Why would you NOT breastfeed?

No no not offended..i quite like a healthy debate...
people in life don't always agree on things... you have your opinion, i have mine.. we just agree to disagree :dance:
It would be a boring world indeed if we all thought the same :hug:
 
purple13 said:
formula milk is inferior to booby milk, end of

When it's put that way, you can't argue with it. Although both breastmilk and formula milk contain everything baby needs, breastmilk just has that something extra. It's natural and made by Mum, which of course makes it more special than formula. But it doesn't mean a formula fed baby is lacking in essential nutrients they need to be healthy and grow.

My baby girl is happy and healthy - What more can I ask for? I refuse to be made to feel bad about my personal choices, and I hope others have the same attitude - Because all Mummy's are sooperdooper :clap:
 
Not to offend anybody but formula will never be the same as boobymilk... it's not possbile to make the natural, it's like making fake fruit... it just doesn't happen. But I respect everybodys choices and views. :hug:
 
See I agree with you there..you're right, it isn't the same.

Maybe its the way your previous statement was worded.. I agree breast milk is definiately a superior 'product' (if you will) but I feel formula is giving my baby everything he needs...
Its pretty hard to actually pin point what a formula fed baby would be lacking in comparison to a breast fed baby later in life, if they are just as healthy...
If you get my point ... :D
 
Scout said:
Not to offend anybody but formula will never be the same as boobymilk... it's not possbile to make the natural, it's like making fake fruit... it just doesn't happen. But I respect everybodys choices and views. :hug:

:) It's better when you say it that way :lol:
 
When I was pregnant, I personally wanted to try and breastfeed. I hoped I could do it, but thought I was prepared for if I couldn't. I bought formula and bottles just in case it didn't work out. I figured it was a lot more important for me to give in to formula before I cracked if BF didn't work out.

I feel more guilty about leaving Evie to scream while I desperately waited for the smallest of let downs, letting her have her tongue tie cut, dreading her next feed because of the pain, resenting her for wanting to suckle when my nipples were agony (and tons more!) than for actually giving it up! :)

Nutrient wise? Breast IS best. Emotionally? No, not in my case...
 
Scout said:
Sorry about my wording. :oops:
It's no good keep apologising babe! You're just going to have to really think before you post. We're all lovely here, every one of us, and when you have us as friends we're even better :D
 
Scout said:
Sorry about my wording. :oops:

Reading these posts im actually feeling quite sorry for you! I tend to agree with what you have said throughout but maybe not the wording at times.. I think people have become so defensive so quickly (maybe understandably)

I havent breastfed yet and it maybe a complete nightmare and something will make me switch to bottle feeding like some of the other mums on here, i certainly wont beat myself up about it cos i know i will give it my best shot.

I was under the impression though that this thread wasnt about mums switching to bottles after trying breastfeeding, it was simply asking "why wouldnt you initially try if you are fit and healthy?" which i have always wondered myself. Most of the replies received are from mums that HAVE given it ago and had to stop for their various and understandable reasons.

I am very new to all this so maybe dont have the extensive knowledge that many on here do, but i was also under the impression that breastmilk does have that added something and IS superior to formula milk? Isnt is something to do with the antibodies which forumla milk doesnt have? That in itself would make me want to give it a go for the benefit of the baby. :think:

I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line and alot of people are giving the reasons why they didnt continue breastfeeding which isnt what i thought the post was about? Unless i read it wrong.. not had much sleep! :sleep:

Claire x
 
poppy160 said:
purple13 said:
formula milk is inferior to booby milk, end of

When it's put that way, you can't argue with it. Although both breastmilk and formula milk contain everything baby needs, breastmilk just has that something extra. It's natural and made by Mum, which of course makes it more special than formula. But it doesn't mean a formula fed baby is lacking in essential nutrients they need to be healthy and grow.

My baby girl is happy and healthy - What more can I ask for? I refuse to be made to feel bad about my personal choices, and I hope others have the same attitude - Because all Mummy's are sooperdooper :clap:

Humans are one of the few exceptionally adaptable species... Its only actually been in the past 20000 years that we have actually started drinking cows milk when we started animal domestication. We are hunter and gatherers and were never meant to drink cows milk... Its one of the reasons that lactose intolerance is so prevalent among humans. 20000 years isn't long enough for evolution of a human scale, so it is down to a random genetic mutation which has been passed down that ensures we are able to digest lactose in cows milk... not everyone has it.

