Were you BF or FF? Explain please too... - Page 9

[boingo82]

I was BF until I was about 17 months, at which point my mom's milk changed. (She was pg with twins.) The milk suddenly made me projectile-vomit, so I weaned pretty quickly.

My 5 siblings were BF anywhere from that much, up to over 4 years. Even the twins were EBF.

And we all have oral fixations, every one of us.

[rainbowmoon]

I was BF and FF. I was a preemie and had lots of GI issues and time in the hospital.

btw to the OP our DDs have the same bday!

[bravofrenchie]

I was breastfed for a short time after I was born, but my Mom couldn't keep it up. I was born in 1983, two months premature, after an emergency helicopter ride to Portland. (Mom had preeclampsia.) I was in the hospital for three months, and my parents lived about 2 1/2 hours away.

My Dad's sister, who lived just across the river in Vancouver, had just given birth to my cousin David. She offered to bring her breastmilk to me in the hospital, but the staff wouldn't let her because she wasn't my mother, even though she had Mom's permission.

[LandonsMom]

FF here. My mom tried to bf with older brother for a day or two, gave up, didnt try with me at all, and then with the next two she nursed them until they were over two!! Man do i feel left out!! I always give her a hard time about it. I had cronic ear infections for the first year, cp around 5 yrs and one year in particular had strep two or three times. Antibiotics were pretty routine. But then again so was vitamin C, so at least they gave me something good and natural!!

[suprgrl]

I was bf for a couple weeks until my mom started hemorraging badly and had to take some meds which she was told she could not take while bfing, so then it was ff for me Fortunately I was not sick much and have no allergies (besides some serious vax reactions where I stopped breathing several times). Interestingly my brother was bf'd for 8 months (on a rigid schedule, my mom claims he had colic at first, personally I think the poor guy was just hungry and my mom, being used to a ff baby only fed him every 3-4 hours. By two-three months when the colic subsided he had probably just given up. jmo) Anyway. At 8 months my mom said her milk dried up. Interestingly my brother has allergies, but he also is more intelligent than I am.

Ronna

[sparkprincess]

I was formula fed. Mom said she wanted to nurse me, but I couldn't latch and there really wasn't any support so it was formula for me. She did go on to breastfeed all 6 of my younger siblings for the first year. And she was AP on other things such as co-sleeping, etc.

[Devaskyla]

My mom doesn't really ever talk about when we were babies. I was definitely ff though, as I was adopted. I was the hospital's baby for a few weeks (small for gestational age, I was supposedly full-term, but weighed less than 4lbs), then briefly with a foster family before going to my parents around 6 weeks. Who knows if the hospital or foster family fed me solids. I also don't know when my mom started feeding me solids in addition to formula. My sister, their natural child, was bf for a couple of weeks.

[Jillybean]

I was bf for 12 months. My younger sibs were bf for the same amount of time, my older sister they adopted when she was a year- her birthmother ff her.

[neverdoingitagain]

I was ff,sort of. My mom and dad couldn't afford commercila formula, so they gave all of us evaporated milk. I'm the youngerst of three.
My older sister was bf for about a week. When my mom got home from the hospital, she had absolutely no help at all, and lost her milk. She had no help at the hospital either. From what she said, she really expected to get help from her bf'ing SIL's but didn't. So a case of no support or knowledge.
When my bro and I came along, she already had her hands full with my sister who had been sick most of her life due to hypothyroidism. She was developmentally about 2 years younger than she actually was. So she went straight to milk for us.
Its funny, both my brother and I were thumbsuckers(up to a very late age actually), and have oral fixations. Other than her thyroid disease, my sis was very healthy. I don't remember my bro being sick that much, but I know that I had so many ear infections as a kid, that after I had my last one, the doctor told my mom that if I got one more, I would probably become deaf. Scary.
You could say my mother is a breastfeeding advocate now. She understands the need for formula, but she is so proud of my sister and I for breastfeeding our children. She's even getting over the fact that I plan to nurse for longer than 2 years.

[bluesky74]

My mom was a first-time mama when she had me. She nurse me for >2 mos and then weaned due to depression/lack of support in her area (and due the advice from her mother to wean me - she ffed her 4 children). I went on to drink a bottle every 4-5 hrs, on a strict schedule, but apparently was fine w/ that.

She went on to have 3 more babies, all of whom breastfed for most of their first yr.

