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Houston Babies
Did you like/enjoy...
Breastfeeding?
Or was it more just something you had to/wanted to do for baby?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Did you like/enjoy...
BFP with no treatment!
I liked it- it was convenient, free and great for my baby. it was also good for me since i come from 2 generations of breast cancer (studies show a significant reduction in breast cancer for breastfeeders). was it always easy? nope. had to get over those humps by remembering it was what i wanted to do for my baby's sake above all else.
i would not say i 'enjoyed' it by the conventional meaning. like i never gazed in to my sons' face and got all misty. i'm just not like that. i did enjoy that it forced me to take some down time. i had to stop doing whatever i was doing, sit back on the bed/couch/glider and do nothing but sit there. this, i know now, was very valuable time for me and something i would not have done for myself without BFing giving me the excuse. (this applied to pumping for me, as well. strap on the pumping tube top and close my eyes or read People. it was nice)
This is me 100%. It was never "hard" for us but I have not once really seen it as something special. Most of the time I just felt really restricted by it and almost like it was a chore... I guess because I knew I HAD to do it and there was no other option.
Now that you say this, I definitely agree and hadnt thought about that part of it, especially in the beginning.
So interesting how different it is for people because I am the exact opposite. I much prefer pumping and bottle feeding, I guess because I can pump soooo much faster than C nurses and he finishes a bottle quicker most times too. The restricting part is still there in that I have to pump no matter where I am.
I've been exclusively pumping for the past almost 2 weeks and I can tell that I am much happier. I think its is mainly mental... I always have the option to have DH or some other family member/friend feed him and it doesn't always HAVE to be me.
I never mastered breastfeeding with either child. I supplemented with Sarah and ended up doing half breastmilk/half formula for 4.5 months. Then we moved to 100% formula.
I pumped exclusively for six months with Elizabeth. It was more work than exclusively breastfeeding would have been, but again, I couldn't figure it out the second timd and I had a 21-month-old toddler to tend to.
Most of my friends who enjoyed BFing had great supplies right off the bat and their milk came in quickly. This was never me.
I love this article about BFing. IMO there is way too much pressure on new mothers to exclusively breastfeed.
Yes, I enjoyed BFing. I'm not an overly emotional person and didn't get all mushy gushy over it but I did enjoy the time I had with DS. I hated pumping and am so glad that I only had to do it at work and when I was away from DS.
I hope this doesn't come across poorly because I don't mean it as a criticism but I have never understood this concept. I EBF both my kids but always had pumped milk and DH/sitter/etc could always feed my kids. Then, when we were together, I nursed.
I feel like there is a very "all or nothing" mentality associated with it, esp when people say "I am going to FF so DH can feed baby." Again, I EBF but did things like GNO or even went out of town when my kids were still only getting BM.
Whether you have done breast or bottle, do other feel it is all or nothing?
For the most part I liked it but I wouldn't say I loved it. There were times in the beginning that I felt very trapped by it. DS took a long time to eat (45min-1 hour) when he was real little so I could barely get anything done between the feedings. I did like it a lot better once he was older and much faster.I went back to work at 12 weeks so I had to pump more than BF. I really didn't enjoy pumping.
It is funny how BF can play mind games with you though. My original goal was just to BF for 6 months but I kept extending that date. We ended up making it to 11 months. I was only doing morning and night feedings at that point but I was a little sad to have it end.
I'm with MGR on this one. It did not feel natural to me at all. But, I had no issue with pumping, lol. Go figure.
It was all or nothing with Calla. She absolutely refused to take a bottle from DH (or anyone else really, only at daycare with a fight) until she was completely weaned. Part of the reason I weaned her at 6 months is because she wouldn't take a bottle and it was all me. I wouldn't have minded if I wasn't working and needed her to take a bottle and stop reverse cycling for my sanity.
Pumping definitely felt easier to me than BFing - not sure why. I'm sure if I'd been successful at BFing I would have felt the reverse.
