Ever wondered what people did before nappies?

tsstss7

FunkyMummy wrote: »

Can I just reiterate what Squashy has said. I have bottle fed and breastfed and am still breastfeeding my nearly one year old. I have had a HORRENDOUS journey!!! But I am so bloody glad I persevered as I know I have done the best by my child.
I have flat nipples and I was not helped by the hospital at all. It was down to the support from very good friends and fantastic breastfeeding counsellor that i am still feeding.

If I could rewind time I sure as hell would of fed all my children this way instead of just feeding 2 of them. I fed my daughter who was in SCBU so this is still possible with good support.

No-one sets out to make anyone feel guilty, only you can do that.

me too - flat nipples and scbu baby (for 4 days) and ditto the above post - help in hospital was rubbish. Finally got referred to bfeeding nurse at about 2 months old! Followed her advice and took heart from a good friend who also bfed and knew how hard it could be (and pointed me towards lanisoh for the pain!!!!:eek: ) and cut down DS from fully FF to one "bedtime" bottle (to keep OH happy who seemed convinced ds would starve if I didn't FF!).

Wish there was more info about feeding with flat nipples available - most people I spoke to were convinced I wouldn't be able to feed and if I'd listened to them I'd never have found out any different - even on net there is very little information to be found.

onlyroz

Regarding nappies, my boy (now 3) was in washable nappies until he started crawling in earnest, and then I found that they constricted his movement too much (they're fairly bulky) and were more prone to leakage as he got more mobile. I also think that the nappy soak did some perculiar things to my washing machine. Not to discourage you though - I do think it's better for the environment and it's not really that much hassle when the baby is small.

As for potty training - I tried the technique of putting him in pants and letting him wet himself. I was told that he would find being wet so uncomfortable that he would be trained in a week. This was not the case, and we had quite a few months of puddles on the floor. Even now, he rarely asks to go to the toilet, but I find that as long as I take him every hour or two he usually stays dry. As for the poos - it took him a while to get the hang of doing them on the toilet, and I often find him hiding behind the sofa straining when he wants to go, but most of the time now I can persuade him to do them where he's meant to.

With breastfeeding, I did it for 7 months - until his new teeth made it too painful. I had plenty of support from the hospital and community midwife - perhaps living in a SureStart area helped with this, but in general I found the level of care to be excellent. I do think that some people give up on breastfeeding too easily. Most women can do it successfully - I know that there are some genuine cases where people cannot, but I strongly urge everyone to persevere for a few weeks at least. Also, what's wrong with combining breast and bottle? Any is better than none.

Felicity

squashy wrote: »

Hang on a minute i don't intend anyone to feel guilty about bottlefeeding. I myself have bottled fed and i honestly believe it was due to not getting the right support, it was too easy for me to give up at the first hurdle. As it has been proved by just someone a few posts up, it is possible to feed successfully with flat nipples, as it is for most people who have had SCBU babies it is just the unfortunate lack of basic knowledge from some healthcare professionals. Thanks goodness for organisations like La Leche League who can put people in touch with breastfeeding counsellors should they be let down by the caregivers.

The health benefits of breastmilk should not be hidden under a bushel! To quote a comment a read on another site, if there was a supplement you could buy that offered all the benefits breastmilk does then it would be a sell out. The reality is that despite formula manufacturers claims, the powdered stuff just does not compare. The same as you wouldn't made an omelette with powdered egg if you had the option of real eggs and the tools to whip the recipe up!

I don't look down upon anyone who bottlefeeds, far from it, I sympathise that they were not successful where they so wanted to be and I am angry on their behalf about the lack of help! Just as I hope you don't look down on me for being proud of my achievements. We are all mums that want to do the best for our kids!

Well I don't have flat nipples and I got a tremendous amount of help with breastfeeding .... I even stayed in hospital for THREE days after having my baby (natural birth, no complications, baby fine), the only reason being that I couldn't get the hang of it. I so desperately wanted to breast feed and appreciated the help and support that I got off the midwives there.

HOWEVER, there was a completely different reason that my little baby couldnt breastfeed and it was causing him a great deal of discomfort, he had torticollis and it was only diagnosed at 3 weeks old after an awful lot of anguish and heartache! Breastfeeding was actually causing him pain.

So, even with all the right help and support, there are reasons that some people cannot breastfeed and it is just awful when people make assumptions about you (ie that you didnt try to get the help, that you didnt perservere etc).

I spent an awful lot of time feeling guilty and an even greater amount of time expressing but now I have been through that experience I really couldnt care what people think of me and the care I give my baby. I made choices that were absolutely in his best interest.

squashy

Felicity wrote: »

Well I don't have flat nipples and I got a tremendous amount of help with breastfeeding .... I even stayed in hospital for THREE days after having my baby (natural birth, no complications, baby fine), the only reason being that I couldn't get the hang of it. I so desperately wanted to breast feed and appreciated the help and support that I got off the midwives there.

HOWEVER, there was a completely different reason that my little baby couldnt breastfeed and it was causing him a great deal of discomfort, he had torticollis and it was only diagnosed at 3 weeks old after an awful lot of anguish and heartache! Breastfeeding was actually causing him pain.

So, even with all the right help and support, there are reasons that some people cannot breastfeed and it is just awful when people make assumptions about you (ie that you didnt try to get the help, that you didnt perservere etc).

I spent an awful lot of time feeling guilty and an even greater amount of time expressing but now I have been through that experience I really couldnt care what people think of me and the care I give my baby. I made choices that were absolutely in his best interest.

