breast or bottle poll - to include the new moms...

[siobhan]

I breast fed my youngest till he was 1. I had comments such as "dont you think he is getting a bit old for that now?" I particually remember my husbands cousin looking at me like I was a total freak for breast feeding, and his wife couldn't understand why I had done it, she bottle fed from day 1. I have no problem with bottle BTW, my first son was bottle from 8 weeks. I was 22 when I had him and I felt no pressure what so ever, in fact the other way round, people kept asking if I was sure I wanted to carry on and they didn't mind giving him the odd bottle if I was tired. Although I didn't particually enjoy breast feeding I stuck with it for 3 main reasons

1. I knew of the health benefits for me and bubs
2. It was cheaper!
3. People doubted me


I did feel uncomfy feeding in public, in fact I had a real problem with it, but I bought a poncho and bubs just fed under that when I was out and I felt a lot more comfortable

 

[Melanie]

I'm still breastfeeding and Thea will be 1 years old on Monday!

Its not the same here in Hungary though, its bottle feeding that is in the minority here. Babies are fed until they are two, its just normal. No one bats an eye at a toddler feeding in public. You cant buy formula for newborns in the shops here, its only available on prescription from the doctor and then you have to have a good reason for wanting it (i dont want to doesn't cut it either). Baby milk is subsidised by the government so they dont to give it to you unless they have to! Even subsidised its expensive and i dont think the average Hungarian family could stretch to it in their budget to be honest.

Im wanting to start to wean Thea soon though, im proud of myself for giving nothing but boobie for a whole year but id quite like my body back soon!

 

[valentine]

Well done Melanie, that's a fantastic achievement!

Valentine xxx

 

[Rosieroo]

I'm still breastfeeding and Thea will be 1 years old on Monday!

Its not the same here in Hungary though, its bottle feeding that is in the minority here. Babies are fed until they are two, its just normal. No one bats an eye at a toddler feeding in public. You cant buy formula for newborns in the shops here, its only available on prescription from the doctor and then you have to have a good reason for wanting it (i dont want to doesn't cut it either). Baby milk is subsidised by the government so they dont to give it to you unless they have to! Even subsidised its expensive and i dont think the average Hungarian family could stretch to it in their budget to be honest.

Im wanting to start to wean Thea soon though, im proud of myself for giving nothing but boobie for a whole year but id quite like my body back soon!

Isn't it amazing how different attitudes are in Hungary, it sounds so much more supportive of breastfeeding than in the UK. I think the UK could learn some lessons!!

 

[Joy and Ben]

I live in a town that is very pro breast feeding. I remember sitting in hospital crying trying to latch Ben on, very uncomfortable and it hurting so much but was made to feel like I had no choice. I carried on for 6 weeks, but Ben was very hungrry all the time and I obviously wasn't producing enough to satisfy him. The pain was horrible but I felt I couldn't ask for help cos I was a failure and everyone else could do it fine. My OH came home from work to find Ben and I both crying (he'd been feeding all day and my nipples were bleeding), he made a bottle of formula and ben slept for 3 hours!!!!!!!!! I felt huge pressure to bf but finally realised it was more important to do what was right for ben and I. It is true that happy mum = happy baby!

 

[*saulino*]

Hi

I BF Kiara and am BF Kadyn , i have friends family ect that cant believe i want to do it for a year again! but for me its like second nature and im very comfortable with doing it i couldnt imagine me bottlefeeding, but thats just me.
here i think i see more formula fed babies but at my baby group about half of us BF but we have support from eachother and the health nurses that run the group!!

Katrina

 

[Tangerinedream]

bottle fed. I wanted to breast feed but you know all about that

 

[Minxy]

I'm still breastfeeding and Thea will be 1 years old on Monday!

Its not the same here in Hungary though, its bottle feeding that is in the minority here. Babies are fed until they are two, its just normal. No one bats an eye at a toddler feeding in public. You cant buy formula for newborns in the shops here, its only available on prescription from the doctor and then you have to have a good reason for wanting it (i dont want to doesn't cut it either). Baby milk is subsidised by the government so they dont to give it to you unless they have to! Even subsidised its expensive and i dont think the average Hungarian family could stretch to it in their budget to be honest.

Im wanting to start to wean Thea soon though, im proud of myself for giving nothing but boobie for a whole year but id quite like my body back soon!

Isn't it amazing how different attitudes are in Hungary, it sounds so much more supportive of breastfeeding than in the UK. I think the UK could learn some lessons!!

Why do you think it's so different here in the UK?

I can't imagine having to go the doctor to beg for formula only to be told that 'wanting to just doesn't cut it'. I'm not sure that's a desirable situation to be heading for, as I believe all mums deserve the option to choose their feeding method.

However, there's no denying that our b/f rate it woefully low, isn't it the lowest in Europe? I guess some of it must be economically led, as Melanie says, many mums where she lives couldn't afford formula anyway, but how do more affluent countries succeed where we fail?

