I want to breast feed but I am starting to think that I am going to have a really hard time at school trying to pump. So I was just wondering If you Breast or Formula fed and what were the pros and cons.
It bothers me sometimes when people assume its that clean cut. Both would be my answer. Does it invalidate my effort to breastfeed with that fact at six mths he was switched to formula? No. Both should be a choice
i'm sorry you felt that way I wasn't trying to make it seem like that. I am just trying to figure out wich is going to be better for me when I go back to school. You're right though I should have put both on there to.
i tried to breastfeed but it was to painful for me and in the end its better i didnt becuase i am anemic and have a very very low immune system.
formula feeding has gone very well for us. if there is anight that i needed sleep cause i had a lack of it the last few nights my bf was able to take care of the feedings. which was very needed in the beginning. i was very tired and very sore.
i also had PPD and spent most nights at my moms house. so she was able to help me out alot when i was getting the feeling of not wanting to be near my baby. (i am sooo glad i NEVER get those feelings anymore!!).
But.. Breastfeeding has sooo many pros. night time feedings. just roll over give them boob. Theres no getting outta bed, making a bottle, and all that fun stuff. If your out and the baby gets hungry u dont have to look for a place to warm up a bottle or find out u didnt bring enough bottles. just take your boob out and your good to go.
My sister breastfed for 8 months while going to school. She had no problems at all. While doing homework in the evenings she'd pump. Worked out very well for her.
i bottle fed shawn and breast fed zach which was hard cause i had to pump at school! i voted that i breast fed though because thats what i wanted to do with both.
The pros to breastfeeding are endless, it's convenient for preparation, it is good for bonding (although bonding still happens with ff, of course), it provides a lot of nutrients and antibodies that formula doesn't have, you always know it's safe and not contaminated because you know exactly where it comes from and where it's been, and it's free to do and you don't have to worry about the milk going bad.
The cons to breastfeeding is no one else can feed your kid but you, unless you decide to pump and bottle feed breastmilk. You'll face stigmas if you decide to do it in public (but don't let that stop you!) and it's a pain to pump all the time.
The pros to formula feeding, is anyone can do it. It's a great alternative to breastfeeding if you really don't want to or can't breastfeed, they're improving formula all the time. You don't have to worry about pumping, or being embarassed about doing it in public, and your breasts go back to size quickly and you don't have to always deal with engorgement and leakage.
The cons to formula feeding.. it's expensive, and it's not from the breast. You don't know if the milk may have been contaminated while it was being made, if the cans are clean or if there's any debris in the powder. You can only use it for up to 2-3 hours after making it, it's a pain to have to get up in the middle of the night and spend the time preparing it, it doesn't have the nutrients and antibodies that breastmilk has.
A lot of women here have managed school or work with pumping, and it may be hard but if you really want to breastfeed, don't let that stop you. Breast really is best, and although formula is a good alternative, I will always recommend breastfeeding first and foremost.
Can you do both? I know I read somewhere when you're due and when you go back to school, but for the life of me I can't remember when that was. I had to go back to work six weeks after first baby was born, and I couldn't pump an ounce, so she was given formula when I was gone. But boy, the minute I walked through the door, she was ready for boob! That actually went very well for me. I was really depressed about leaving her , and I was afraid that she would forget about me, but at night when I came home, she would nurse and I would feel so much better.
If you do this though, make sure you wait a little bit before introducing the bottle, because of nipple confusion. I can't remember how long you have to wait... I believe its six weeks.
I will give you a little advice if you decide to formula feed... Don't let anyone claim you're a bad mom. A good friend of mine came home from her baby's one month checkup in tears because her doctor actually yelled at her for not breastfeeding. He didn't care that she couldn't and the baby wasn't thriving. You're going to be a good mom, no matter what you choose. That's all I have to say about that. I'm sure there are more well informed mothers on the site who can give you better advice on the pros and cons than I can. I just wanted to make sure you don't let doctors, family members or anyone make you feel bad for your decision.
I breastfed for lots of reasons. The main one was a study was released shortly before I had my son linking cow's milk formula to SIDS and not to sleep position. Something about digestion and whatnot.
