Breast feeding, pros and cons

skylight

I have BF all 4 of mine and will BF no5 when it arrives.

PROs -
- Can feed anywhere. Which is fantastic at night when you are doing the knackering night feed, can prop yourself in a comfy chair/bed with a big pillow at boob height, leave baby to eat and you go back to sleep. Now I am telling you - an extra hour here and there is a godsend.
- Its FREE - thats £10 a week minimum saving.
- Friendly BF groups you can go to, to meet other new Mums. A social life with a newborn is very important.

CONs
- Pestering midwives/health visitors that its the thing to do. You get this even when you are BFing.
- You can feel like a failure if it goes wrong. Sometimes the possibility of that happening puts off some women - especially those that are very independent/do anything sort of girls!
- The odd pillock with the odd remarks about doing that in public. But you rebuff those with a big smile and ask them "If you want to be next, I'll charge."

At the end of the day its preference. Fortunately all mine took the bottle too, but expressing was not great for me. When it worked it was great getting someone else to feed! Don't push your OH too much or she will resent you for it. A birth is a happy time for your both - baby will be well fed by booby or bottle, so just enjoy.

belfastgirl23

The other question is, is there anything YOU can offer to do as an incentive? Her worries might be around being tied to feeding all the time but also trying to do all the other stuff around the house that needs done. I wonder if you tell her that you view feeding the baby as her full time job so when you get home from work (I know I'm making assumptions here) you are in charge of everything else? It might help her to feel that there's a shared responsiblity and that she isn't just taking on another huge responsibility on top of those she already has.

Might not be applicable in your situation (although I will gently say that men do not realise half the time all that their other halfs do in the house) but just thought I'd mention it in case.

oldMcDonald

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Lincsdan - I think it's great that your trying to get all the info you can on breastfeeding but in my op the trouble is your OH can't really make an actual decision on it before the baby is born and she tries it herself - best she can do is make the decision to give it a try.

Brilliant advice.

galvanizersbaby wrote: »

Trouble is it's not as easy as some would have you believe and yes it's undoubtably best for baby if you are producing enough milk but it can be not so good for mum for a variety of reasons.
I know I was made to feel quite guilty about not continuing with feeding and a bit of a failure - I know there are others that feel the same

I was heartbroken that I had to go with formula and felt such a failure when other mums were popping their baps out to feed babe and I was fishing about in a bag for a bottle and then trying to find somewhere with a kettle so that I could warm it. I certainly felt the same as you describe.

galvanizersbaby

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

The other question is, is there anything YOU can offer to do as an incentive? Her worries might be around being tied to feeding all the time but also trying to do all the other stuff around the house that needs done. I wonder if you tell her that you view feeding the baby as her full time job so when you get home from work (I know I'm making assumptions here) you are in charge of everything else? It might help her to feel that there's a shared responsiblity and that she isn't just taking on another huge responsibility on top of those she already has.

Not sure what you mean here BelfastGirl do you mean the OP should use doing the house hold chores as an incentive for mum to breastfeed? - what happens if she tries and fails? - does he retract the offer?
The incentive for breastfeeding is a healthy baby - I see your thought process behind this suggestion but I am not sure that it is appropriate if I have interpreted it correctly?

pukkamum

I must say as well good on you for supporting her if she does bf i had my dh and his mother both pushing me to bottle feed but i stuck to my guns so as long as you support her in her choices you cant go far wrong!!!!

vixarooni

You may lose a bit more weight through breast feeding, but the boobs suffer. As a bra fitter i think nearly every woman who has breast fed has told me not to because your breasts just lose their va va voom. They are saying it in jest of course! Thought id throw in the shallow element to breast feeding as its all ive experienced of it so far.

I wasnt breast fed and i have turned out ok. I rarely get ill (touch wood just in case!) im getting a degree so thats the thick box left blank and ive never broken a bone in my life!

I think it depends how it goes for your partner, if it happens it happens but if it doesnt it doesnt. Its such a bizarre subject and nearly everyone here has said about being pestered so it might be best to discuss it and leave it be for a while.

homeaway

lincsdan86 wrote: »

Hi,

I am trying to convince my partner that breast feeding is the way to go when our little bundle of joy finally arrives. But my partner is still unsure about doing it. So with this in mind I thought I would as the title says, find out the pros and cons of breast feeding so that I can fully understand the whole breast feeding thing better and to come to an agreement with my partner.

So if you have breast feed in the past please please share your thoughts on this subject.

Thanks

Lincsdan86 (THE DAD)

I have breast fed all three of mine and for me it was the best thing that i ever did! Milk was always on tap and i never needed to worry about waiting for a bottle to warm up. I always carried a shawl or blanket with me so i was never on show.
There is a lot of research that says that it is the best thing for a baby (less allergies) etc and the first milk "colustrum" contains lots of antibodies which help the baby. There is an association called the leache league and they can help with any problems. BUT having said all this some women dont feel comfortable breast feeding and that should be respected as there is nothing more miserable than doing something you dont want to just because everybody says you have to. My advice would be if your partner wants to breast feed then great,but she should not beat herself up about it if she cant or does not feel able to.

billieboy_2

vixarooni wrote: »

You may lose a bit more weight through breast feeding, but the boobs suffer. As a bra fitter i think nearly every woman who has breast fed has told me not to because your breasts just lose their va va voom. They are saying it in jest of course! Thought id throw in the shallow element to breast feeding as its all ive experienced of it so far.

Mine never had any va va voom until I breastfed :rotfl: :rotfl: . I remember when my DD1 was a couple of months old and a couple of lads passed me and my DH in Wells or somewhere and said "she's got more front than Yarmouth"! Made my day. So I don't think mine suffered, they went from being decidedly small to huge and then back to slightly bigger:D .

But seriously at the end of day lincsdan's partner has got to want to breastfeed and not be coerced into it IMHO. I really wanted to, even before I knew I was pregnant, and was one of the lucky ones that could. I know I would have been upset if I hadn't been able to. A friend tried, couldn't and went on to bottle feed all three of her babies. More recently my hairdresser wouldn't even consider breastfeeding. We are all different. Good luck whatever she chooses lincsdan, I think it's great you are both so excited;) .

BernadetteN

Well done to soon to be dad for seeking information on breastfeeding. Research papers report how breastfeeding rates among younger mums in the UK to be particularly bad - eg thought to be only around 25% in under 20s rising to over 60% in over 30s. I'm assuming mum to be is also youngish and peer and partner support is shown to statically increase the probability of breastfeeding. He's doing everything right, so I think everyone should be nice to him.

hurricanewyn

I wasn't able to breast feed my two, for various reasons, and I felt so upset about it, because it was something I had really wanted to do. Like someone has already said I felt embarressed taking out the bottles while everyone around me was managing without any problems.
However, there are some cons to breast-feeding that I didn't miss - the things you can't eat and drink, eg chocolate and milk in case it gives baby a bad tummy, pop in case baby gets wind, curry or spicy foods and garlic because the taste transfers over and def. no alcohol. After 40 weeks of being tee-total I was quite looking forward to the odd glass of wine.
But, I would agree without everyone else who has posted - it's definitely the best thing for baby and even if she really, really can't face breastfeeding, exressing the colostrum from the first few days is a great start.