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Breast feeding
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
As me n my boyfriend are trying for a baby at the moment I've been preparing myself for as much as I can really so there are no surprises. Had done a search but couldn't find much. Was just wondering if many people on here who have kids breast fed or not and what their reasons were. Personally I don't like the idea of having my nipples sucked on by a small baby but is it better for the baby to have natural milk? I assume that the powder stuff will be just as good for the baby though 'these days'? Any suggestions? Will it in any way affect the childhood? Perhaps be closer to the mother? Etc..
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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Here's the NHS propaganda site: http://www.breastfeeding.nhs.uk/
Advantages for the mother include getting your figure back quickly and better bonding with your baby too.
I would never criticise any mother if they chose not to, but would encourage them at least to try it if they haven't already. If they cant abide by it - then fine - but you might find you dont mind it as much as you expect.
You could always ask your boyfriend to bite / suck your nipples in advance so you get used to it
There are many well-documented advantages of breast-feeding, many of which Kentish mentioned, but of course it doesn't mean that if you choose not to do it that you are doing your child a disservice or going to cause a negative impact. After all, you have to do what you feel comfortable with and if breast feeding is going to make you unhappy then I think you should avoid it as the last thing you want to happen is that you associate nourishing and bonding with your child with a feeling of dread and unwillingness. Better the child gets their nourishment from another source, in my opinion anyway. Obviously, a new mother produces milk for obvious reasons, it's as natural as it gets... but that's not to say it will feel natural to you at first. It has got to be a very strange sensation, and you'll either warm to it or hate it and decide against that method.
That said I think, as ShyBoy said, that you should consider giving it a go and then making a decision re: how you're going to feed the baby. But for the moment, don't worry yourself about these things, you'll have ample time and many opportunities to go through all these issues and anxieties with the appropriate people when the time comes. Though I can understand your eagerness to know everything, when it comes to pregnancy I personally know I will be asking every question in and out of the book.
Good luck with getting pregnant, have fun trying
The rest I agree with - you should make the decision whether or not to breastfeed based on the facts but also your own feelings about it.
The best person to get advice from would be your midwife, and although they are mostly very pro-breastfeeding they know all the ins and outs.
The basic fact that a mother lactates naturally tells us everything we need to know about the primal needs of a child. But as the original poster said, a lot has been done to create "unnatural" alternatives to mother's milk, as it's important to have a mother at the pinnacle of healthy happiness... as well as a child. I think it can impact new mothers negatively to hear that they're doing wrong by their baby if they can't, struggle with, or are unable to breast feed. I know when one of my close friends had her first baby she struggled tremendously with the expectations she felt people had of her with regard to breast-feeding. It's a difficult issue, sometimes anyway.
My point in terms of it doing the child (and parent-child relationship) a disservice was that the benefits to the child through breastfeeding might not outweigh any negative feelings associated with the experience by an unwilling but pressurised new mother. Which would potentially have a far more negative on both parties, probably especially the mother. I'm for keeping new mothers as happy and comfortable as possible, as I believe that's of more benefit to the child in the long-run than breast milk.
Anyway... when you do get pregnant, the midwife will of course be an excellent source of all this information as has just been said. In addition to the view of mothers on this forum, it might also be worth looking up a few Pregnancy/New Mother Discussion groups online to find out other some first-hand views
Read the facts and do what is right FOR YOU. Don't let anyone pressure you either way.
No way! Botle feeding must be a breeze then? And there's me thinking it would mean washing and sterilising and carrying stuff around with you...
My personal experience is that breast feeding is easy. I also really enjoyed breastfeeding. Not for the ole health benefit reasons, though I'm sure they're great and I was back into my pre-preg clothes on day 11. But mostly because it feels like being in love to have your naked baby next to your naked skin, feeding from you as provider, carer and nourisher- ahhhh bliss.
Very true!
I bf my son for 3weeks, but couldnt carry on as i was on the verge of pnd. He's been bottle fed since then and is a healthy little thing!
Supposedly it burns around 500 calories everytime you breast feed, but i'm not sure how true that is though. It does help you regain your figure a little bit quicker.
Most babies don't tend to like going from breast to bottle so that could be difficult unless you expressed.