I also wanted to do child led weaning. It's soooo easy to calm down my tantruming toddler by nursing :)
I breastfed all of my kids. Pumping can be tough but it's do-able. Like someone else said, if you plan on introducing a bottle make sure that you are well established in your nursing so that nipple confusion doesn't happen. Good luck!
i tried breast feeding. i was at least going to do it the first 6 weeks or at night when she woke up, but she wasn't responding good to it and it HURT way too much. so i went with formula. yeah it was a pain to boil the bottles and make formula, but i just couldn't breastfeed. kudos to the mamas that did, but kudos to the mamas that didn't too!
its been proven time and time again that breast is best for baby hands down, though im not entirely convinced that is best for the momma. i think i would of had a huge breakdown had i continue to bf my baby. Im also positive that if you have great support and people to help you get through the rough patches, that bfing could be the greatest for all involved.
erinn is absolutely right. breastfeeding is a relatioship that has to work for mama and baby. and obviuosly mama is the one how ultimaetly makes the decision. and there is no wrong choice.
you gotta do what you gotta do.
i hope that at least here on GM we can cotinue to provide strong support and information that can help start, and help maintain a good breastfeeding relationship. but also provide support for when that relationship ends.
i breastfed and it worked wonderfully for me and harper.
I breastfed for 6 weeks but it was a big struggle for both of us and each feed ended in tears (for baby and often me). I supplemented with formula now and then, but Mia wasn't getting fed enough according to my plunket nurse and now at nearly 9 weeks she is only having formula.
Miguel was doing execelet breastfeeding. Then they had to swich my blood prusher medision and I couldn't breast feed. I tried pumping then dumping it for to months but I wasn't producing enough and he was no longer taking to it. I wish I could have Because I wasn't bonding well with him while I was sick and it's cheaper
breast feed was awful for me. i breastfeed for 8 weeks. my daughter got thrush and i didnt know it, so i got it too. horrible. i also worked 8 hours a day and didnt pump. ( as a waitress you do not sit down. ever. so there isnt even ten minutes to pump) i would cry and dread every feeding, i would listen to her cry, trying to make myself brave enough to take the pain, i just sit there with tears running down while she nursed. so i gave it up. it was the best thing for me. but even through all the pain, i phased out breastfeeding, i couldnt give it up, each day i would consider not breastfeeding and i would just tell myself " well just one more time" bonding with baby is good. but not at the expense of the mother. if you cant handle it and it makes you stressed out. thats not good for either of you.
I breastfed my baby exclusively for 6 months, when she started solids. At 14 months, she still nurses 2-3 times daily. It's been great for us, though if I didn't have so much support and help available to me I would have considered formula. I considered it during a few of our bumpy patches.
I tried breastfeeding but Andrew was going for it. He kept falling asleep. I have inverted nippeles so that was helping. I tried for 2 days, met with a lactad consultant. I was miserable tired and stress. I cried cause I felt like a bad momma but hey your not a bad momma just cause you can't breast feed. So I bottle/formuale fed and well he took it. So I stuck with it and its worked.
I b/f exclusively for the first 4 months, then switched to formula cause Trey's lactose intolerant, and I kept getting a hundred conflicting answers about why my milk was hurting him. I wish I could have b/f for longer, because formula can't even be compared to breastmilk, but next child I have I'll fight harder to do it for longer.
I do more formula feeding though because im having a hard time trying to breastfeed.My baby is not latching at all..So im feeding him formula even though I try to breastfeed everyday im about to give up and stick to just the formula...
I breastfed Ahlianah for 17 months. Jasper is a year old and still nurses several times during the day and night. I hope to nurse him until he is between 2 and 3. The reasons I breastfed are endless, and I never weighed it against formula feeding, because to me breastfeeding was the only logical choice. When I was going to school, I breastfed my daughter between classes. It was hard for us, and she cried for me a lot when I was not around, because she would never take a bottle of expressed milk. With my son, I was able to completely stay home for the first year, so I never even tried to give him a bottle.