One of the reasons we know so much about breast milk and its qualities is because the formula companies are doing their best to capitalise on perfection... so they have taken breast milk, spent millions of pounds in research, broken it down and tried to put it back together in the form of formula milk and have always failed. The essence of human milk is that it is alive, formula is not.

While greater knowledge about human milk has helped scientists improve infant formula, it has become "increasingly apparent that infant formula can never duplicate human milk," wrote John D. Benson, Ph.D, and Mark L. Masor, Ph.D., in the March 1994 issue of Endocrine Regulations. "Human milk contains living cells, hormones, active enzymes, immunoglobulins and compounds with unique structures that cannot be replicated in infant formula."
(see link below)

As the New Scientist quoted:
"Would we knowingly substitute any other complete biological system of nourishment (blood for example) with one that contained no living cells, no tissue-specific growth enhancers, no immune system modulators, no inflammatory response inhibitors plus a massive dose of non-human protein? And then give it to our children for the first six months of life when their immune systems are at their most under-developed and sensitive?

It is said that cows milk is for calves and human milk for humans. You only need to examine the growth of a calf and human baby to see why that is... Cows milk lacks essential long chain fatty acids that are required to build humans big brains. After all cows are never going to speak or do maths. Now formula companies have tried to replicate this by introducing fish oils (its why on cans of formula it might say fish added), but human milk contains several different long chain fatty acids that do different jobs... Also a baby calf is born standing and requires a huge amount of protein for muscle development, which is why cows milk has up to 4times the amount of protein in it that human milk. Humans don't require that, so formula companies remove some of the protein and add whey to it. Formula really is nothing more than a highly processed cows milk.

# Human milk contains, on average, 1.1% protein, 4.2% fat, 7.0% lactose (a sugar), and supplies 72 kcal of energy per 100 grams.
# Cow milk contains, on average, 3.4% protein, 3.6% fat, and 4.6% lactose, 0.7% minerals[21] and supplies 66 kcal of energy per 100 grams.
wikipedia/milk.

One of the main components of breast milk is its antibody content. It is not possible to replicate this in formula. So in essence the comment... Formula does not contain everything a baby needs... is true. In the first 6 months of life, humans are designed to have this antibody content to protect them and their developing immune systems. It doesn't mean that babies won't thrive and do so on formula.... as I said humans are incredibly adaptable and hardy species.

And I know people have this need for some explanation and proof... so heres a link to the FDA (I know its American but humans are more or less the same all over the world :rotfl: ) http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/breastfed.html Its quite a fair representation of both formula and breastmilk in fact.

As Purple13 has pointed out... the scientific analysis of formula vs breastmilk does show that formula, in comparison, is an inferior product. It doesn't mean that the choices we make for our kids are inferior. In the same way that one parent might buy expensive organic food for their baby, does it make me an inferior mother, that I do not? I know my children will thrive on non organic/expensive foods, but its not necessarily the best. I am unable to give them organic/expensive food, as some women are unable to give breastmilk. But my kids are still fed, healthy.
 
nori said:
Scout said:
Sorry about my wording. :oops:

Reading these posts im actually feeling quite sorry for you! I tend to agree with what you have said throughout but maybe not the wording at times.. I think people have become so defensive so quickly (maybe understandably)

I havent breastfed yet and it maybe a complete nightmare and something will make me switch to bottle feeding like some of the other mums on here, i certainly wont beat myself up about it cos i know i will give it my best shot.

I was under the impression though that this thread wasnt about mums switching to bottles after trying breastfeeding, it was simply asking "why wouldnt you initially try if you are fit and healthy?" which i have always wondered myself. Most of the replies received are from mums that HAVE given it ago and had to stop for their various and understandable reasons.

I am very new to all this so maybe dont have the extensive knowledge that many on here do, but i was also under the impression that breastmilk does have that added something and IS superior to formula milk? Isnt is something to do with the antibodies which forumla milk doesnt have? That in itself would make me want to give it a go for the benefit of the baby. :think:

I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line and alot of people are giving the reasons why they didnt continue breastfeeding which isnt what i thought the post was about? Unless i read it wrong.. not had much sleep! :sleep:

Claire x

I agree. I read it the same as you too and after a rocky start I think it's turning into a very interesting thread.

