Breast or bottle??

[Rosie's Mummy]

I am a trained (Association of Breastfeeding Mothers) Mother Supporter so you can always ask me anything girls

I should put it back in my siggie actually.....

Im pretty certain I'll be firing the questions at you!

One thing I loved about BF'ding was the comedy value and how you can squirt milk like across the room!! plus I loved having massive boobs!

 

[Mervs Mum]

I think little goals are a fab idea. I aimed for anything past 6 weeks with Hebe which was what I'd done with Emily. when I got about 3 weeks in I knew I'd go past 6....then I wanted to do 3 months....then 4....and so on till I got what I saw as my ultimate goal which was 1 yr. I do think doing it in little bite sized chunks was a good idea for me

 

[Mervs Mum]

One thing I loved about BF'ding was the comedy value and how you can squirt milk like across the room!! plus I loved having massive boobs!

I remember one of the first times I fed in public in Costa Coffee.....in the corner where no one could see me and put me off....got my pashmina over us both and started trying to latch her and squirted milk over my shoulder and up the wall.....priceless!

 

[megsmeadow]

I'm definately going to try BF, seems very natural thing to do to imo. I'm the same Rowesb, think we have two bottles, and two dummies that were given to us, but I haven't gone buying any for fear I'll give in. Afterall, there is a 24hour tesco about 5 mins away from me so it's not an impossible feat if needs really must.
I have to say my main concern was being 'able' to feed properly as I had a rather sizeable lump removed from under my right nipple when I was 16 and really wasn't sure what damage had been done. Seems things are working as I already have quite a bit of leaking!! (I never thought I'd be so happy about that!!). Mervs Mum is there anything we should be doing to get our bodies 'ready' for feeding?? There's all sorts of old wives tales about how to harden your nipples and the rest and some are down right scarey, or are our bodies doing it all already?

 

[MrsR]

I will also be bombarding mm with questions! x I am also loving my massive boobs! I usually have barely there breasts and I've heard that breastfeeding helps get you back in shape?!

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

I'm definately going to try BF, seems very natural thing to do to imo. I'm the same Rowesb, think we have two bottles, and two dummies that were given to us, but I haven't gone buying any for fear I'll give in. Afterall, there is a 24hour tesco about 5 mins away from me so it's not an impossible feat if needs really must.
I have to say my main concern was being 'able' to feed properly as I had a rather sizeable lump removed from under my right nipple when I was 16 and really wasn't sure what damage had been done. Seems things are working as I already have quite a bit of leaking!! (I never thought I'd be so happy about that!!). Mervs Mum is there anything we should be doing to get our bodies 'ready' for feeding?? There's all sorts of old wives tales about how to harden your nipples and the rest and some are down right scarey, or are our bodies doing it all already?

I have had a lump (fibroadenoma) removed from each breast, the last one was last October. I didnt notice any problems when I BF Rosiexx

 

[becks20]

Im going to breastfeed again i breastfed my daughter till she was just over 1yr and im planning to go for that long again x

 

[megsmeadow]

Rosie's Mum that's what I had too, totally benign for me, hope yours were too!! So glad to hear it didn't cause you problems! I think my worry was that because I didn't ask as the time (really breastfeeding wasn't on my mind at 16) then I wasn't sure how invasive the surgery had been. I suppose it's a good thing that a lot of the milk ducts etc are developing during pregnancy so probably weren't in the way when they did the surgery. And Mervs Mum reassured me a while back that it's still possible to feed just from one side. It's all looking good!

 

[Mervs Mum]

You definitely dont NEED to do anything. The people who make Lansinoh will have you believe you should be using their cream in preparation but in truth you dont need to - you can if you like but it's not needed.

The best preparation is to believe in yourself. Dont start out thinking 'what if I cant' etc etc. You can. Most problems can be overcome. You will hear it said that it doesnt hurt unless you are doing it wrong. While this is true to a degree it's not THAT simple. I know I'm doing it right as you might expect but I'm still finding that after only stopping 6 months ago, my nipples still need to get used to the Sid's strong suck. If it hurts all the way through a feed you probably have an issue with your latch but if it's a bit 'toe curling' for the first 10 -30 seconds then it's just your nipples getting use to it.

If you want to be super prepared and a total swot you can look for your local BF support group and go alone before you LO comes - pregnant mums are very welcome. Your Surestart centre will usually have one and other organisations are Baby Cafe (http://www.thebabycafe.co.uk/) and La Leche League (http://www.laleche.org.uk/) and they will have groups too or ask your MW. Knowing where they are in advance is a good thing because if you need support and quick then you can get someone there or go somewhere right away. When I was struggling at about day 10 with Hebe, I was lucky that the MW had told me about my local Baby Cafe group so I went down there that very morning and as dramatic as it sounds, I had all my problems solved right away.

