going out without my baby which wasn't a huge priority for me early on, i agree with wanting all these things too. breastfeeding meets these same needs for me and my children.