Did you nurse or formula feed?

Question

If you nursed, how long?
NOT meant as an attack or an opinion. Beliefs on this matter are irrelevant, everyone has their own circumstances. I'm just trying to get an idea of what is the norm these days. My grandmother told me that in here day, breastfeeding was taboo.

Answer 1

I formula fed both my kids. My thought was this...if you know for a fact that you're always going to eat just right for yourself then go ahead and breast feed. But I know that when I'm working my eating isn't always the best (I'd forget to quite a bit) so I wanted to make sure my kids were getting the best nutrition they could. All my other friends have breastfed though. They thought it would help with their kids immune systems etc. But in all their cases (and not saying this is always the case) their kids stay sick quite a bit where as mine never have had anything more than the occassional cold. I think it's because when I fed mine I knew exactly what they were getting and with them it varied more.

Answer 2

i breastfed my baby boy boy for 2 weeks he is a big boy and i didn't have enough milk to feed him, i was up all night every night trying to work out what was wrong with him, after a while i gave him a bottle of formula and he slept all the way through and i have never looked backed. The hospitals are very against formula feeding but i my circumstance there wasn't much that i could do. i would have kept going though if everything had of been ok. I think every person is different but make the decision your own no one Else's .

Answer 3

I am still nursing my 11mth old, have no real intention of stopping but I dont know how long I'll go. I always had this cut-off in my head of 'when she can ask for it, it's time to stop' but she's still far from putting together a sentence! Yeah, these formula companies (at least I've heard it is them to blame) really put a bunch of nonsense into people's heads just to make money. And if you think of all the children who missed out on the advantages of breastmilk, we should be suing them. Just like we've sued tabacco companies for all the additional healthcare costs as a result of smoking, we should sue the formula companies for their BS about formula being 'just fine' for your child.

OOPS, I did put my opinion in there. Well, hope no one takes offense to it. I completely stand behind mothers who had problems (like the woman who said she stopped at 5 days because her baby didnt gain enough. OMG! Very poor Drs in this world)

Answer 4

I breastfed both my kids. The first one for 6 months but I was under alot of stress and my weight fell to 42kilos, so babe and I both went on formula. With the second child things were less stressful and I knew what to expect so he got an extra month, I stopped because he use to bite.
I think it is important to breastfeed as there are certain immunity benefits for the baby, even if only for a few weeks or months.
Some women can't breastfeed for one reason or another and formula fed babes grow just as well as breastfed babes.

Answer 5

I was unable to breast feed, so my 2 babies were bottle fed. I think the main problem with bottle feeding is that some people put the bottle in with the baby, & just prop it up. If a baby is old enough to hold their own bottle, the baby is too old to HAVE a bottle. Holding and cuddling a baby, whether breast or bottle fed, is of the utmost importance. If a baby breast feeds until a year old, they still have to be held. Usually from 8-10 months of age, a baby can be weaned off the bottle. (Letting a baby walk around with a bottle is NEVER acceptable !)

Answer 6

Thank goodness, more and more women now are breastfeeding - they realize the benefits both to mother and baby!
I planned to nurse a long time, but circumstances prevented that. It only ended up being a few weeks, but my baby wasn't getting enough, so we had to move to formula.

Answer 7

I formula fed. I wanted to nurse but could not produce any milk. I thought it was just stress because it was my first-born. I tried again on my second but still had no milk only to be told by the nurse that my nipples were inverted and that I would have a hard time producing milk. Now they tell me after trying so hard!

Anyway, breast milk is best for babies.

Answer 8

I planned to exclusively breast feed because I couldn't be dealing with bottles and formula and sterilising etc. I also thought it was best for bubs. However, @ 5 days old my son was put on bottles in hospital because of jaundice - I never managed to get him to latch properly after this so I expressed bottles for him - and supplemented him with formula where necessary. He seems perfectly happy and healthy on this mix. I get upset that I missed out on bf - and will definitely try again with baby#2. I think the most important thing is to be happy with your decision - I tortured myself abot supplemeting with formula - but realise now that it's not so bad!

Answer 9

I nursed my daughter until she was one year old. She refused to take a bottle at all, so pumping was out, and she refused any type of formula when we did try to supplement. It was a little hard but we managed and because she didn't take a bottle she was able to use a sippy cup by the time she was 6 months old, and it was easy to switch her to milk after she turned one.

Answer 10

I formula fed because with my first baby, it hurt so bad I just couldn't do it. I really wanted to and tried for two weeks, and then just had to quit. My second baby, I had injured my neck during delivery somehow, so my family had to help feed him so he was bottle fed too. Both are healthy and happy! Lemmie just say thank goodness for WIC, because formula is expensive