I'm certainly going to be using this as a reflective piece for my course.


Oh and Squig - Go Waffly Squiglet Go :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

You never cease to amaze me hun xx
 
nori said:
Scout said:
Sorry about my wording. :oops:

Reading these posts im actually feeling quite sorry for you! I tend to agree with what you have said throughout but maybe not the wording at times.. I think people have become so defensive so quickly (maybe understandably)

I havent breastfed yet and it maybe a complete nightmare and something will make me switch to bottle feeding like some of the other mums on here, i certainly wont beat myself up about it cos i know i will give it my best shot.

I was under the impression though that this thread wasnt about mums switching to bottles after trying breastfeeding, it was simply asking "why wouldnt you initially try if you are fit and healthy?" which i have always wondered myself. Most of the replies received are from mums that HAVE given it ago and had to stop for their various and understandable reasons.

I am very new to all this so maybe dont have the extensive knowledge that many on here do, but i was also under the impression that breastmilk does have that added something and IS superior to formula milk? Isnt is something to do with the antibodies which forumla milk doesnt have? That in itself would make me want to give it a go for the benefit of the baby. :think:

I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line and alot of people are giving the reasons why they didnt continue breastfeeding which isnt what i thought the post was about? Unless i read it wrong.. not had much sleep! :sleep:

Claire x


I think that the reason for this (and im speaking for me not everyone) is that failure to bf until baby is at least 6 months is indeed felt as that - a failure. So even though I managed to bf James for 6 weeks, I dont class myself as a BFer because I guess it has been drilled into me that I am not giving James everything he needs by not breast feeding him until 6 months. So when reading the question "why would you NOT breastfeed" because of the importance placed on bfing for as long as possible, I felt that i came under the category of NOT breastfeeding because im not giving James the optimum amount of breast milk needed with all the antibodies etc. So i felt the need to answer the question. Im guessing a lot of the girls feel the same who have answered? Sorry if that makes no sense im full of cold and feel like poo!

I think before i had james I felt that I would give it my best shot but felt that if i only managed a few weeks that would be ok because he had the colostrum and x amount of weeks worth of antibodies.

Once i actually had him however, it was a different story and I felt under tremendous pressure to feed him until 6 months and beyond. Maybe its sommat that happens when you join the mummy club - i dont know?! I also just want to stress that i dont blame anyone for that pressure only myself. I did feel like a failure for giving up. Just the phrase "giving up" tends to infer failure and then guilt... regardless of whether you feel its the right choice for bubs or not..

Squig you quoted me a while back about giving up BF and PND I can see why giving up BF can lead to PND etc - for me its one of those situations where you are damned if you do and damned if you dont. You feel the guilt of failure and the removal of the bond and closeness of bf if you give up, but for lots of ladies the dread of feeding can itself evoke PND too. For me, i felt that continuing to BF would be more harmful to me and my health and therefore James and his, than switching to formula. I definitely agree with Squiglet that the support networks should be a lot stronger and so maybe fewer woman would give up, however i firmly believe in my case that there were too many extenuating circumstances for me to have done it successfully for 6 months even with the support. And i stick by my decision. I firmly believe that I did the right thing for both me and James. He was a lot happier and satisfied on formula than he ever was on breast milk and he had a much happier mummy too. :D
 
nori said:
I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line
I think so too... Because we're now discussing what's superior and inferior - Yet, we all agree that breast milk IS superior (nutrition wise anyway)!? I can't see that anyone's disputed that? :think: :lol:

Are there even any women on the forum who decided from the start that they wouldn't breastfeed? :think: (I'm genuinely intrigued now!!) Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx
 
dannii87 said:
nori said:
I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line
I think so too... Because we're now discussing what's superior and inferior - Yet, we all agree that breast milk IS superior (nutrition wise anyway)!? I can't see that anyone's disputed that? :think: :lol:

Are there even any women on the forum who decided from the start that they wouldn't breastfeed? :think: (I'm genuinely intrigued now!!) Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx

Well tbh I hope they do Dannii. I'm like you - I'm really interested and intrigued by it.

i think we can all be adult enough to have a discussion about it without getting our handbags out and at the ready :rotfl:
 
dannii87 said:
Are there even any women on the forum who decided from the start that they wouldn't breastfeed? :think: (I'm genuinely intrigued now!!) Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx


I can't remember names, and it may not have even been this forum, but i remember reading a post that basically said that even the idea of breastfeeding would turn their stomach. Why even attempt something that just the thought of made them feel sick. The thought of cottage cheese makes me feel icky, so i don't eat it (ok, not quite the same, but you know what i mean!). each to their own.


also, thanks ladies confirming that it does help everything get back to normal in there - i didn't know if i had heard it, or if it was a load of rubbish that came of the top of my head!! :lol:
 
Scout said:
I did say in my first post that if you were ABLE to, I know and understand people can't and I accept that but it makes me upset that people have a baby and then don't breastfeed because they want their bodies in shape. When that is the case, it strongly angers me because I think if you planned the baby and can breastfeed with no problems, why wouldn't you? :think:
Formula will never give a baby everything he or she needs. Ever.

Im going to be honest here...

I think you ONLY apolgised because you realised a few ppl were a bit annoyed... But you continue to make comments which I personally see will get ppls backs up...

I say this with upmost respect but its going to come over a bit harsh but what business is it REALLY of yours??? If we all got angry about the state of the world and the way ppl raised their children then hell there would be alot of anger in the world... I could state a huge post about the whys and what nots about different things but we need to be considerate here and realise different strokes for different folkes, im not perfect so I can't judge.

There are plenty of reasons a mother may choose from the off to bottle feed, maybe they want to avoid going down the road of it not working out, maybe they don't want to feed with something they see as a sexual object, there are other reasons but who is anyone to judge??? i personally don;t know all the reasons and I don;t even see why ppl/mothers have to justify themselves...

Breastfeeding isn't for everyone so just deal with it...

x
 
dannii87 said:
Are there even any women on the forum who decided from the start that they wouldn't breastfeed? :think: (I'm genuinely intrigued now!!) Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx

There definitely are people who decide that breastfeeding isn't for them - clicky, however most of these women who say this are pregnant with their first, maybe some answers would be different after becoming a Mum.

Valentine Xxx
 
dannii87 said:
nori said:
I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line
I think so too... Because we're now discussing what's superior and inferior - Yet, we all agree that breast milk IS superior (nutrition wise anyway)!? I can't see that anyone's disputed that? :think: :lol:

Are there even any women on the forum who decided from the start that they wouldn't breastfeed? :think: (I'm genuinely intrigued now!!) Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx


dannii87 said:
Are there even any women on the forum who decided from the start that they wouldn't breastfeed? :think: (I'm genuinely intrigued now!!) Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx

I decieded this time I was going to bottle feed strait away.
I decieded that my daughter needed a strong and happy mother instead of one who went of the rails emotionally and physically because of the way pnd affected me .
I struggled in hospital to breast feed with Ben, was offered no help as hey were to busy and was looked down apon when my mum asked for a bottle like I was wrong. Ben was screaming with hunger and I was very emotional.
I believe my hospital experience contributed to my hoffific pnd.

I commend mums who struggle through with breast feeding as I know it is not always an easy thing to do but do not feel guilty just because some say breast is best.
Even if I was breast feeding I would not look down my nose at bottle feeders the way some do as it does not make them a bad person for it, they are not neglecting there children.
Some people just need to stop judging others and trying to make them feel bad end of.
 
dannii87 said:
nori said:
I think this thread may have gone a little off track somewhere along the line
I think so too... Because we're now discussing what's superior and inferior - Yet, we all agree that breast milk IS superior (nutrition wise anyway)!? I can't see that anyone's disputed that? :think: :lol:

I agree, I also don't understand why Scout you put things and then apoligise for your wording, Im personally NOT offended by your post but do think the "way its worded" is a bit, well lets be honest a bit rude...

Even if there was, I don't think they'd dare post here now! :rotfl: xxx
I agree and I personally feel quite concerned about that, ppl don't realise maybe there are hidden reasons, extremly personal reasons why women decide not to boob feed from the off...

Anyooo the debate continues :)
 
Its terrible that people feel that they can not express there choices and reasons for it due to some people making them feel this way by saying its wrong :roll:


EVERYBODY: BE PROUD OF THE FACT THAT YOU FEED YOUR BABIES REGUARDLESS OF HOW :hug:
 

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