Why do you bottlefeed?

**ziara** · 24-10-2011 00:03

I just saw a report that said only 14% of Australian women breastfeed up to 6 months which means there must be a lot of us bottlefeeders out there.

Now I'm curious as to why each of us went down the bottlefeeding path. I'm guessing for some of us it was a choice whereas for others it was a necessity.

I bottlefeed because I didn't produce enough milk. Though I must say being able to take a break while DH does a feed is an added benefit!

**spideysmummy** · 24-10-2011 03:46

I bottlefeed because I had no success pumping, ds was feeding hourly and I was exhausted. If I kept going I would have ended up with a severe case of pnd.

So I decided I wanted to bottlefeed

Ds is 6 mths now and while I'm glad I made the decision at the time, I kinda miss breastfeeding

**giveitago** · 24-10-2011 03:58

Originally Posted by ziara

I just saw a report that said only 14% of Australian women breastfeed up to 6 months which means there must be a lot of us bottlefeeders out there.

Now I'm curious as to why each of us went down the bottlefeeding path. I'm guessing for some of us it was a choice whereas for others it was a necessity.

I bottlefeed because I didn't produce enough milk. Though I must say being able to take a break while DH does a feed is an added benefit!

Hi there. I'm posting out of area, but I believe that the report is being interpreted wrong by lots of people. The statistic is based on exclusive breastfeeding to six months. My daughter has never had a bottle, but I started solids at 4 and a half months - so I am excluded from this percentage, as I didn't 'exclusively' breastfeed for 6 months.

Does that make sense?

**** I can spell, honestly! It's my iPhone's fault ****

**Cue** · 24-10-2011 04:00

We're slowly moving to bottles because BF has been a huge challenge - undersupply & under weight bub (motillium, pumping etc got too much for me) DD is a poor feeder and doesn't fill herself up, and most recently discovered she has a food intolerance (most likely dairy protein) so will be going on a prescription formula.

By the time we switch completely I'll have BF for over 3 months so I'm happy about that.

**AmyRoberts** · 24-10-2011 05:47

At 7.5 months I HAD to stop as my DS has severe allergeries and they were coming through my milk and it was a long painful process of eliminating all the things he was allergic to, we had spent numerous nights in hospital and the final straw I got mastitis so that was it, very sad I didnt want to stop!

Me and Dh married Since 07
DS1 born OCT 2010

**waterlily** · 24-10-2011 05:52

Stopped at 6 weeks for medical reasons.

**beebs** · 24-10-2011 06:09

Medical reasons - you don't have that option in the poll but I suspect there are a fair few of us!

**swizzlestick** · 24-10-2011 06:16

I'm on my phone so I can't answer the poll, but medical reasons for us too! He was having a severe reaction to medication that I take.

Our paed recommended it was in the best interest of bubs to move to formula as me stopping the medication was not an option!

And even though it was well over a year ago, and I have a happy healthy little boy I still feel the need to justify

aggggh, mother guilt does it ever go away?!?

**pooks** · 24-10-2011 06:23

Dd1- tried while in hosp for a week, she wouldn't latch at all, kept sucking on her own bottom lip. Was expressing but after 7 days in hosp I gave up. Milk came in on day 10.

Dd2-
Latched great! First go!!! Went through the worst pain every feed, that toe curling pain

At 4 weeks I noticed she wasn't getting enough/ I wasn't producing enough so started bottles and by 6 weeks she was on bottles only.

DS. Latched better than dd1 but not as good as dd2 the pain was unbearable and with a 13 month old dd2 wanting constant attention I honestly just couldn't be bothered!!

I honestly hate the feeling of breast feeding, hate how big and heavy my b00bs become, it's just not for me

And I don't feel guilty about it