Breastfeeding pros for baby:
-perfect, natural food
-best comfort
-contains important antibodies
-changes to the needs of the baby
-supplies on demand-- baby won't overfeed if allowed to nurse on demand
-readily available, if mamas around
Breastfeeding pros for mama:
-convenient, especially at night
-less likely to develop breast cancer if you breast feed
-no bottles to wash, warm, and mix
-no price of formula, bottles
-waste less water, dish soap
-helps lose the baby weight
-natural birth control (for six months if nursing exclusively)
Breastfeeding pros for society:
-shows people that it is ok, normal, natural
-proves that your boobs are not merely there for men to look at
-encourages other mamas to make the decision that is best for them and their baby, in spite of our bottlefeeding culture
Breastfeeding cons
-more difficult to leave baby (I actually see this as a pro because it is an extension of the bonding)
-can sometimes be painful or stressful for the mama
-can be difficult if baby was bottlefed in the hospital
-may cause breast exposure :wink:
I breastfed Aria for about 3 months. I wanted to at least give it a shot because I knew it was the best thing for her. I went back to work when she was about 6 weeks and I wasn't producing enough milk to pump enough bottles for the day. It got very frustrating, so I eventually stopped breastfeeding and put her on formula. I think it was the best thing for her and I. Every body is different!
For those mamas wondering if they can go to school and breastfeed, the answer is yes, but it isn't easy. I breastfed while attending school by setting my class schedulr so that I could breastfeed my son on my lunch break. (The college had on-site childcare). When he got a bit older, I would pump in between classes and save the milk in a discreet cooler so that I could send bottled breast milk with him to school. I also froze some for use whenever we had a sitter in the evening. I did give him formula on occasion out of convenience, but it seemed to irritate his digestive system, so I eventually stopped using it and worked more on freezing some of what I produced for use in a pinch. It was tough but satisfying when I look back on it.
I FF my first. I attempted to BF him with no idea what i was doing and with no support so my milk dried up and he was FF.
With #2 I BF for 13 or 14 months. My milk dried up when he self-weaned after starting daycare. It was much easier to BF than FF for me because I didn't have to worry about having formula ready and having to store it since my boobs were readily available. Pumping was a bit of a pain in the ass but it can be done succesfully.
I plan to BF the next critter for at least 2 years.
Comments
Breast vs. Formula what did you do?
I want to breast feed but I am starting to think that I am going to have a really hard time at school trying to pump. So I was just wondering If you Breast or Formula fed and what were the pros and cons.
did you formula or breastfeed?
It bothers me sometimes when people assume its that clean cut. Both would be my answer. Does it invalidate my effort to breastfeed with that fact at six mths he was switched to formula? No. Both should be a choice
did you formula or breastfeed?
i'm sorry you felt that way I wasn't trying to make it seem like that. I am just trying to figure out wich is going to be better for me when I go back to school. You're right though I should have put both on there to.
did you formula or breastfeed?
i tried to breastfeed but it was to painful for me and in the end its better i didnt becuase i am anemic and have a very very low immune system.
formula feeding has gone very well for us. if there is anight that i needed sleep cause i had a lack of it the last few nights my bf was able to take care of the feedings. which was very needed in the beginning. i was very tired and very sore.
i also had PPD and spent most nights at my moms house. so she was able to help me out alot when i was getting the feeling of not wanting to be near my baby. (i am sooo glad i NEVER get those feelings anymore!!).
But.. Breastfeeding has sooo many pros. night time feedings. just roll over give them boob. Theres no getting outta bed, making a bottle, and all that fun stuff. If your out and the baby gets hungry u dont have to look for a place to warm up a bottle or find out u didnt bring enough bottles. just take your boob out and your good to go.
My sister breastfed for 8 months while going to school. She had no problems at all. While doing homework in the evenings she'd pump. Worked out very well for her.
did you formula or breastfeed?
i bottle fed shawn and breast fed zach which was hard cause i had to pump at school! i voted that i breast fed though because thats what i wanted to do with both.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed and formula fed.
The pros to breastfeeding are endless, it's convenient for preparation, it is good for bonding (although bonding still happens with ff, of course), it provides a lot of nutrients and antibodies that formula doesn't have, you always know it's safe and not contaminated because you know exactly where it comes from and where it's been, and it's free to do and you don't have to worry about the milk going bad.
The cons to breastfeeding is no one else can feed your kid but you, unless you decide to pump and bottle feed breastmilk. You'll face stigmas if you decide to do it in public (but don't let that stop you!) and it's a pain to pump all the time.
The pros to formula feeding, is anyone can do it. It's a great alternative to breastfeeding if you really don't want to or can't breastfeed, they're improving formula all the time. You don't have to worry about pumping, or being embarassed about doing it in public, and your breasts go back to size quickly and you don't have to always deal with engorgement and leakage.
