why do/did you bottlefeed?

[JATS]

Before I say anything I want to make clear that this is not a thread to discuss 'what constitutes a good reason to bottlefeed'. All reasons are valid. Poll is anonymous (http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=anonymous&spell=1).

I guess another way to word this question is "why don't you breastfeed?"

After recent threads where many have expressed an interest in the reason for this choice I think this poll would be interesting for many here (FFers and BFers alike).

Multiple choice poll as it is often a combo of factors.

Please keep this thread Pro choice! :thumbsup:

[luckie_me]

I bottlefeed because i didnt have the confidence to breastfeed, I also had a very emotional time during my pregnancy and was taking one step at a time I do Regret not trying it but I'm gunna give it a go with #2!

[the_queen]

My daughter had a cleft lip, and after her cranio-facial surgery at 14 weeks old, she refused the breast.

[Lirael]

I dont want to breastfeed my next one. i cant explain it really.

[RedPanda]

I bottlefeed because breastfeeding was so painful for me. Looking back, I could have persevered, but at the time, I could barely see four hours ahead, let alone a few weeks. Perhaps next time I'll be braver :p , and seek the right support before it's too late.

[mum2peanut]

I didn't get milk due to my breast reduction surgery, so I'll always be a FF mummy, have to say I do enjoy the freedom of it, esp the fact that you can get DH to do some of the night feeds.

[~rambox~]

Sexual barrier here that i just cant over come to do it

[mum33]

done this on more than a few other threads. make a long story short, after much trying i couldnt, DS was starving and he had to go onto formula.

[kiah]

Lost my milk:crying: . But loved the time i got to bf. Will def be trying again with next one.:thumbsup:

[InSaneOne]

i lost my milk due to stress in my life at the time. i started off with heaps of milk but after dh's assult i was under too much stress and it dried up - beth went onto formula just before 6 months old. however for any future bubs i will be breastfeeding, hopefully for longer than 6 months.:fingerscrossed:

[Eeyore]

I had little to no milk. The lactation consultant at the hospital tried to milk me like a cow and still there was less than 1ml. Anyway after 2 weeks of b/f for 1hour, bottle feed then express for 45mins, I was OVER IT. DD just thrived and I regained my sanity after going to formula only.

[Pippi Longstocking]

There wasn't really a poll option for me - I bottlefed Luke because I was given the wrong info and chose to believe it because it supported what I already wanted to do, which was wean him :o

[Ashleigh<3]

I could only ever get 30 mls out of one breast, even with her on one of my breasts she would pull away and cry because nothing would come out, the other breast would produce about 100mls every three hours, she wanted to feed every hour for an hour.
The breast that was producing more milk was so sore and I was sick of the pain.
She kept throwing my milk up, which is probably why she wanted to feed every hour.

I started one cows milk formula feed per day, a week after, three a day, the next week I tried to breastfeed her and she rejected it, I guess the formula was just filling her up and she preferred the taste.

It's a horrible feeling when you watch them make a horrid face at your milk and gag.

[RedPanda]

There wasn't really a poll option for me - I bottlefed Luke because I was given the wrong info and chose to believe it because it supported what I already wanted to do, which was wean him :o

Hey Guv, what age was Luke when you weaned him? Was he your first child? You don't have to answer if you don't want - just curious to see if breastfeeding subsequent children is easier/smoother journey. (I'm hoping it is:fingerscrossed: )

[kym479]

Bub started off great then had problems latching and even though I could have perserved (?), I decided to FF so that my hubby could bond more with him when we came home from work (works FIFO).

[Pippi Longstocking]

He was 5 months and he was my fourth baby :o

It really was just a case of me being sick of breastfeeding so when the CHN told me that I had "run out of milk", I was more than happy to believe her so I went along with it. It was bollocks, o' course. He moved up a size in clothes shortly after, he was just mid growth spurt.

[FourAngelKisses]

Pain pain pain!! Breastfeeding hurts way more than giving birth. (Yes, was attaching right.) I tried expressing, that hurt just as much.

Also because I wanted DH to be able to bond with his children as much as I was.

[Ana Gram]

The constant pain was too much.

[FourAngelKisses]

The constant pain was too much.

:hugs: I feel your pain.

[Tabby]

I ended up back in hospital week 2 with an infection in my c-sec, We were still trying to establish bfing. I broke down to DP day 3 of my stay. bfing was so painful and I was not a well person. When I started to cry because I was dreading feed times I knew it was time.
I want to continue more than anything but I just couldnt "handle" it together with the infection/pain.