 

[evajo]

I will be breast feeding as i have done with all three. I love it and its so easy, i can try to understand why some women don't like the idea of babe on breast or feeding in public but when you tired and babe wants feeding early hours twice a night for at least 7 weeks in my case, whats easier than putting babe half asleep on brest and having a cuddle in bed!

 

[Mamafy]

One thing I loved about BF'ding was the comedy value and how you can squirt milk like across the room!! plus I loved having massive boobs!

I remember one of the first times I fed in public in Costa Coffee.....in the corner where no one could see me and put me off....got my pashmina over us both and started trying to latch her and squirted milk over my shoulder and up the wall.....priceless!

I'll bet you didn't need a little pot of milk for your coffee

Sorry couldn't resist & I know I should

 

[Mervs Mum]

I think the might be the Mervs Mum these next few months!!

 

[ria__x]

i'm going to breastfeed - because.. it will help both me and the baby! baby with better immune system etc and hopefully help me lose a bit of baby weight! lol! not sure how long for but probably as long as i can. xx

 

[evajo]

I didnt know that the colostrum was all baby needed in the first few days, the midwives on the ward didnt tell me anything, just to keep feeding and feeding. I had to syringe the drops of colostrum off of my nipples and give it to her like that on their say so. Rosie didnt stop crying and I asked for her to have cup feeds of formula as I reasoned her crying to her hunger. Looking back I had no help at all. After my radiation scan for suspected lung clot I was unable to feed her or touch her for 12 hours, the midwife (one who I reported) made me use an electric breastpump for half an hour to get rid of all colustrum that was contaminated from the scan - I went home with blistered nipples from the pump. I wanted to go back and skin that midwife I can tell you..
So I would recommend anyone who is unsure about any aspect of breastfeeding, to ask to speak to a breastfeeding counsellor or someone who is trained. It goes a long way to have a little bit of help in the beginning xx

Poor you that sounds horrible, did you hear anthing afer the reporting of mw?

 

[Mamafy]

I think the might be the Mervs Mum these next few months!!

 

[Piglet10]

ok i wanted to breastfeed... but as i was soo ill and iron so low they didnt think i would cope and recover from section b-freeding and they werent sure baby would benefit as i was so ill and may not get all the extras.

i thought i would feel guilty bottle BUT i dont... not sure whether thats cos i didnt have a choice or not tho. i doubt i would have been able to keep to her demands of 6 ozs every 2 hours anyway.

i love me wee tt bottles and microwave steriliser and aptamil milk !! lol and i love being able to hand her to her daddy to bond with and to relieve me of some night feeds.

its defo a personal choice!! i defo will try breast next time tho at least for first while if im allowed that is!! xx

 

[JJ Mum]

thanks for the BF links Mervs Mum , have book marked them for later on when preggers again.

I plan to try this, it was actually the reason I found the PF forum as I was searching for breastfeeding information and thought I would join as other mums may be able to offer advice before birth to gve my self the best chance of being successfull. I never BF with my kids the first when to special care and I expressed milk for him, then went to bottle as they told me that If I breastfed they would keep him in there for a third week, so we switched to bottle, they washed their hands with us in disgust and we went home that day! and then second I was so put off I didn't even try, and the third was only 5lb 15 oz and had no suck reflex and was fed formula buy nose tube for a week, so we went straight to bottle again.

Fourth time lucky I reackon!! Great thread tho Katie X

 

[mel_ed]

ok i'm abit stuck! me and OH spoke about breast feeding and OH is really against it as he wants bonding time with baby aswell, which he saying he'll bond when feeding. which i totally understand and i wouldnt like 2 breast all the time as just dont like the idea of doing it in public etc.
however ive heard that the 1st week/2nd weeks milk is the best. i would be prepared to breast feed for 1st week or so. can you do this or would it be 2 confusing for baby? i also dont really like the idea of breast pumps so would just be for 1st 2 weeks.

 

[Rosie's Mummy]

You can express milk for use in a bottle after a couple of weeks when its established - a HUGE part of breastfeeding is bonding for mum too, its the most magical feeling in the world and helps your uterus contract back too to shrink. Don't worry about feeding in public, chances are in the first few weeks you won't anyway and even then you'll be so used to it you won't bat an eyelid. You can use muslin cloths and your clothes to disguise it, its not as if you have to whop them out to feed, its actually very discreet

 

[Yoshi]

I want to breastfeed, but if it doesn't work out I won't be upset about switching to formula