But you shouldn't feel guilty- you tried your best! As I think i said earlier it doesn't matter to me what people choose to do, I have friends and family who bottlefeed and I still love them to bits! Someone told me this in another context but it applies here- you can't be "made to feel" something by anyone, YOU are the only person who can decide how you feel about something.

Felicity

squashy wrote: »

But you shouldn't feel guilty- you tried your best! As I think i said earlier it doesn't matter to me what people choose to do, I have friends and family who bottlefeed and I still love them to bits! Someone told me this in another context but it applies here- you can't be "made to feel" something by anyone, YOU are the only person who can decide how you feel about something.

There is something very ironic about that statement.

You still have friends and faimly who bottlefed and you still love them to bits

Good on you! Well done! Despite their failings ... you still love them to bits!

PeskyPenguin

Awww, bless! Your family and friends are so lucky to have you, squashy!

I wonder if my family still love me or even if I still love them when they give my baby a bottle?

Oh, its OK don't worry about me, don't pity me, don't feel sympathy for me! My family love me unconditionally :happyhear

Felicity

Reminds me of an NCT class I once went to ...

I was told I would be very welcome back ....

Even IF I wasn't breastfeeding!

Needless to say I can't give you an update on that particular class!

I totally understand the breastfeeding thing (I am NOT stupid, I understand the benefits, I tried so hard with my baby), I totally fail to understand the stigma attached to people not being able to do it!

There is so much ignorance attached to this particular subject ... NOT from the people who dont try, but from the people who managed it and then look down on others!

Grrrrrr! I got over it so am not going to get wound up about it now.

BUT to anybody who DID manage it ... well done to you.

To the people who didnt manage it ... just dont listen to them, yes we know it was the best things for our babies, yes we know it would have given them the best start, yes we know that the support groups are available, yes we know that ................


I have a VERY healthy little baby boy and I have NO regrets about my decisions. If anything, I wish I had come home on day one and not stayed in hospital to try and establish the feeding!

Just edited this post to qualify my statement. I am 35 years old, we tried for a baby for over 5 years and were about to start havint IVF. For all of those 5 years I dreamed about having a baby!!!! I was one of the lucky ones and we had our little boy. He is our world and we would do absolutely anything to give him the best start in life.

Welshlassie

Regarding the breastfeeding, I have a 9 month old DS who I am still BF (although now also haveing formula when I'm in work), I had a horrendous first 5 weeks and very little support until I found a BF counsellor, but I was determined to continue BF.

My SIL had her DS 3 months after my son, her had 8 days in SCBU, during that time she expressed and tried to BF, but the hospital advised her to top him up with a bottle after each feed and he soon decided bottle feeding was easier and so refused the breast. She was gutted and still hasn't got over it.

The problem I have is women who point blank refuse to even try to BF because "it isn't natural" and I've had women tell me this. My SIL has said how much of a hassle it is to have to prepare warm bottles twice a night when baby wakes, I couldn't think of anything worse and yet there are these women who think this is the easy option.

Regarding EC, I considered this before DS was born, thought it sounded like a wonderful idea, along with getting baby into a rountine of feeding every 4 hours and sleeping through the night by 6 weeks old. I saw Clare Verity speak at the Baby Show (before Bringing up Baby fame) and what she spoke about really made sense (to by pregnant brain). When DS finally arrived after a 3 week latent phase and 27 hours full blown labour included emergency forceps I was shattered. We were discharged 12 hours later and left to get on with it. DS screamed to be fed every 60-90 minutes for the first few days this then increased to 90-120 minutes for the next couple of weeks. He never went more than 3 hours between feeds and didn;t start sleeping through until he was well over 6 months (still doesn't every night).

What I'm trying to say is I had all the illusions of how wonderful having a new baby was going to be and how I was going to do things, but until baby arrives you really don't know.

I do use washable nappies and am still BF, but they both require alot of work.

I wish you all the luck in the world if you do decide to try EC, but remember each baby is different and you may not succeed, but don't be too disheartened.

Bitsy_Beans

I didn't want to breast feed and in some peoples eyes that will make me selfish. Bottom line happy mother = happy baby. I don't feel I've failed my son, I don't need sympathy and nor was I ignorant of the facts surrounding breast feeding.
If you want to and can breast feed good for you, if you attempt it but can't manage it for whatever reason that's fine and if you don't try at all that's OK too because at the end of the day it really isn't anyone elses business how you feed your child. What your child eats doesn't end with milk and yet I don't see mothers being made to feel so bad about what their children eat once they are on to solids.
Sorry for the rant it just annoys me about how bad people make others feel for their parenting choices.

Jaiden_2

Poppy9 wrote: »

I know everyone says it's different with changing your own child's nappy but I disagree - it's still disgusting! :rotfl: I just hated doing it and could never had done the washable nappies and had to scoop bits out, I feel nausous just thinking about it.

.

Tell me about it! My daughter introduced me to the wonders of having to bin a t-shirt just because i didnt want to go anywhere near it after the biggest explosion out of a bum that i had ever seen!!:eek: . I then realised why most people change their babies lengthwise and not with their bum facing you

I work in a babyshop and we do have a few people asking about the washable nappies and i try to be enthusiastic while thinking "never in a million years would i use one of them!:p "

I'm sorry that i have contributed to the mass disposable nappy mountains but i honestly had better things to do than empty a nappy, wash and dry it, when i could just chuck it in a bin (runs for cover:o ).

I must say that if i ever did have another bub, (not likely), at least we now have the biodegradable disposable nappies now, and i'd feel a little less guilty using them:D

But potty training when the bub is weeks old??? Nope!