[Snuffys Mum]

DS was born with a tounge tie that wouldn't allow him to attach. I couldn't get it fixed until he was 5 weeks and my milk had been and gone by then. He's been FF since he was 3 days old. I really don't have any hang ups about it.:thumbsup:

[~mia&ryan~]

DD had no problem attaching, that was easy, unfortunately due to my PPH and subsequent transfusion I didnt produce much milk at all.. the lactation consultants and I tried so many options but in the end we had to comp feed and eventually fully FF.... I was expressing every couple of hours trying to increase supply but the most I got out of both sides was under 100ml and I only got that amount once.... Most times I only got 20ml all up.. It was so disheartening.... In the end I was expressing and only get 5 mls so full time FF it was.... DD thrived on formula which was all that mattered... :fingerscrossed: the next time it will be smooth sailing...

[tootiredtosleep]

My supply went down and I couldn't keep DD full. I started off expressing and giving her formula, then just formula. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

[danielle13]

I never had much milk so I gave DD supplementary ff's, and she self-weaned at about 7-8weeks.
I guess she got over trying so hard with little reward.
I would have liked to bf for longer but unfortunately I wasn't very well informed and it just wasn't to be.

[SalTheGal]

I do half/half

FF during the day cause I am back at work, and hate the idea of expressing feeds, BF at night.

However I introduced supplemented FF before I returned to work cause I wasn't confidant in my supply...........I read on another thread that to be able to breast feed successfully one of the major things you need is confidence in yourself- and I think that is so true, cause it is so hard to know if bub is getting enough, and any doubt can become really stressful.

I had no confidence in myself and my supply (although in hindsight it was probably actually fine) so for bub to get FF during the day gives me more confidence that he is getting what he needs!

[JorBai]

Bailey would not latch on, I had flattish nipples ( not inverted). Couldnt get much help and he simply would not latch.

[SamanthaJane]

To put it simply... Because this is my child and i choose how i feed her. I'm not discussing my personal reasons here.

[Frazzled]

I fed till 3.5 months. My period returned at 7 weeks which had a huge imapct on my supply. My milk rapidly dwindled and by 14 weeks Elliot had started losing weight after I struggled, feeding him almost 24 hours a day. He was a bad reflux baby too, so our last resort was formula, which despite what anyone can say - I still feel incredibly guilty about.

[cosmic]

hmmm... I still wonder what went wrong. Ultimately there were supply issues... major ones... but what caused it I don't know. DD never gained weight. In fact I looked back on old photos of her last night and she looked like a little Kampuchean (sp?).. anyway - a very scrawny baby. :( I never realised how horribly skinny she was, but she went from 90th percentile to 10th in a short space of time.

In the beginning, I had lots of milk (I think) but I don't think she ever really attached properly. She would jump on and off and cry all the time. She would feed for a couple of minutes and pull off crying and not go back on the same side. This would go on all day and she never slept during the day either... just this horrible stop-start feeding and her crying.

At about 3mths my period came back and that also affected my supply and made a tenuous situation much worse. So I expressed for weeks and topped her up with EBM and while it helped her gain weight, it didn't help to increase my supply and I couldn't see myself feeding and expressing (to feed from a bottle) forever so eventually I resorted to comp feeds of formula. That went on for a while and finally at around 8mths when she started sleeping through the night, I think that was the end of what little supply I had and she refused the breast completely.

So ummm.. I guess that's a long way of saying "Lactation Issues". :o

And I'm with Frazzled.. I still feel like I should have done more/known better/got different advice/stayed in hospital longer/whatever... But I am very glad we got as far as we did. :yes:

[Trumpet]

I had issues but I'm not going into them again but I find it so much easier and it gives me a break to have DH feed them and it gives him a nice experience to bond with them and get more comfortable and not so scared about holding them.

[Beany]

I comp fed with formula for the first couple of months. There was a lot of pain with every feed and I needed time to recover so he was getting a couple of bottles a day.

After that hurdle was jumped, I realised I had intraductal thrush. Now THAT was a pain worse than labour. I would feed and then, about 10 minutes after the feed, be writhing moaning and sobbing in excruciating pain. The thought of going through that sort of pain again would (obviously!) discourage me from offering another breastfeed sometimes so, especially for night feeds, he got a bottle.

[kristi001]

Sexual barrier here that i just cant over come to do it


OMG i thought My sister was the only one!

She thinks it perverted :laughing:

[reAllytee]

I dont know how to vote lol !