 

[Rosieroo]

The fact that people feel they can feed openly in public. You only have to look at this forum and threads in the past to see how scared some mothers are of feeding in public because it isn't seen in this country as breasts are so sexualised. How many women in this country would feel confident breastfeeding a toddler in public? I have no problems feeding Alex in public at the moment, but considering I am sometimes the only one breastfeeding at toddler groups etc, when he starts walking over and asking for it I know that people are going to be shocked. I would much rather have the open attitude to breastfeeding that Hungary has than the attitude England has (you only have to look at the Bringing up Baby programme where two so called professionals said that breastfeeding in public was inflicting it on people that didn't want to see it).
I do believe that as formula is so widely available that is part of the reason why the UKs rates are so low. It's easily accessible and widely accepted as a breastmilk substitute due to the advertising messages that the formula companies put across, yet on the other side of the coin if nurses/midwives try to encourage breastfeeding then they are widely seen as militant and unsupportive of a mothers choice.

 

[Tasha20]

The fact that people feel they can feed openly in public. You only have to look at this forum and threads in the past to see how scared some mothers are of feeding in public because it isn't seen in this country as breasts are so sexualised. How many women in this country would feel confident breastfeeding a toddler in public? I have no problems feeding Alex in public at the moment, but considering I am sometimes the only one breastfeeding at toddler groups etc, when he starts walking over and asking for it I know that people are going to be shocked. I would much rather have the open attitude to breastfeeding that Hungary has than the attitude England has (you only have to look at the Bringing up Baby programme where two so called professionals said that breastfeeding in public was inflicting it on people that didn't want to see it).
I do believe that as formula is so widely available that is part of the reason why the UKs rates are so low. It's easily accessible and widely accepted as a breastmilk substitute due to the advertising messages that the formula companies put across, yet on the other side of the coin if nurses/midwives try to encourage breastfeeding then they are widely seen as militant and unsupportive of a mothers choice.

I totaly agree with you, however I don't give two hoots what people think, theres hardley anyone that breastfeeds in my area, its full of young mums who are to worried about their image to breastfeed, I know my sister for one sees it as an uncool thing everyone bottlefeeds and to her thats the way it should be.

I will try though and show her how lovely breastfeeding is and that she should be a trend setter and not a sheep, thats one of the reasons I don't care about breastfeeding in public, it will be the in thing one day and I will be one of the trend setters its sad though how our society is like this, that so many young girls especialy follow the celebs, its people like Jordan who need a kick up the arse ( in my opnion) but mothers like Charlotte church should be praised and help young mums to rethink.

 

[beanie]

I have on the whole been lucky - the vast majority of the comments I have had have been on the whole positive. I once had two elderly ladies coming over telling me how great it was to see a young mum(god love em) feeding their baby and share their memories with me, and other people smile at me. My fave was at my OH's grandparents house where I felt very self concious about feeding so went into the kitchen onlyto have his grandad say "its only a tit, why she hide?" (he is Polish and in his accent it was so funny. I have had a few negative experiences, including one couple I knew who whenever I fed Seren she would grab his hand - obviously the sight of my boob was goingto drive him mad with lust and one time when I fed Seren recently, obviously me feeding my toddler was too much for people to stand. I am usually a strong minded person and normally don't care what others think but that last time really upset me and made me feel like I was wrong, and that is whats wrong with our society.

Kina - I hate it when people say breastfeeding is wrong when they can ask for it - what the hell do they think she was doing when she was crying at 2 months, asking for it, same as when she used to say boobie.

 

[Rosieroo]

You know that I'm completely for feeding into toddlerdom and wish that I'd managed that with DD But I know what other people's attitudes can be like. My stepdad asked me recently when I was putting DS onto the bottle...god knows what he'd think if he knew that every day this week DD has been asking for boobie, squeezing a drop out then drinking it and declaring it yummy and nice This is the girl who weaned totally off at 10 months!! All my family are formula feeders apart from one, who breastfed til her DS was 6 months and then gave up as she'd reached her goal. Most people who comment are positive about my breastfeeding atm, but in a way that it's like 'well done' and they're shocked that I'm still doing it. At DS's age it shouldn't be a shock!
I'm sorry that you were made to feel bad about breastfeeding Seren recently

 

[beanie]

its sad though how our society is like this, that so many young girls especialy follow the celebs, its people like Jordan who need a kick up the arse ( in my opnion) but mothers like Charlotte church should be praised and help young mums to rethink.

I was surprised to see how many celebs have breastfed clicky and some such as Nelly Furtado breastfed for nearly 2 years even whilst on tour and Gwen Stefani is still breastfeeding her son who I think is one. This is a lovely article Tasha that you might liketo read by her clicky. However sadly you then get people like supernanny who shows her ignorance on public television!!