The cons to formula feeding.. it's expensive, and it's not from the breast. You don't know if the milk may have been contaminated while it was being made, if the cans are clean or if there's any debris in the powder. You can only use it for up to 2-3 hours after making it, it's a pain to have to get up in the middle of the night and spend the time preparing it, it doesn't have the nutrients and antibodies that breastmilk has.
A lot of women here have managed school or work with pumping, and it may be hard but if you really want to breastfeed, don't let that stop you. Breast really is best, and although formula is a good alternative, I will always recommend breastfeeding first and foremost.
did you formula or breastfeed?
Can you do both? I know I read somewhere when you're due and when you go back to school, but for the life of me I can't remember when that was. I had to go back to work six weeks after first baby was born, and I couldn't pump an ounce, so she was given formula when I was gone. But boy, the minute I walked through the door, she was ready for boob! That actually went very well for me. I was really depressed about leaving her , and I was afraid that she would forget about me, but at night when I came home, she would nurse and I would feel so much better.
If you do this though, make sure you wait a little bit before introducing the bottle, because of nipple confusion. I can't remember how long you have to wait... I believe its six weeks.
I will give you a little advice if you decide to formula feed... Don't let anyone claim you're a bad mom. A good friend of mine came home from her baby's one month checkup in tears because her doctor actually yelled at her for not breastfeeding. He didn't care that she couldn't and the baby wasn't thriving. You're going to be a good mom, no matter what you choose. That's all I have to say about that. I'm sure there are more well informed mothers on the site who can give you better advice on the pros and cons than I can. I just wanted to make sure you don't let doctors, family members or anyone make you feel bad for your decision.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I did breast-feeding. My mother always wanted me to breastfeed. Using formula never came to her mind.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed for lots of reasons. The main one was a study was released shortly before I had my son linking cow's milk formula to SIDS and not to sleep position. Something about digestion and whatnot.
I also wanted to do child led weaning. It's soooo easy to calm down my tantruming toddler by nursing :)
Good luck on whatever you choose!!
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed at first, but soon gave up and switched to formula.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed all of my kids. Pumping can be tough but it's do-able. Like someone else said, if you plan on introducing a bottle make sure that you are well established in your nursing so that nipple confusion doesn't happen. Good luck!
did you formula or breastfeed?
i tried breast feeding. i was at least going to do it the first 6 weeks or at night when she woke up, but she wasn't responding good to it and it HURT way too much. so i went with formula. yeah it was a pain to boil the bottles and make formula, but i just couldn't breastfeed. kudos to the mamas that did, but kudos to the mamas that didn't too!
did you formula or breastfeed?
its been proven time and time again that breast is best for baby hands down, though im not entirely convinced that is best for the momma. i think i would of had a huge breakdown had i continue to bf my baby. Im also positive that if you have great support and people to help you get through the rough patches, that bfing could be the greatest for all involved.
did you formula or breastfeed?
erinn is absolutely right. breastfeeding is a relatioship that has to work for mama and baby. and obviuosly mama is the one how ultimaetly makes the decision. and there is no wrong choice.
you gotta do what you gotta do.
i hope that at least here on GM we can cotinue to provide strong support and information that can help start, and help maintain a good breastfeeding relationship. but also provide support for when that relationship ends.
i breastfed and it worked wonderfully for me and harper.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed for 6 weeks but it was a big struggle for both of us and each feed ended in tears (for baby and often me). I supplemented with formula now and then, but Mia wasn't getting fed enough according to my plunket nurse and now at nearly 9 weeks she is only having formula.
did you formula or breastfeed?
