*~Reasons for Formula Feeding (Plus Blinkies)~*

Originally posted by bluepencils on 6/13/2006:

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My milk didnt come in right away and Molly screamed, and screamed, and screamed. I just wanted to feed my poor baby! An hour after getting home from the hosptial I said "I just cannot take it anymore!" I opened my first can of formula fed Molly according to the directions and she slept for the first time in hours after all that crying.

I felt guilty, but she was sooo hungry. I tried BF after my milk came in off and on for over a week but with my c-section I couldnt get comfy and I was soooo tired and miserable!

This worked out best as Molly never slept more than 2hrs at at time until the past month and my DH had to take shifts in order to get any sort of sleep

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Originally posted by torontomom on 6/13/2006:

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feel your pain, Denise. I wanted to BF so bad, but my milk just wasn't enough to satisfy DS' appetite. I started supplementing at 6 weeks, and continued to BF until 4 months. Then at 4 months we switched to 100% formula, and solids, and have never looked back. I wish I could have breastfed him longer, but I know in my heart that this was best for us all. We were much happier once we introduced formula as a supplement.

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Originally posted by b4by1 on 6/14/2006:

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posted my reason on bottle-feeding (mostly formula) at http://www.pregnancy.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=344454. The guilt that is being placed on all of us is tremendous. Postpartum is hard as it is. We don't need any more pressure from anyone.

Below is an article from NY times. I think we all need to respect each person's decision. No judgement as we don't know why we can/can't or do/don't want to breastfeed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/he...brea.html?8dpc

Breast-Feed or Else

By RONI RABIN
Published: June 13, 2006

Warning: Public health officials have determined that not
breast-feeding may be hazardous to your baby's health.

There is no black-box label like that affixed to cans of infant
formula or tucked into the corner of magazine advertisements, at least
not yet. But that is the unambiguous message of a controversial
government public health campaign encouraging new mothers to
breast-feed for six months to protect their babies from colds, flu,
ear infections, diarrhea and even obesity.
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Child-rearing experts have long pointed to the benefits of
breast-feeding. But critics say the new campaign has taken things too
far and will make mothers who cannot breast-feed, or choose not to,
feel guilty and inadequate.

"I desperately wanted to breast-feed," said Karen Petrone, an
associate professor of history at University of Kentucky in Lexington.

When her two babies failed to gain weight and her pediatrician
insisted that she supplement her breast milk with formula, Ms. Petrone
said, "I felt so guilty."

"I thought I was doing something wrong," she added. "Nobody ever told
me that some women just can't produce enough milk."

Moreover, urging women to breast-feed exclusively is a tall order in a
country where more than 60 percent of mothers of very young children
work, federal law requires large companies to provide only 12 weeks'
unpaid maternity leave and lactation leave is unheard of. Only a third
of large companies provide a private, secure area where women can
express breast milk during the workday, and only 7 percent offer
on-site or near-site child care, according to a 2005 national study of
employers by the nonprofit Families and Work Institute.

"I'm concerned about the guilt that mothers will feel," said Ellen
Galinsky, president of the center. "It's hard enough going back to
work."

Public health leaders say the weight of the scientific evidence for
breast-feeding has grown so overwhelming that it is appropriate to
recast their message to make clear that it is risky not to
breast-feed.

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Originally posted by MizzCoco on 6/14/2006:

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Risky not to feed? Sheesh, I was FF as were my two sisters as were my dh and his brothers, you'd think we were toxic or something. I had enough personal guilt about this and about only feeding him for 2 weeks, but to have something like this would have put me over the edge if I had PPD or something like that.

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Originally posted by debs13 on 6/16/2006:

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I chose to FF. I dont get any guilt IRL because most of the people I know FF, or are just respectful and don't care how I feed my child, since it is in fact MY child. I think I feel more judgement on the boards (not this one, obviously), people here have some pretty harsh opinions. I try to stay away from those topics. I'm not a debater, I feel like everyone makes their own choices and we should respect that. I think BFing is a beautiful thing and I admire greatly women who do it. But some people treat formula feeding with such disgust, as though you are doing harm to your child. I can't even defend myself to such ignorance.

