Do you think everyone should if they can or is it down to personal choice?

Does it shock you when you see a mother feeding in public or do you applaud them?

i think its personal choice although i am an advocate of bf. I used to be self conscious feeding in public but now i don't care, if people are shocked or have a problem, tough!

Personal choice, its baffles me why people make such a big deal, its one of the most natural things in the world xx

I found bf really hard going for the first 2 months - it's great now though! Before being pregnant and having Elijah I felt that everyone should do what suits them - but when I was facing giving up bf and formula feeding I began to feel really strongly that I should bf if there was any way I could - for me that ended up being breastfeeding with one formula feed a day; I really feel now that if you can breastfeed you should, even if it is supplemented with formula

marie wrote:

Personal choice, its baffles me why people make such a big deal, its one of the most natural things in the world xx

Do you mean make a big deal of seeing ppl feed in public or make a big deal of not being able to do it. Believe me i never found it natural or easy hence only managing a fortnight (though i expressed for another 4). I am gonna try again this time though

I believe personal choice. I applaud those who do but think there should be more support for bottle feeding mums. La leche and bf consultants are great but not one beggar ever taught me how to sterilise or prepare a bottle. I decided not to bf so i was cut loose. Lucky my mums nearby and im anal about reading stuff

I think its personal choice. When i was preg i didnt really consider BFing, i have no idea why but it just made me uncomfortable. However when i had Tayla, the nurse at the hosp basically forced me to BF (in cyprus and i was drugged up) But i am so happy they did as its the best bonding experience ever! I wasnt shown how to do it, they told me nothing at all other than 'YOU MUST FEED BABY' I BF'ed for 3months and expressed for another month. (i did do some formula bottles too) But i doubt i would of done it without the help of you ladies online, especially Corrie (from ab) who was a great help.
Also when i took her to get weighed i was so proud of her weight gain, knowing it was me how had fed her and helped her grow (she was tiny)

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i never found it natural or easy

I would agree with that mario - nobody prepared me for how difficult it was (for me) and the mention of formula was absolutely unacceptable so I felt I had no way out at one point and that was really difficult. I think mothers need support no matter what they end up doing - when I say people should breastfeed if they can I mean if they can physically, psychologically and emotionally

I think it's personal choice too, some ladies really dont want to BF and that's fine. I did BF Libby for 13 months but it was only because I left it too long to do combined and she just wouldn't take a bottle. This time I will (hopefully) BF for the first 6 weeks and then do combined, I felt so much pressure and it was always down to me to feed her, at least this way I can do the night feeds easily and during the day Simon can do some feeds (every time Libby whinged even slightly it was always 'oh Suse I think she's hungry' ) . And as for feeding in public, well I applaud ladies that do it, I never had the confidence to and would sit in the back seat of the car

Oooh I am still a car-feeder

I think its personal choice whether to or not. I think there should be more support for women in hospital who want to try and bf but if they dont then they shouldnt be made to feel bad about it x

I think there should be more support for formula feeders. Seems like i was offered shed loads of support til i decided to swap then funnily enough it all dried up. I dont regret my decision i was bawling my eyes out at night not being able to do it and struggling.

marioandthestuntbubs wrote:

I think there should be more support for formula feeders. Seems like i was offered shed loads of support til i decided to swap then funnily enough it all dried up. I dont regret my decision i was bawling my eyes out at night not being able to do it and struggling.

I agree, I'm actually a bit worried about using formula because I have NO clue at all what to do. I know if I ask my midwife/HV I'll be frowned apon, which I really couldn't give a toss about, but find absolutely disgusting. There should be loads of literature and support about feeding baby in general, whether it be by breast or formula. x

Totally. Seems once i decided to stop bfing i became invisible. If id had me boobs out they cudnt have thrown more help at me but i wasn't doing what they wanted so screw it i was on my own. Im not knocking bfing but it gets supported way more than ppl who exclusively bf realise compared to bottle feeding. I agree in public its easier to bottle feed as you dont get any controversy from it and i totally think bfing should be supported in public places better but from a health care perspective if you dont bf you might as well climb in a big box and throw away the key cos they dont give a toss about you anymore.

i was very lucky, Alice was a natural feeder so i found it quite easy, i started combined feeding at around 10 weeks as adam was withdrawing from her. i think he wanted to be more involved with feeding but she was funny with the bottle, so we bought TT ones and he was able to help out but then my BM wasnt enough and she went back to BF every 2 hours from about 4 so i stopped at around 14-15 weeks.

i do think there needs to be more support whatever your desicion is, my MW in hospital were rubbish, it was a lovely auxilary who helped me but my MW at home was fantastic, i have her again this time even tho she has moved surgeries

I do think its personal choice. For me, it didn't even enter my head to formula feed. I didn't even prepare for the event of formula feeding. I was adamant I was going to breast feed from day one. I am so glad I did, the whole bonding thing, the closeness we had..it was just lovely. Don't get me wrong, it was frigging hard work, very demanding. I was crap at expressing so its not like OH/family could help me out either.

As for BF in public..why not?? Its the most natural thing in the world. Thats what breasts are for, to feed their young, they are not there for any other reason and it infuriates me that people frown or stare Don't look if you don't like!!

Totally agree that it is personal choice.

