Who else is choosing not to BF their next baby?

[mum2cat]

Mods feel free to move this thread elsewhere if it's not appropriate to be here.

Hi all,

I've pretty much made up my mind to FF my next baby and was wondering if there are others who also wants to do this and what your reason for doing so.

You probably all think I'm turned off from having a bad BF experience with this baby but that's not the case.

I love BFing my DD, she latches on well, my supply is great and to date, I haven't had cracked nipples, mastitits etc. It's very convenient and I love the bond I have with my DD because of it.

DD is 6 month old now and I'm in the process of weaning her which is sooooo stressful and has dampened all my positive experience with BF.
If I knew how hard it would be to do so, I'd probably never BF her that long or opt for FF. I have to return to work soon, so maintaining our BF r'ship will be too inconvenient.

So I've decided to FF my next baby from birth or at the very latest...1 month old.

If I could afford to be a SAHM and breastfeed her as long as she wants...that would be ideal but it's not reality for me.

Thanks for reading and I hope to hear some stories, comments etc from you soon.

[traseal]

I dont wanna do the whole bf avocating on you so please dont take it that way.
I work full time and am still bf my 10 month old son. Its never been inconveniant for me, its never been hard, you said you never had problems bf or supply etc so maybe you could try bf and working...
Again im not trying to push it on you...just wanted to let you know that it can be really easy. Best of luck

[Seekrit]

It IS possible to work and breastfeed, if weaning is too much for you. I worked and continued to breastfeed my son until he was 22 months!! I only expressed once at work, and only until he was 9 months. Thereafter I could wait until I got home to express, and from 12 months I had him on cows milk while I was at work.

Just another point of view, it sounds likeyou really don't want to stop.

[Hollywood]

Have you considered doing a gradual weaning, whereby she is FF at daycare, then BF at home when you're there? And if you want to phase out the BFing you could do it gradually, just dropping one feed at a time (bedtime feeds are generally the last to go). Anyhoo, just a thought, in case you are prepared to do it slower.

Oh, and I had another thought.....if you could possibly keep up some BFing when she starts daycare, she would be getting the protective benefits of BFing which would hopefully help when she starts to get exposed to viruses and bugs at daycare (you know how babies are, they can't help putting everything in their mouths, and the more exposed they are to other kids, whether it be daycare, playgroup or whatever, the more bugs they seem to catch).

[mum2cat]

I don't see how I could continue to BF while working full time...perhaps you can enlighten me Traseal.

There's no place or facility at work for me to express. I don't want to do it in the ladies room and I have two short breaks rather than an hour long lunch break which will make expressing even harder.

[mum2cat]

Tysonsmummy: If DD accepts the bottle and formula, I'll be happy to BF her when I get home. At the moment, it looks I'm having no luck with that. I'm introducing one bottle in the morning and hopefully in two months time I can fully 'day' wean her.

[traseal]

I don't see how I could continue to BF while working full time...perhaps you can enlighten me Traseal.

There's no place or facility at work for me to express. I don't want to do it in the ladies room and I have two short breaks rather than an hour long lunch break which will make expressing even harder.

Well that makes it harder not having somewhere to express. I have a had a half our lunch break but it only took me 10 mins to express what i needed. I guess it depends on how much your little one feeds.
I have finished expressing at work....i built my supply up enough that now i can just express as soon as i get home from work or even in the morning and that is enough to for the next day.If you continue pumping on weekends you could also build up a bit extra??

[mum2cat]

I've decided to FF my next baby but it is done with a heavy heart. I hate seeing my DD cry her guts out when I introduce the bottle..it's too heart wrenching. I don't want to go through it again.

[bada]

Tysonsmummy: If DD accepts the bottle and formula, I'll be happy to BF her when I get home.

This sounds like a really good comprimise particularly if you do enjoy breastfeeding and the weaning is upsetting you. I was tiring of BF'ing around 11 months but once I replaces her night feed with a bottle I felt quite happy to continue BF'ing. Now my DD is nearly 17 moths and still has a feed in the morning, occasionally during the day but sometimes we skip a day. If you keep up with a feed or two a day you should still make some milk.

At the moment, it looks I'm having no luck with that. I'm introducing one bottle in the morning and hopefully in two months time I can fully 'day' wean her.

Does she take EBM in a bottle? If so could you gradually dilute the EBM with formula until she is accustomed to the taste of formula?

Goodluck

[Cicho]

I FF my DS and DD2 after having a traumatic, painful and mentally draining experience with DD1.

I tried my best. I really did. I had her latch on to my cracked bleeding nipples when all I wanted to do was scream in pain

What made me stop and made me decide to never do it again was seeing my tiny 5lb baby swallowing a mouthful of my blood. That did it.

There was no way I was going to put myself or my baby through that. She certainly didn't deserve it and neither did I.

At the time (16 years ago) there was little support, and I will never forget an elderly midwife shoving her tiny face into me to feed... it was truly awful.

I chose to FF my DS and DD2 at birth and never looked back