My milk never came in whether it be due to my body not being able to produce the right hormones im not sure. There is also a chance that having a traumatic labour caused my hormones to go haywire.

I also had dramas in regards to Boof having a tongue tie. Now while it didnt stop him attaching & us having no attachment issues it meant it acted like a little knife, while he suckled it cut away into my breast. He also had teeth laying just under the surface of his gums which meant he bit me every time he fed also. So i had cuts & chunks of skin missing. I was lucky if i stopped the bleeding inbetween feeds.

It was all a rather painful experience that i still cope with today because of the scar tissue on my boobs.

[Bumble]

My first bub just wouldn't attach i wasn't all that comfy bf anyway i expressed for 3 mths before putting her on fomula it was the best thing for us , i thought id have same probs with #2 even took fomula to hospital but i tried and he went straight on no probs i hope to bf as long as poss but have no probs putting him on formula if i need to:thumbsup:

[ZarasMummy]

Zara wouldn't accept breast and after two nights of hell in hospital with midwive's trying to 'milk me' like a cow I broke down to DH and told him that I didn't want to take my baby home. Zara would scream all night...so much that they had to take her out of my room and into the nursery where one of the midwives finally gave her a bottle. We ended up seeing a speech therapist the next day and she suggested that Zara's mouth was hyper-sensitive and that's when we made the decision to bottle feed. I tried to express for about a month but it got too much with Zara's reflux playing up so we went to formula. Zara is now doing so well...poor little thing was screaming in the hospy because she was starving!!!!!!!!!!

[SweetSerenity]

I chose to bottlefeed my ds as he was only feeding off one breast, was feeding every hour and wasn't sucking properly... he was never satisfied and wasn't getting the amount of milk he should of been getting, especially as he would only take to one side.

It was also very painful for me which resulted it being quite a stressful thing to do... every hour, being in pain and my son not getting much milk was not a very nice situation to be in.

My nipple stayed bruised for about a month after i stopped breastfeeding and went to bottlefeeding.

His feeding habits changed for the better once he was on the bottle. He was feeding every 3 -4 hours and he was satisfied for alot longer.

So it was the best decision for us :):thumbsup:

[Widget]

DD's first feed was formula as I was still in recovery after the c-sec. I had plenty of milk, but she didn't seem to latch properly, flat nipples and when she was on, she chomped, not sucked. Day 2 she ended up in special care due to other factors. She was bottle fed from then on, I tried when we got home but we both ended up in tears, she didn't want me...

I expressed for another week, but after missing every 2nd express and feeling ill every time food was put in front of me, I decided that Formula was the best way to give her the nutrients she needed.

Really wanted to breastfeed as we knew I was going to have troubles bonding. It took me about 6 months to bond with her, but there is still a sense of "not caring" even with all the stuff we've been through with Drs galore.

I love her to no end, but am still quite happy to leave her cry on the floor... So long as she isn't obviously in pain.

Sorry - not being able to breastfeed still gets to me sometimes... I know I did what was best for her!

[kiwibird27]

Critically ill baby, 3 1/2 months in hospital, still tube fed with special pre-digested formula!!!!! Too much stress milk dried up within 3 days!!!!

[Bethwyn]

No supply. I actually accidently starved my son in the hospital because of it and because the midwives kept harrassing me to keep BFing and no one picked up on the fact that things weren't going right, and no one listened to me when I started worrying that he wasn't right. He ended up dehydrated, hypoglycemic, jaundiced and had lost more than 10% of his body weight. When that happened I felt like absolute **** because I had made my baby sick and hadn't done enough to get the midwives to take me seriously that something was wrong, but thankfully it was picked up before it got too serious and once we started on formula he started to improve. I actually think I like FFing much better than BFing though because DF can do it too and give me a break, and I really don't find making bottles to be any hassle at all.

[Duchessa]

I fed the twins for 9 months but then I was admitted to hospital with pneumonia and pleurisy and there I stayed for 6 days. They also had multiple food allergies so I was on a very restricted diet, which I couldn't maintain after losing 8 kgs while ill. They were weaned to Neocate while I was in hospy. I was disappointed at the time as I wanted to keep feeding them to give them a better chance at recuperating from their allergies, but there was just no way I could cope.

[Queen]

Well, I bottle-fed for a few reasons......
I had NO support to continue breast-feeding, my CHN was hopeless.....
I had alot of milk...and I mean alot....but DD always seemed hungry..She was about 3 weeks old I fed her she would sleep 20mins ish, and wake screaming, then I would feed her, then the cycle continued for two days and I was tired, and had very little/no sleep over about 48hrs (DP was away with work) and I was at the end of my tether....
I rang my Mum (3hrs away) and she said grab some formula and use it overnight to give me a break...So I did, one feed and DD slept FOUR HOURS.... I was in heaven....