For the brief time we were able to do it, I loved it. I especially loved when I'd nurse, she'd take a bottle of formula, then I'd put her back to nurse and she'd fall asleep. I hated pumping though, mainly because my supply was such crap and it was so very stressful.
Even if we don't make it very long with this girl, I can't wait for that first nursing session.
j+k+m+e | running with needles
It is finally truly enjoyable for me.
I struggled a bit with my first child. He ended it too soon. With this one, we had months and months of struggle to establish actual feeding. At 8 mos, he finally decided he would nurse at the breast (I pumped until then). It is enjoyable because he is older, has some sense of what he wants, isn't completely dependent on me, and is nursing really well (like a pro).
So, in short, both.
I'm the one with mastitis recurring for the first four months. That was on the definite negative side of things. I hung in there. I'm glad I did because now it is that idealized nursing experience we all see on the cover of boxes...
I, too, had a stressful experience with breastfeeding. I couldn't get either one of my kids to latch on correctly. Worked with an LC and pumped for a few weeks, and all it did was make me an anxiety-ridden basketcase. I started to feel trapped by it, so after soul-searching, I decided to switch to formula.
I believe that, had I been better at it, I would have enjoyed it.
Ditto this. I'm proud of myself for making it almost 4 months while supplementing the whole time. But if it doesn't work out right away whenever we have #2, I'm not going to beat myself up again and will have no problem going straight to formula.
It was so hard for us in the beginning that I questioned if I really wanted to continue. And the frustration made it unenjoyable for a little while. But when we found our groove it was exponentially better and I am so glad that I didn't stop. I have actually had a few moments where A has stopped, looked up at me and put his little hand on my cheek and smiled, and then went back to eating. Cheese, I know... But cute
Yes, in the end, I guess I liked it. It was very stressful, though. We had latching issues in the beginning, and I also felt like I was limited by time. I did pump, too, for storage, and later at work. But regardless of pumping or feeding, I still felt like I had to be on the 3 hour schedule, whereas with a FF baby, you could go out shopping as long as you wanted alone, instead of trying to get back home to either pump or feed.
I wanted to BF for 6 months. I started supplementing at 5 months.and lasted with BFing/pumping until 8 months, so I am pretty proud of myself. Near the end, my supply was dropping, and I was getting tired of pumping at work, and getting less and less. Weaning kind of happened gradually and naturally, and I was ready for it by then.
I hope the next time around I can be less stressed about it. As a new mom, you are trying to do everything "perfectly", but when he became a FF baby, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders! I agree with KKMMex, there is so much negativity surrounding formula. It's really ridiculous. As long as you feeding your baby - that is all that matters!
I've really enjoyed it. I won't lie the first 6 weeks were hard and painful and there were definitely times I only made it through on sheer determination. But in between the rough times and from about 6 weeks on I've really enjoyed the convenience and the closeness.
I'll go ahead and be the sappy hippy and say I have had the amazing mushy moments. The first time he stopped nursing, looked up at me and smiled---I melted. I like that it's something that only I can do for him, it's a special bond. And I am continually amazed at the wonder of my body. Not only did I grow this tiny perfect person but my body is wonderously designed to provide him with everything he needs to grow and thrive. That is awesome.
I pump as well so I have never felt tied down. If I am busy or out, DH feeds him a bottle but if I'm running out the door and don't have time to make a bottle to take along, no worry. The boobs are always packed. Besides, you can't beat the price!
I have. It isn't always in the "gaze at him and get teary" sort of way, although there have been those moments here and there.
It's definitely been a battle at some points - he was a slow gainer, and there was a brief period where he wasn't nursing effectively, which impacted my supply, so for a while we had to supplement a little bit and I had to pump for 15 minutes after every feeding to get everything back up to speed. I was determined to fight for it, though, and thus C has been 99+% BF. I think the most he ever had was 4 oz of formula on any given day, and being able to do that and get back to 100% BM was very important to me. But that's my personal conviction - not anything I hold others to!
I pump every evening before bed (b/c DH gives C a bottle at bedtime), and I don't particularly enjoy that part, but that's probably because my body isn't super-responsive to the pump. I'll be glad when we can leave that part behind, but it doesn't ruin the experience for me.