Miguel was doing execelet breastfeeding. Then they had to swich my blood prusher medision and I couldn't breast feed. I tried pumping then dumping it for to months but I wasn't producing enough and he was no longer taking to it. I wish I could have Because I wasn't bonding well with him while I was sick and it's cheaper
did you formula or breastfeed?
breast feed was awful for me. i breastfeed for 8 weeks. my daughter got thrush and i didnt know it, so i got it too. horrible. i also worked 8 hours a day and didnt pump. ( as a waitress you do not sit down. ever. so there isnt even ten minutes to pump) i would cry and dread every feeding, i would listen to her cry, trying to make myself brave enough to take the pain, i just sit there with tears running down while she nursed. so i gave it up. it was the best thing for me. but even through all the pain, i phased out breastfeeding, i couldnt give it up, each day i would consider not breastfeeding and i would just tell myself " well just one more time" bonding with baby is good. but not at the expense of the mother. if you cant handle it and it makes you stressed out. thats not good for either of you.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed my baby exclusively for 6 months, when she started solids. At 14 months, she still nurses 2-3 times daily. It's been great for us, though if I didn't have so much support and help available to me I would have considered formula. I considered it during a few of our bumpy patches.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I tried breastfeeding but Andrew was going for it. He kept falling asleep. I have inverted nippeles so that was helping. I tried for 2 days, met with a lactad consultant. I was miserable tired and stress. I cried cause I felt like a bad momma but hey your not a bad momma just cause you can't breast feed. So I bottle/formuale fed and well he took it. So I stuck with it and its worked.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I b/f exclusively for the first 4 months, then switched to formula cause Trey's lactose intolerant, and I kept getting a hundred conflicting answers about why my milk was hurting him. I wish I could have b/f for longer, because formula can't even be compared to breastmilk, but next child I have I'll fight harder to do it for longer.
did you formula or breastfeed?
Im doing both breast and formula..
I do more formula feeding though because im having a hard time trying to breastfeed.My baby is not latching at all..So im feeding him formula even though I try to breastfeed everyday im about to give up and stick to just the formula...
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed Ahlianah for 17 months. Jasper is a year old and still nurses several times during the day and night. I hope to nurse him until he is between 2 and 3. The reasons I breastfed are endless, and I never weighed it against formula feeding, because to me breastfeeding was the only logical choice. When I was going to school, I breastfed my daughter between classes. It was hard for us, and she cried for me a lot when I was not around, because she would never take a bottle of expressed milk. With my son, I was able to completely stay home for the first year, so I never even tried to give him a bottle.
Breastfeeding pros for baby:
-perfect, natural food
-best comfort
-contains important antibodies
-changes to the needs of the baby
-supplies on demand-- baby won't overfeed if allowed to nurse on demand
-readily available, if mamas around
Breastfeeding pros for mama:
-convenient, especially at night
-less likely to develop breast cancer if you breast feed
-no bottles to wash, warm, and mix
-no price of formula, bottles
-waste less water, dish soap
-helps lose the baby weight
-natural birth control (for six months if nursing exclusively)
Breastfeeding pros for society:
-shows people that it is ok, normal, natural
-proves that your boobs are not merely there for men to look at
-encourages other mamas to make the decision that is best for them and their baby, in spite of our bottlefeeding culture
Breastfeeding cons
-more difficult to leave baby (I actually see this as a pro because it is an extension of the bonding)
-can sometimes be painful or stressful for the mama
-can be difficult if baby was bottlefed in the hospital
-may cause breast exposure :wink:
did you formula or breastfeed?
I breastfed Aria for about 3 months. I wanted to at least give it a shot because I knew it was the best thing for her. I went back to work when she was about 6 weeks and I wasn't producing enough milk to pump enough bottles for the day. It got very frustrating, so I eventually stopped breastfeeding and put her on formula. I think it was the best thing for her and I. Every body is different!
did you formula or breastfeed?
For those mamas wondering if they can go to school and breastfeed, the answer is yes, but it isn't easy. I breastfed while attending school by setting my class schedulr so that I could breastfeed my son on my lunch break. (The college had on-site childcare). When he got a bit older, I would pump in between classes and save the milk in a discreet cooler so that I could send bottled breast milk with him to school. I also froze some for use whenever we had a sitter in the evening. I did give him formula on occasion out of convenience, but it seemed to irritate his digestive system, so I eventually stopped using it and worked more on freezing some of what I produced for use in a pinch. It was tough but satisfying when I look back on it.
did you formula or breastfeed?
I FF my first. I attempted to BF him with no idea what i was doing and with no support so my milk dried up and he was FF.
With #2 I BF for 13 or 14 months. My milk dried up when he self-weaned after starting daycare. It was much easier to BF than FF for me because I didn't have to worry about having formula ready and having to store it since my boobs were readily available. Pumping was a bit of a pain in the ass but it can be done succesfully.
I plan to BF the next critter for at least 2 years.