I too never felt the urge to BF. Some people said I would probably change my mind as my due date got closer, but in fact I was more and more turned off to it. The physical act of BFing is just not appealing to me and thinking about doing it made me so anxious and unhappy. My first instinct was to exclusively pump. I thought I would at least give that a try. But after DS was born, I was in so much pain and could barely hold him without help. The last thing I wanted was to attach a machine to my boob. I was very thankful that a healthy alternative like formula was an option. He's doing great and thriving and I have no doubt that he's a healthy kid.

That being said, I'm thinking of exclusively pumping with #2. I feel a little more "prepared" to at least give it a shot. Who knows, I could change my mind again. That would still make me a bottle-feeder though, which is what I want.

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Originally posted by Tymommy on 6/17/2006:

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Well partially because my milk never came in EVER, and partially just because that was what I was most comfortable with!

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Orginally posted by Charlene+1 on 6/17/2006:

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The whole time I was pregnant I knew I wasn't going to want to breastfeed, but after talking to my Midwife I kind of got pressured into trying it, which was okay I thought I should try just to see if maybe I did like it. I did it for 2 days in the hospital and Audrey coudn't latch on correctly, they said she had a larger palette (sp?) and it was causing it just not to work. The whole two days I was in pain and uncomfortable and she wasn't getting enough to eat so I decided to finally go with my gut feeling. It was very upsetting to finally give up though.

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Originally posted by emjo on 6/19/2006:

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I had horrible "help" in the hospital with BF'ing, and by the time I got a nurse over to my house who knew what she was doing, I had open sores and Emmett refused to open his little mouth wide enough to latch properly. I was supposed to wait until he was screaming (the only time he ever opened close to wide enough), and then quickly put him on the breast. He would still clamp down, and I had to literally push with all of my might on his little chin to get his mouth open. It was horrible.

When I was PG, I was going to BF, no ifs, ands or buts. My tune changed when my baby was screaming from hunger and I was constantly crying from pain, exhaustion and depression.

I tried pumping for a few days, until most of my ducts plugged...I could get maybe an ouce out at a time and I was in constant pain. I did everything I could to get unplugged, with no luck.

I felt incredibly inadequate for not being able to "get" BF'ing...it was something I wanted to do so badly. I felt insanely jealous of the BF'ing moms I knew, and I was slipping into bad PPD (I have a history of depression) and couldn't put things into perspective. Finally my DH and mom convinced me that FF'ing him didn't make me a bad mother.

Three months later, Emmett is healthy, happy and thriving, and my depression is gone. I still have some residual guilt about not BF'ing, but it's getting better every day.

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6/27/2006:

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Originally Posted by meggiemom

The reason I FF my son was because BF failed. After a very traumatic c-section, scar re-opening and a 4pint blood transfusion, as well as adverse reaction to the drugs I was given, I had no choice but to FF, as my milk did not come in, and the little I produced (drops) dried up with the vast aount of drugs I was given to help my uterus contract, blood loss and pain management :( I was very sad, but after my son losing 1lbs 11oz in the first week, I had no choice.

I do angry when ppl say (not on this board :wink:)that producing no milk is an absurd poor excuse, but it does happen, and I have proof of that. So if she's reading keep your opinions toyourself :wink:

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7/16/06:

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Originally Posted by mommy0306

i'm new over here but i wanted to breastfeed but i had problems getting the little guy to latch right and he wasnt getting anything for some reason. it was like my boobs didnt want to leak not even the clostorum stuff. with evan i got him to latch to a point but i got so tired of messing with it that i gave up and just pumped for a couple weeks and then just started on formula. i have to admit i like feeding with the bottle cuz i dont always have to be the one to feed him. thomas is a week old tomorrow and he is starting to chow down 3oz at a time so i am glad. :) as long as he's gaining weight.

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