Breast or bottle feeding?

mishkanorman

dantheman2010 wrote: »

Thanks for the masses of replies, all much appreciated.

She has said she will try BF and then if she doesnt feel comfortable or if little'un doesnt take to it then switch to bottle feeding. I have said I will support her in both.

If you can, get her to commit to a time limit minimum she will try breastfeeding. I messed it up totally the first time, kept faffing back and forth. I was in total agony and had bleeding nipples/mastitis so got into a downward spiral and ended up expressing the milk into bottles which were given to baby. The mixing of nipple/bottle made it harder to settle into any kind of pattern.

The 2nd time round I was given better advice on how to get baby to latch on correctly - its not as easy as you would think - get it wrong and you will never be able to settle into feeding. (and it REALLY hurts)

I found it much easier to bf than bottle, no matter where we were baby could be fed. Its a bit of a mare trying to keep on top of cleaning bottles/mixing formula/warming ready for a feed. especially at 2 in the morning when with breast feeding you can get them fed and back to bed in the time it would take to mix and warm a bottle.

Hope you find whatever suits you all best !

mishka

Polka_dot_zebra

LegalBlonde wrote: »

I am very early on in pregnancy but have always wondered about this.

When people say bottlefeed, I assume this is like formula milk from birth.

Are you not able to breast pump and then just put that in bottles?? Or is that only for the odd occassion, does it not come out on demand?? LOL sorry but I am pretty confused :cool:

At this stage I don't think I would want to bf, but if I could pump it into lots of bottles isn't that best of both

I must be missing something

You can express breast milk and give it to your baby in a bottle, but unfortunately it tends to be a lot harder than actually feeding directly from the breast. Breast pumps are not as efficient at getting the milk out as a baby is, and in order to keep up a supply, you'll need to be pumping/hand expressing at least every 2-3 hours - this means through the night as well. However, even if you only express for a week or two, your baby will still be getting the fantastic benefits of your colostrum.

Once breastfeeding is established, it really is the easiest thing in the world. My LO is five months old now, and when he wakes in the night, it's so easy to settle him - I can't imagine having to stand bleary eyed in the kitchen, boiling a kettle and then waiting for the water to cool whilst simultaneously trying to sooth a crying baby (The WHO doesn't recommend preparing bottles in advance).

I really, really struggled to BF my oldest because I was given some horrendous advice by my health visitor and as a result developed mastitis. It's only because I called the La Leche League for help that I was able to continue, and I am so so pleased that I did. I understand that BF isn't for everyone, but for us, it was the best thing we could have done

Gillyx

LegalBlonde wrote: »

Thank you Oh I see. So I think those pumps are probably just for one off occasions like if mum is going away or something.....hmmm.

Not entirely no, but I think they'd be easier to use in conjunction with breast feeding. My friend at the moment is building up a stock of expressed milk as she's due back at work 2 days a week. You could use them for example to have some milk handy, so Dad could help with night feeds etc. They do say to give it a few weeks to get breast feeding properly established before introducing bottle too. You can get specific bottles that apparently are best for interchanging between breast and bottle.

emsywoo123

I bottlefed both of mine, and had surprisingly NO pressure from the hospital with either. (DD was bottlefed by midwives before I was even round from C/Section!)

I can only agree that your OH has to feel comfortable with whatever she decides to do-everyone has an opinion but we won't all be there at 3am will we :rotfl:

gratefulforhelp_2

borokat wrote: »

I would definitely give the BF a go, then if she doesn't like it at least you've had a try.
I would have thought it would be more convenient to BF as you don't have to mess about with bottles etc and can just pop baby on (assuming it all goes well of course). My sis is BF at the moment and her baby is so contented and thriving, he has put on nearly 3lbs since he was born mid August.
Whatever you do don't discount one method based on a very limited comparison of 2 babies.

It is infinitely convenient and portable, needing little thought or planning, which is good when one is sleep deprived.

LegalBlonde

Thank you all There is so much to think about I am feeling a bit clueless, so early on I don't want to get to into it and try not to google but then at other times so overwhelming I need to

Thank you and sorry to OP for derail but hopefully it is all still useful information

clearingout

LegalBlonde wrote: »

I am very early on in pregnancy but have always wondered about this.

When people say bottlefeed, I assume this is like formula milk from birth.

Are you not able to breast pump and then just put that in bottles?? Or is that only for the odd occassion, does it not come out on demand?? LOL sorry but I am pretty confused :cool:

At this stage I don't think I would want to bf, but if I could pump it into lots of bottles isn't that best of both

I must be missing something

I breastfed all 3 of mine - the most stress I had was with the first and trying to pump the stuff out and put it in bottles so the (now ex) husband could also feed him. I had a super-duper mains connected breastpump and never managed more than a couple of ounces, even early in the mornings (when there's more milk to spare for reasons beyond me!). Small babies have the sucking power of at least 100 dysons all working at once, I think!!! All my babies grew beautifully, could never, ever have been considered 'under-nourished' and I loved feeding them. I recommend it.

the hospital midwives have a job to do and will put pressure on you to breastfeed as it's what the Government tell them to do. Once you get home and they visit you there, they'll push formula down your throat if the baby cries more than they think it should! I had to fight off a midwife who insisted my middle child was starving and needed formula - he might have been, I guess we'll never know, but he was weighed regularly and put on weight steadily so I think we was just fine and just felt the need to yell a lot!

adamantine

i didnt BF my eldest but i did with my youngest and any more i have will be BF too.

i found it so much easier! especially going out. no need to prepare bottles to bring along, find somewhere to heat them (alot of places now wont give you water to heat a bottle for health and safety reasons) then have to store the bottles till you go home. when you BF its there already at the right temp in the right quantity.

i was aware that i might not be able to and DS might not manage either but i gave it a shot and it worked for us.

2522laura

I was planning on expressing for the first couple of months then formula feed. I was going to express rather than breast feed as I want the baby to get the benefit of the breast milk but I dont want to be the only one doing the feeds. Looks like I may have underestimated how difficult expressing is reading all your comments! Still, I'll give it a go.

My Mum is REALLY putting the pressure on for me to breast feed properly which I am finding quite annoying, I dont see why it matters that the breast milk is comming out of a bottle!

Gillyx

Ooh to point out, I was breast fed, but have always had a closer bond with my dad.... So I don't think it necessarily means that it's hard to bond with baby for the dad.