I've never had any issue with nursing wherever we are, so I've never really felt tied down. We've only used a bottle when out and about once or twice. Nursing him is just easier for us - particularly given my difficulty pumping. The most I ever felt "tied-down" was in the early days when it took him forever (45 minutes - 1 hour) to nurse. Once he started getting faster (10-20 minutes), it's no problem at all.
Like Suzi said, the first time (okay, the first several times) he grinned at me while nursing I became a pile of mush. And yeah, I do marvel at what my body can do!
#1 - awful and totally frustrated... I practically killed myself for 4 months determined to make it work (and had to use formula too because I didn't produce enough milk. Also didn't respond well to the pump). Finally gave up and things got MUCH better... except 6 weeks later I got pg...
#2 - totally opposite experience. Nursed for 3 months, but had to quit for medical reasons. Wasn't an issue at all. Only pumped once so we could have a sitter.
I don't really know how to answer this question. Yes and no, I guess.
I haven't every gotten that googely-eyed feeling of love and bonding while nursing. I never sat in the dark, just rocking my baby thinking of how awesome the whole experience was. It was just something I did to feed him.
But now that I'm having to fight tooth and nail to keep what little supply I have left and I know the whole thing is coming to a close, I'm horribly sad. I will miss it. I will miss being able to give DS something and I'm going to miss the time with DS while he nurses (even though it's only twice a day most days). And in the back of my mind I feel like I'm failing at something. Yes, I made it 7 months with a lot of success, but also...I wish I could go longer. I could easily make it to Oct but I have a conference for work in a few weeks and with the schedule I'll have I know that my supply will tank and I'll be lucky to make it through the week. It's been harder on me to accept than I thought.
for me personally, no, it was not all or nothing. I never had a problem pumping him a bottle so I could go out without him. But I had this feeling that I should nurse if I physically could (was there with him).
I didn't "want" to nurse a lot of the times because I didn't enjoy it -- that is where my feeling of it having to just be me came from. I felt bad that I preferred giving him a bottle because I had this expectation that nursing him was going to be this amazing bonding experience when it wasn't.
I had to nurse him in positions where he was more on top of me so I pretty much just looked at the top of his head so I never even got the chance to get a mushy gushy feeling when he looked up at me. I get this while bottle feeding because I can cuddle him more and we can see each other.
To add...I would rather BF than pump. I never really felt tied down, but I do think I made some bad choices in the beginning. I would never leave the house without a pumped bottle and it took me a long time to be able to nurse just anywhere. I think that the days of pushing it to the limit on waiting to nurse because we were out and about probably hurt my supply in the long run.
Now, I would rather bf any day than pump. I pump 5 times each day and it is wearing on me. My nipples are sore as sh!t, I am sick of cleaning the parts, I hate being away from my desk...I could go on and on.
I do agree with V - when I sit down to nurse C before bed, DH sits down with me. Sure, he can't do much other than get my cup of water, but we make a point to chat, look at stuff on the computer or watch a show together.
I enjoy nursing DS, but I have a crappy supply. I still fit in my A cup bras!! Right now he is getting about half BM and half formula. We had to start supplementing in the hospital b/c of pretty bad jaundice and I just never caught up. DS latched really well from the beginning, so I know if I had a better supply we would easily make it to 6 months (my initial goal). Now I am just taking it week to week. There are many times that DS prefers the breast to the bottle and I can really see that he needs/wants ME and not a bottle. Those are the times that keep me going.
Honestly, using formula has taken a lot of the pressure off of me, though it took a while to accept. I HATE the pump and don't get much when I try. Formula allows me to leave him w/ DH or my mom w/o worrying about getting back to feed him. I can also give him a bottle while we are out shopping and not worry about trying to NIP, which is a skill I have yet to master. He gets a bottle of formula after most feedings anyways, so if one feeding is 100% formula it doesn't seem like a big deal.
Thank you for posting this article! Good read!