I didnt get a chance to bf Aimee due to her problems, so I expressed and they fed her that through a tube, until my milk dried up with stress and the hospital lost the stash that they had frozen

This time I do intend to bf, but I have also accepted that if it doesnt work, it doesnt work, as long as we are all happy x

When i found out i was pregnant i knew instantly i would not be able to breastfeed, gonna sound awful but the thought of it made me feel ill
Dont get me wrong im not against other women bf, i agree its he most natural thing in the world, but to have myself doing it made me feel uncomfortable.
So Paige was always going to be bottlefed, i did panic and worry that after birth i would be pressurised to try bf but luckily had the most understanding mw who was great and passed no judgement whatsoever

i do agree with other ladies though about lack of support for bottle feeding mummys, i remember reading the instructions on a tin of SMA about 10 times before making my first bottle and then worried id done it all wrong xxx

I hate it when people say breastfeeding should be law!
Some people have trouble BF i did i had 10days of hell breastfeeding and the midwife made me feel bad. I gave it a go and i couldnt produce enough milk instead of them lettin me give formula they told me to carry on it was the most stressful thing ive ever done.

But i do admire women who can xx

I think its a personal choice, I didnt even think of formula and again this time I havnt. but I do understand when people have trouble and know so many have developed PND because they are pressured to do so and cant do it. when in hospital the girls joked on the ward I was the favourite as I was the only one BF. nurse took lillie for me in the night so I could sleep but not them.

but I personaly loved it, made me bond with her, loved the me and her time in the night, I really enjoyed it.

does annoy me (sorry if I upset anyone)like my friend wont BF as she doesnt want to ruin her boobs... dont agree with that sorry.

as for BF in public I cant see why not. most natural thing in the world, and what would people rather screaming baby or a content one? if discretly done whats the problem? people wear less out these days.
but I was offened the other day, I saw a lady walking around the shops BF, whilst holdin her LO but her top was pulled up. couldnt see anything as her top covered the top of her, but she had her belly out which made it soo obvious what she was doing and walking around the shops! if she was sitting down wouldnt have been bad.

I agree that theres not enug support for formula feeding. I b'f for the first couple of weeks before i switched to formula. Alfie was too hungry and wanted to be fed every half hr or so - he was latched correctly as he was swallowing but was always wanting more (hungry baby - he now weighs 17lb 2oz so proves it!). When i decided to switch i didnt have a clue wat to do - how to prepare bottles or anything. everything i learned was from my friends. my hv just presumd i wud know wat to do.

i personally thought b'f was the right thing for me to do with alfie and im so glad i got to experience the feeling. even tho it was only for a short period of time i think i helped protect alfie - hes never been unwell once i 5 months (exceptfor after injections).

x

I tried bf with two of mine and really struggled and ended up giving up and feeling like a total failure!

I applaud those ladies who succeed and think it's fine to bf wherever you want. If I had been successful I'd have got them out and fed ellie whenever it suited us and stuck two fingers up to anyone who didn't like it.

I agree with other comments about needing more support for those ladies choosing to use formula.

i dont think theres enough support however you feed, i got no support with bf in the hospital, they just said try and latch her on and then said i had to show them i could do it again before i got discharged. I've had no health visitor and just had to muddle along by myself, everyone is entitled to the same level of support no matter how you choose to feed your baby.

Yep I agree pinky. I really wanted to succeed at bf but got no support in hospital and when she couldn't latch on they suggested I top her up with formula!

Ladies in some other European countries receive much better support than ladies in the uk and these countries have far higher success rates!

I BF for 8 weeks and had to stop due to caitlins milk allergy. Caitlin was a natural feeder and latched on perfectly from day one. It was bloody sore at times but i never had cracked nips or mastitis etc. It was nearly too good to be true. I had felt very pressured as my mum had BF me and was very pro BF, so were the majority of my friends with one stating that it made her physically sick to see a newborn with a bottle in its mouth. She didnt mind people only doing it for a week but couldnt understand why someone wouldnt bother to try....

BF was emotionally and physically draining for me. I dont know whether it was linked to her allergy but Caitlin wanted fed every 1-2 hrs. She was never settled and content (this was linked to allergy) and I spent alot of the time very weepy that I couldnt satisfy my baby. I too had trouble expressing, it would take me hrs to get 4oz so no one could help out. I was exhausted by it. I wanted to give up a few times but my mum and HV convinced me to stick it out, even though I was in tears telling them I couldnt do it. In the end I was relieved when they told me Caitlin had a milk allergy and I felt I could stop BF without looking like a quiter in their eyes. My mum now says she does feel bad for encouraging me so much when it clearly wasnt working, but insists that me trying Caitlin with a bottle at 6/7 weeks made her allergy flare up

When I did quit I was surprised at how upseting I found it. I became quite hormonal and cried that I had failed and my baby didnt need me anymore. It was only then I realised how close a bond BF had created and how much I missed it. I found the local BF support group amazing. I still went when I quit BF and all the mums were so supportive. I think when I have another LO I will try BF but if it starts to get too much for me I'll be quicker to say its not working. Id be thrilled if I could do it for 6 mths but Im not going to get depressed over it. Im pro BF, and think everyone should try it but evryone has the right to decide when to stop.

I found BF like second nature for all my three..and I think it should be accepted anywhere and everywhere. I know its harder for others as it does require patience and a knack..and can frikken hurt like hell! After reading these posts...have any of you noticed that while breast feeding in public..that the majority of the dirty looks, faces of disgust, or snobby grunts came from women? Much older women especially. I was quite surprised by these women's reactions. I am pretty good at being discreet while doing it..not walk around with my nipple hanging out like a gorilla amazon woman.