 

[beanie]

You know that I'm completely for feeding into toddlerdom and wish that I'd managed that with DD But I know what other people's attitudes can be like. My stepdad asked me recently when I was putting DS onto the bottle...god knows what he'd think if he knew that every day this week DD has been asking for boobie, squeezing a drop out then drinking it and declaring it yummy and nice This is the girl who weaned totally off at 10 months!! All my family are formula feeders apart from one, who breastfed til her DS was 6 months and then gave up as she'd reached her goal. Most people who comment are positive about my breastfeeding atm, but in a way that it's like 'well done' and they're shocked that I'm still doing it. At DS's age it shouldn't be a shock!
I'm sorry that you were made to feel bad about breastfeeding Seren recently

aww I never knew she was doing that - bless her, that must make you feel better about her weaning early (even though I have told you so many times it was not your doing!!!!) That is so cute, I really miss feeding Seren as whenever I undid my top to feed her she would cheer and go "yay yay yay". I was more angry with myself with letting peoples views get to me, and am hoping it won't put me of ENing in public next time.

 

[Minxy]

I do believe that as formula is so widely available that is part of the reason why the UKs rates are so low. It's easily accessible and widely accepted as a breastmilk substitute due to the advertising messages that the formula companies put across, yet on the other side of the coin if nurses/midwives try to encourage breastfeeding then they are widely seen as militant and unsupportive of a mothers choice.

Yep, I'd agree that prolific advertising has something to do with it.

But why is public breastfeeding in Britain sometimes a sticky subject. And why do some mums see it as 'uncool'?

I think that's what I don't get

 

[Rosieroo]

I think it stems from a time when formula was something people used to 'keep up with the Joneses', it was something that became more easily available which gave people 'freedom' from breastfeeding so it started to become the cool thing to do. (I was born in the eighties and was formula fed as were my siblings so I don't know if it comes from around this time). It would be interesting to see if there are any figures about showing breastfeeding figures throughout the decades. I could be completely wrong though!! So as formula feeding became the more socially acceptable way of feeding your baby, breastfeeding was seen less and less and became something hippies and older mums did. The benefits of breastfeeding were less known twenty odd years ago (and further back than that, I'm just plucking out when I was first around). I'm probably way off though in my ramblings
Just to add that I think feeding in public is a sticky subject due to breasts being shown more as sexual objects over the past twenty-thirty years in tabloids etc, so as breastfeeding became less seen and tits on page 3 more seen there was a change in attitudes as to what breasts were actually meant for. They became something to be drooled over by men, not babies

 

[Lola's Mummy]

I breastfeed and i'm also 22.

None of my family or friends breastfeed their babies.

I don't think there is anything wrong with formula feeding your baby but it is just not what i wanted to do, I would have found it a lot harder to make up bottles and warm the milk etc maybe i'm just lazy.

I have never seen another mum in my area breastfeeding young or old.

I think a lot of mum's don't breastfeed because it isn't really seen that often and they don't want to be seen as different or uncool

 

[Hellokitty]

I fail to see why this is being dragged up again and again! We all know that breast is best for our babies but equally its not always a matter of choice.

I breastfed Maia until she was 11 weeks when she point blank refused the breast. As she was given formula in hospital she was already on the slippery slope to bottle-feeding.

I totally disagree that advertising formula encourages less women to breastfeed, you might as well say that opticians adverts make us all want to go out and buy glasses.

I am a member of the NCT but I have to say it really annoys me that they want all formula ads banned. It makes it seem like formula is 'dangerous' for growing babies. Ridiculous! I personally was formula fed, didn't do me any harm, I've never had any allergies etc.

The only truth is that breast milk is 'better' than formula.

Everytime this discussion crops up it heaps the guilt on those of us that may already feel guilty about not breastfeeding by choice, or those of us that have tried but failed.

There are two sides to every story, we all love our babies and want the best for them

 

[Tasha20]

Why are you making it out like that those who are talking about this are making a pop at formula feeders? why get so defensive, its a resonable conversation? It's a fact with whats happening nowadays, I know some women can't breastfeed and thats fine I am very sorry about that, I genuinly am , noone desputed that?

At the end of the day, from my experiences it is seen as 'uncool' to breastfeed my sister and all her friends are living proof of that, they are all sheep and follow what the mojority of what the UK do.

I was formula fed, but I was a very sicky child, as were my siblings.

We all have the right to share our opinions, just because some people dont breastfeed, it don't mean we cant discuss what we have concerns about?

On another note I have had occasions where I have felt uncomfortable because some male pig is giving me dirty looks and funny enough its the older generation men that seem to have more of a problem with breastfeeding in public, has anyone else experienced that?

 

[Tasha20]

Oh and im sorry but I totaly disagree with you about formula advertising not effecting women, it does.

An interesting read:-


http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/full/95/2/296