I sure love mine, and I'd be damned to have anyone negate that. I'd be ready to go to war over it. How is your breastfeeding bond any more special? My baby looks into my eyes, smiles at me, coos at me, holds my fingers, kneads my breasts, and snuggles against me. If that's not a bond, she's one hell of an early con artist.
2006-07-20 19:14:53 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
BaggyK> Well, I'm on klonopin for anxiety, and have been advised not to breastfeed on that (class D med), soooooo, it was either a doped up baby, or good ole' similac. Guess what I chose? I can give a damn about your reasoning. formula was best in my case and my baby loves me and is strongly bonded to everyone in this household. Not just me because I am the boob bearer.
2006-07-20 20:19:19 · update #1
Brenda B> Hormones or not. I HATED being forced to breastfeed when I was in Germany with my husband. I did not feel any real bond with her until I began bottlefeeding a t6 months. YES, I always loved her, but I did not particularly enjoy nursing. PLEASE speak for your damn self and stop putting everyone in a blasted box. You look ignorant doing that.
eeding
2006-07-21 07:23:53 · update #2
My girls were both bottle fed and they love me . My oldest did not want anypart of being breasfed. They are happy health wondeeful little girls and I love them dearly whats the differnce weather breast or bottle feeding you still hold them a cuddle them and they look at you and coo all babys care about is being fed by someone who loves them not where it comes from.
2006-07-21 14:53:05 · answer #1 · answered by mikesalleykat 1 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Let me first say that your response to BaggyK was unwarrented. She never put you down or insulted you in anyway yet you felt the need to give her a somewhat nasty response.
That being said, I've never heard anything about bottle fed children not having a bond and not being loved by their parents. I breast fed my daughter. I pumped also so when she woke up my husband could help me out some and he would bottle feed her. Yes, she and my husband have a bond and love each other. Her bond with me is a bit stronger, but it's more likely because of the fact that I stay home with her while my husband goes to work. I don't think it has anything to do with the way I fed her.
As BaggyK pointed out, the main difference in bottle feeding and breast feeding is the nutrition content. Not saying that bottle feeding is bad, but formula does not have the same nutritional content as breast milk. It's close, but it's not the same.
Not every one can breast feed. Some people don't produce enough milk. Some people don't have the patience. Some people just rather not do it. It's not a big deal either way. It's just that doctor's and La Leche League and such all recommend breast feeding over bottle feeding.
2006-07-21 03:07:57 · answer #2 · answered by Amy Lynn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think ANYONE has ever said that bottlefeeding parents don't love or bond with their children. In fact, attentive bottlefeeding (eye contact, skin touching skin while feeding) is just as effective in terms of bonding.
What people are saying is that breastfeeding is the BEST start for the parent and child relationship. Breastmilk contains antibodies against disease to protect the baby it helps to prevent postpartum depression in new mothers, it lowers the risk of SIDS, and enables mothers to immediately respond to a baby's hunger cries instead of going off to fix a bottle.
I agree that the language used to talk about the benefits of breastfeeding are extreme, but health advocates are fighting extreme brainwashing done by the formula companies.
In the 1950s, formula companies actually convinced women that formula was healthier than breast milk. In some communities, where water is less that perfectly clean, children were dying as a result of being given formula instead of breastmilk.
Basically, unless a mother is on medications that are absorbed into breastmilk at high levels, she should breastfeed. It is healthiest. That doesn't mean you and your child won't bond, or that she won't grow up to be a healthy, intelligent woman. In fact, if you care enough about the issue, you've made more progress than a lot of parents.
If a breastfed child, for example, is raised in a house full of cigarette smokers, breastfeeding is not going to protect the kid against lung cancer.
2006-07-20 19:57:28 · answer #3 · answered by baggyk 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't think that your bond is any different than breast fed babies. A bond is a bond. I don't think that any one can tell you what is right or wrong in that department. You are your baby's mother and you will make the choice that is best for the two of you. No one can tell you that it is wrong. I think that the same goes for any parent. Whether you breastfeed or not, you are you child's parent and you will do what you feel is best.