Looking back, I wished I had continued...and I will try again next time.....

[caz74]

We bottle fed due to DS being born early and didn't have the suck reflex and even though we persisted and went to every course there was we both continued to struggle and his weight gain was minimal so we switched to bottle.


Carolyn:wave:

[Wazza]

I didn't have enough milk to give my son. He never slept and i tried BF up until 4 weeks and changed to formula. Bubs slept longer and seemed more content. I went through hell as i had up to 2 hours sleep a night and felt inadequate. DH was supportive with any decision i made. I regret not bottle feeding early as i have only a couple of photos for the first few weeks of bubs life as i found motherhood so hard. Had a very supportive family and don't regret my decision.

With next bubs, i am 80% sure i will bottle feed but already feel the pressure from the ante-natal nurses to try BF. Due to my previous experience, i would like to bottle feed and enjoy the time with bubs #2 as they grow up so fast.

although- all to their own because no matter what you do in life, there is always someone their to criticise you!!!!

[sugar n spice]

you need other. inverted nipples

[QTB]

i bottlefed because i wasnt making enough milk and bubs had a milk protein allergy and needed (needs) special formula

[nickalex]

I wasn't going to reply to this was just having a read because I thought it might be interesting. However one comment made me feel like I had to jump in and try and explain something which perhaps a lot of people do not understand.

OMG i thought My sister was the only one!

She thinks it perverted :laughing:
__________________

I am sure that there are some women out there who do feel uncomfortable about their boobs being seen as sexual objects or feel that it is perverted for some reason. However I think that for someone to choose the option of psychological reasons you are probably looking at someone who has experienced some sort of sexual abuse in the past.
My first son was formula fed and it was a combination of reasons but the feeling of being "used" by another male was probably predominant. Add to that the fact that this child shared the same gene pool as the offender in my case and you have a pretty mixed up mummy. Maybe I wasn't thinking straight, maybe it seems silly to some but those were my feelings and they were pervasive. In order to seperate the feelings which were being dredged up by breastfeeding from the fledgling love I felt for my son I decided to quit the breastfeeding and concentrate on building a bond with my son. It's hard to explain but it was very real and it was affecting our bond massively. Prior to having my son I never even considered that I might feel that way.
When my daughter was born I had absolutely no problems breastfeeding her. It was natural, it was easy and I desperately wanted to get it right! Now my third child a boy is still breastfed at 13mths. I don't know how my mindset changed but it did and I am forever grateful that I have had the opportunity to breastfeed two of my children. But I'll never forget just how helpless and frankly bad I felt at the time. I couldn't believe that as a new mother I was feeling this way and there was no one at the time that I could be honest with...I thought they might think I was perverted:rolleyes: . Not breastfeeding is NOT usually an easy decision!

[Bewitched]

Unfortunately mastitis robbed me twice of breastfeeding my boys, and even after ultrasound treatment it was too mich pain for me, so i gave up :(

[Squiggles]

I didn't produce enough milk quickly enough - my milk didnt come in until nearly 2 weeks after DS was born, I was only producing colostrum - Ob said may have been due to the stress of a fairly traumatic birth. By the time I had milk DS was refusing the breast as he had been getting so worked up that he wasn't getting anytghing when he was trying and had lost too much weight so we were advised to put him onto formula. I tried to express to keep giving him some milk but I didn't produce enough - lucky to get 100mls per day.

[FourAngelKisses]

I was going to bottle feed Troy, DH wanted me to try breastfeeding so I did. First 18hrs were good, but he only fed twice in that amount of time.

After that, I was in total agony. I was red raw, my nipples had cut like marks around them both and felt like they were about to fall off. I was in total agony the entire feed, so I cracked and decided to put him on th bottle. We were both much ahppier after that.

I don't get how you are supposed to get your entire areola into a mouth that only opens 2cm wide, while trying to get 2 little hands out of the way at the same time. It is impossible, you need about 6 arms. 1 to hold the baby, one to hold the breast, 2 to get rid of the hands, another to cover your mouth while you scream in pain and the other to call for a midwife to come and take your baby away because you are starting to resent them for causing you so much pain.