[blessed]

My mom was a hippie in the 1960s when I was born. She was quite ahead of her time in that she breast fed all four of her children and did so while she was completing her postdoctural training in english literature. She also did the equivalent of child directed weaning, in that she continued nursing up until the second and even third years, much to the horror of my dad and everyone else.

She did circumcize my brothers, which she regrets. At that time you weren't even asked, it was just automatically done. I suppose if you made a point of objecting they would've deferred. Fortunately my brothers have never seemed bothered by it, however.

We are all vaxed, as I imagine just about everyone in our age group is. I don't think you had a choice back then, but I don't think she was worried about it either. She's very much into natural living however, and I wouldn't be surprised if she would do things differently now, if given the chance.

[intentfulady]

canned milk and corn syrup 1960

. .
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[Avocado123]

both

After three months of bfing, my parents moved across country and my aunt, who had 4 elder daughters, told my mother to stop bfing to make the move easier.
So she did.

[mezzaluna]

i was born after an induction 1 week early for pre-e. my mom bf'd me until 15 months, and even became an LLL leader i don't know if i was ever fed formula... i wouldn't be entirely surprised if it happened in the hospital - it was a military hospital. my younger brother also weaned at 15 mo. both of us were born in the 1970s.

my grandmother tried bf'ing for her first - my dad - and when she got mastitis about 5 or 6 weeks in she was also told to quit. with her 2nd - he came 6 weeks early so she was told he was too small to breastfeed. with her 3rd she just didn't even think to try, being so use to the bottles. this was in the 1950s.

[myjulybabes]

My mom doesn't talk about it much. But to the best of my knowledge, I was bf for about 2 wks, until my mom got sick and needed anti-biotics, and in the late 70s, that meant "OMG, stop bf now!". I dont' know if it was mastitis or something else.

She claims she bf all of us (4 kids, I'm the oldest) for a few weeks each, but she was just "too high strung" to bf long term. I still don't know what that means. She goes back and forth between being supportive ("you should be a LLL leader, to help moms that are like I was!") and being scandalized ("cover that up, noone wants to see that!" "isn't he weaned yet??") I suspect there may be abuse issues that underly her being "high strung" and "unable" to bf.

I was sick what would be considered a "normal" amount I guess. Colds every winter, ear infections as a baby, but nothing requiring a hospital stay or anything. Of course, watching my bf kids now, I realize that being even minorly ill that often probably isn't the biological norm, but I don't think it damaged me in the long term. I wish my mom would've bf longer, but I'm not angry or upset that she didn't.

[TForce]

I was breastfed in '79 for a year, my brother in '82 for 6 months. I had a couple bout with strep throat in grade school, but other than that I am very healthy. My brother had a infamous, horrible ear infection as a baby.

We were both born at home. My mom was very natural -- cloth diapers, homemade tofu. I get my info secondhand from my dad -- she died years ago. She was bfed as well. My dad was not.

Now my baby boy is bfed. Six months old and not a sniffle yet!

[EFmom]

I got cow's milk from day 1. The doctor told my mother she could warm it up if she really wanted to, but that it wasn't necessary. I'm one of six kids and the others were all formula fed.

[Ltlfaery]

I was EBF til I was six months, and she was a schedule feeder. Same for my 2 other sisters. My mom was told that after 6 mo., her milk "wasn't good anymore" and she weaned us all to formula at that time. She was surprised when I told her, after my DD was born, that it wasn't the case.
I was very healthy, and I didn't suck my thumb, I bit (still do) my nails.
My youngest sis has always been the sickling, she's 14 y/o, and still is sick often.

[mama-a-llama]

I was bf until 2 1/2 or 3, so was my younger sister. I was a month premature, and in the hospital for 3 wks, but my mom pumped for me. And once I came home and started nursing, I never took a bottle again Oh, and I was born in 1980. I think my mom's pretty cool--I used to read her copies of Mothering when I was a teenager.

[Sweetiemommy]

I was breastfed for a few months, until my mom found out that her husband (my stepdad, not real dad) had cheated on her and they began to have terrible fights. She said I was constantly crying and seemed like I was starving (probably I just wanted to nurse more because of the stress) and my aunt (thanks a lot, Donna) gave me a bottle - voila - I became a bottle maniac and drank a bottle until I was like 2 or maybe older. I have a sucky immune system, lactose intolerance, an overbite and a general bad attitude. I attribute it all to the damn formula.