I think that the subject of babies and parents all depends on the situation, and who knows the situation better than you? So you make the most educated choice. And the mother who lives next door to you may have a different situation, therefore a different choice. No harm either way.
2006-07-20 19:24:12 · answer #4 · answered by Mandee 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well I am a breastfeeding mom and I can explain it to you. First of all I don't think you're a bad mom because you formula feed, and you shouldn't feel guilty about it given your situation. The breastfeeding bond is a biological phenomenon. During nursing your brain releases oxytocin and prolactin. Both of these hormones give the mother a euphoric feeling during and after nursing. This usually makes the mother calmer and better able to respond to baby's needs (I'm not saying bottle feeders don't do that, I was bottle fed and my mom is very calm loving). In return to this the baby is more strongly attached to their mother.
You're right, when you bottle feed everyone gets to feed the baby and "bond" with it. But babies aren't like stray cats, they will love people who don't feed them too. My daughter adores her daddy and has since she was born.
I'm sorry you feel so upset about this. But breastfed babies DO respond differently to their mothers than bottle-fed babies do. Ask someone who has done both and see what they tell you. I don't think it makes the child grow up closer to their mom per se, but while they are babies and dependent on nursing they DO look to their mother in a different light. Whereas a bottle fed baby will respond to anyone who has the bottle.
I hope this helps!
2006-07-21 05:30:23 · answer #5 · answered by all_my_armour_falling_down 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is a bond and it's just as special as breastfed babies. La Leche League and other breastfeeding advocates sometimes use the bonding factor as an incentive for breastfeeding. There is a special closeness with breastfeeding, but I would disagree with anyone who said that bottlefed babies bond less with their mothers than breastfed ones do. You love your baby no matter how he/she is fed. As long as you hold your baby closely while feeding her and look into her eyes, you're bonding the same way that breastfed babies do. I've breastfed for a total of 40 months now and have been a mother for a total of 17 years and know that love for a child and their love for you is not based on their feedings.
PS I think Jesus was breastfed....
2006-07-20 19:49:31 · answer #6 · answered by Answers to Nurse 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
not every woman can or even wants to breastfeed. I did not breastfeed with any of my children and we still have a really special bond and i love my children very much and they also love me alot too! My mum never breastfed any of us and we are all very close. Also what about those people who cant breastfeed? for example my sister could not breastfeed bacause of smoe problem that she had. Breast is not always best. People have thier own desicions So all you woman out there who keep critisising womn who do not breastfeed... think about it this way... what would you do if for some reason you couldnt breastfeed your children, would you let them go without or give them formula?? What if we didnt have breasts thay would have to have formula then wouldnt they!!!!!!!!
2006-07-20 23:44:05 · answer #7 · answered by noone 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Calm down...Alot of people prefer breast fed to bottle fed..It doesn't make you a bad mother because you chose bottle fed but thats because you are taking meds that your dr. said could harm the baby...But I take phenobarb and dilantin for epilepsy and I still breastfed two of my kids the 3rd one I couldn't cuz she was in the hospital with a stroke at 2 weeks....
Anyway I found out that your child doesn't get sick as much when breastfed which is true.....It bonds the two in a way not like bottle fed..but I am not saying you are not bonded with your child...I am just saying that there are good things about being breast fed
2006-07-20 20:39:08 · answer #8 · answered by Mrs. M 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's definitely not true, it's a bit of an exageration.
Bottlefeeding moms have to work harder at bonding because breastfeeding has a calming hormonal effect which naturally bonds you with the baby.
2006-07-21 06:02:50 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was bottlefed because my mom didn't have enough milk. She was a very small woman and she still is.
I absolutely do NOT love my mother any less. I love her so much and the more I learn about her year after year, the more I cherish the bond I have with her.
I think it's all just speculation when people say that they have more of a connection, etc. They're just trying to justify why they think what they are doing is better...
2006-07-20 19:19:42 · answer #10 · answered by Chloe 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know why people feel that. I never breastfed but I felt a bond with my daughter any time I fed her. There are so many people out there who want to criticize moms for not breastfeeding, not staying at home full time, etc. I would ignore whatever they have to say. They are shallow and narrow-minded.
2006-07-20 19:18:10 · answer #11 · answered by jerkygirl 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