[mum2bubba]

Ok I know this might sound strange but one of the reasons I didn't like bfing was because it felt too sexual :o I DID bf for 2 months because I know its the best for my baby and I want to try and bf with this baby too even if its only for a short time so that he/she can get the colostrum. I felt like I bonded with Hayley more when I gave her a bottle whether it was expressed milk or formula. It was good knowing that Grant could feed her aswell so that I could get a break and all that. Who knows maybe I will feed for longer next time I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

I remember going to my great grandmother's house when Hayley was about 2 months old, I was feeding her a bottle (can't remember whether it was expressed milk or formula) but anyway, she said to me "oh, I thought you said you were going to breastfeed" I replied with "well I did breastfeed for a little while but I didn't like it that much" then she said to me "well it doesn't matter what you want, its what the baby wants, its a shame you didn't continue" I told her that I at least tried and that she shoudn't make me feel guilty, my baby is being fed and thats all that matters, if I wasn't feeding her at all or if I was giving her poison or something THEN people can lecture me all they want but its my body-my choice. I told my nanna that if a mother is getting too stressed about breastfeeding then how is that going to help her baby? She said she could understand where I was coming from. I hate having to explain myself to everyone. I had an appointment with a midwife the other day and she asked if I was going to bf and I said I would give it a go and she was happy about that, she said even if I only did it for a few weeks its better than nothing.

[TickledPink]

i ff for a combination of reasons. I have flat nipples which meant that lily was struggling to latch on properly and when she was on all she was doing was chomping on me. I ended up with huge bruises everywhere. She was severly jaundiced and had lost over 10% of her birth weight, so she was getting formula top ups, the midwives made me express and i got hardly anything out of my boobies all it really accomplished was making me bleed. then we made the desicion to formula feed fulltime.
Since then she has been putting on weight and is a much happier little girl.

i feel like the worst mother in the world for not being able to bf, and it doesnt help that all of my friends were able to do it with no problems so they dont understand how heartbreaking it was for me to make the desicion to ff.

[mum2bubba]

i feel like the worst mother in the world for not being able to bf, and it doesnt help that all of my friends were able to do it with no problems so they dont understand how heartbreaking it was for me to make the desicion to ff.


You are NOT the worst mother in the world, you are feeding your baby and I'm sure she is happy and healthy and you are doing the best you can. :hugs:

[madreader]

With my first born my milk decided to dry up because at the time there was so much stress in my life that i could not function properly.:gloomy:

[bronny-jane]

dd1 wouldnt latch on well
dd3 really bad mastitis, cracked nipples, leading to fear of feeds and resentment

[FourAngelKisses]

fear of feeds and resentment

That'll do it every time.

[JoJoMart]

Supply issues and in hospital my bub lost 450g and was starving........this wasn't picked up until ages and I felt so bad that my baby couldn't get the nourishment from me. So I expressed and FF and now Liam is 6 weeks he gets offered the breast first then comp with formula and he's putting on weight no probs thanks to the formula. My breast milk supply has finally increased but it took ages.

[SassyMummy]

I had alot of milk...and I mean alot....but DD always seemed hungry..She was about 3 weeks old I fed her she would sleep 20mins ish, and wake screaming, then I would feed her, then the cycle continued for two days and I was tired, and had very little/no sleep over about 48hrs (DP was away with work) and I was at the end of my tether....
I rang my Mum (3hrs away) and she said grab some formula and use it overnight to give me a break...So I did, one feed and DD slept FOUR HOURS.... I was in heaven....

Looking back, I wished I had continued...and I will try again next time.....

Are you me?!

DD would feel ENDLESSLY and never seem to be happy. I was fine with that... I thought that's just what babies do. But my father and grandmother ganged up on me during a visit to my Nans' place, and were all, "You have to cut her off!" and "Don't let her think she control everything!"

At this point in time, she about about 2-3 weeks old!

They made me feel like I was failing at breastfeeding. THEY created problems for me, and it p*ssed me off!

Anyway, my mother didn't help when she said to me (after DD was whinging for a decent amount of time), "Maybe you should try a bottle of formula." I had a few sachets of formula in the cupboard just in case something happened (like I had to go to hospital or something?) and someone else needed to feed her.

I used a sachet at 3 weeks, and she slept through the ENTIRE NIGHT.

I slowly weaned from 3 weeks to 9 weeks, and then went to bottle full-time.

Looking back, it was a stupid decision. I didn't NEED to bottlefeed... I was somewhat pushed into it. My mothering skills were dragged through the dirt until I felt that if DD wasn't sleeping majority of the day, and feeding for only a short amount of time, I was a bad parent.

At least now I know better.