IS Breastfeeding "Easier" than FF? - Page 6

[Changed]

Originally Posted by dubfam

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he digested the Goat's milk much easier than my breast milk.
.

I have to wonder how on earth you know that?

[becoming]

Originally Posted by dubfam

It really is interesting how many people here who have only breastfed insist there is no way formula could be more convenient.

Again, I have exclusively formula-fed and exclusively breastfed and found breastfeeding to be far, far easier and less complicated. And this is after bawling my eyes out for two weeks because BFing was so painful for me in the beginning. Still I say that breastfeeding is so. much. easier.

Also, I don't know what kind of super flow nipples you have to have for a baby to finish a bottle in 5 minutes, but my extremely-insanely-constantly hungry first child took at least 20 minutes to finish a bottle, and that was with his supersonic x-force sucking going on.

[Jen_in_NH]

I tried to breastfeed for 2 months before switching to formula. Personally, I think the formula is certainly easier. But, BFing was a disaster for us, so I may have a slightly biased opinion I think if we had been able to BF, once we got the hang of it, it would have been fairly easy too. I don't know about overnight feedings - my husband always gave him a bottle while I pumped.

I honestly wish someone had mentioned that BFing is difficult before my son was born. When it didn't come easily, I was blown away, and really didn't have a clue what to do. I think if I'd known ahead of time, I would have had some ideas about what to try next.

Just my thoughts...

Jen

[wannabe]

Originally Posted by dubfam

I had to switch to formula when DS was 5 months old.

That's your answer. You switched right when he was getting more effiecient and quicker, when your breasts were about to stop leaking, when he was about to start going longer between feeds.

Essentially you have the worst of both worlds, you did the hard patch of breastfeeding (made harder because it wasn't going smoothly for you, whereas most people are over the hard bit by six weeks), and then switched to the organisational and time consuming hassles of formula feeding.

I've cared for formula fed babies, and let me tell you that the washing up alone is a pain in the ARSE! let alone having to be home soon because you only brought one bottle, or they only took a bit of the bottle and will be hungry sooner than you thought, and you can't reuse the bottle.

I hope it goes better for you next time and you can then understand what we're telling you.

[wannabe]

But if it isn't easier then why do women switch to formula when there aren't medical reasons?

Ignorance, stupidity?

Originally Posted by MilkTrance

Hmmm also I guess it bothers me on an emotional level...

Doing the right thing is often less convenient than the "easier" road. Whether or not BF is "easier"/convenient, it remains the RIGHT thing to do, or to TRY ones utmost best to do, so comparing FF or BF in terms of convenience bothers me. CIO is definitely more convenient (stick the baby in a seperate room, try using loud music to drown out the pleas) than cradling/rocking a colicky babe for hours, yet we have no threads on MDC comparing CIO vs. AP.

Oh, yes, very good point.

but I don't know who these people are who've never heard a BFing horror story! It seems the moment I started showing everyone had to come and tell me how much their nipples bled But it did give me a boost, to see the first weeks journal of a friend who'd had severely inverted nipples - she'd recorded mls pumped, finger fed, wet nappies, weights, etc. And she'd gone on to pump at work for over a year and BF for two. So I figured if she could do that, I could, too.

[txbikegrrl]

Originally Posted by VernaBloom

I think that breastfeeding has become a luxury that a lot of people can't afford, or at least think they can't afford. Mothers who work full time aren't returning to a breastfeeding-friendly environment. Pumping can be difficult, and many employers only tolerate pumping at work grudgingly.

People will continue to see formula as the "easier" option if society continues to treat breastfeeding as a wasteful and near-shameful activity. Time is money, and boobs are dirty, don't you know?

I feel lucky that my work has allowed me the flexibility to exclusively breastfeed my son, but I completely understand why some would choose to use formula because it is easier for them. I wish that our society was such that breastfeeding was not only the best and natural choice, but also truly easier for everyone to do.

I totally agree. BF is extremely difficult for me and although I'm still doing it at 4 months the likelihood that I'll make it to a year is very low because I have no way to alter my work environment to be able to pump more than once when away from DS all day -- and I have to pump in my car during lunch.

I didn't/don't expect motherhood to be easy so I have no problem "sacrificing" for the benefit of my baby. However, when I can no longer pump in the car (which will happen eventually, for a variety of reasons) and DS is no longer feeding as often from me and my supply dips then I'll have to supplement because we NEED my income to survive.

[MaryJaneLouise]

I think it depends entirely on your circumstances. WOHM probably have it "harder" to BF since they have to pump AND wash bottles & deal with the early difficult days. Most SAHM Probaby have it "easier" to BF since they have little one with them 24/7.

Thos of us with BF challenges (especially low supply) , or who exclusively pump, find BF much much harder than FF.

I totally agree that BF classes and such should warn people that BF might be harder, but that it is worth it.

[wannabe]

Originally Posted by dentmom3

Seeing posts about the ease of FF when there are bottles with measured formula by the nightstand, and a thermos of warm water as well, and that washing the bottles is no problem makes me laugh a little. I guess I am lazy, but when I go to bed, I just want to shut off the light and sleep. Seems like a lot more effort to do all of the above, than to lift my shirt in the middle of the night and roll to one side.

Yeah, I pumped after every feed for a few weeks, and at night there was nothing I wanted to do LESS than rinse off the pump stuff.

And even now, with a two year old who's having cow's milk, it's such a PITA! You can't leave it out, you pour too much and it goes to waste, things need to be rinsed soon after use because they'll sour, cups need scrubbing, etc, etc. Not to mention remembering to make sure you don't run out.

[sunnysideup]

Originally Posted by dubfam

And for many women it is much more than Lift Shirt, Insert Breast. If it were that easy everyone would do it.

Formula company propaganda tells us ff is the easiest thing you can do.

Originally Posted by dubfam

I just don't think it is honest to present breastfeeding as being the easiest thing you could do.

But it is the truth for most people.

[M2Mommie]

Wow.....I just found this forum and was browsing around and saw this thread. I am a mom who did both. Sorry but for me personally there is no comparison whatsoever. Formula was ten billion times easier for me. I wanted more than anything to nurse my babies and I kept at it for a few months the first time and a few weeks the second time.

I couldn't manage with the excruciating pain - I suffered from reynaud's, vasospams, sore, cracked nipples, and plugged ducts like crazy. (Not to mention misdiagnosed thrush and true low milk supply with my first baby). I was in such pain I could not hold my toddler close to me. She was going through a confusing time with the new baby being home, and she really needed her mommy. Not being able to cuddle with her was terrible.

Did I seek help? Yes I spent hundreds of dollars on private Lactation Consultant appointments. I pumped milk, I tried the SNS, I tried nipple shields, I used Lansinoh, I let my nipples air dry, I went to my OB to get treatment for Reynaud's... which they refused to treat me for.

It's easy to say "Oh yeah, I just lift my shirt and nurse." Well sorry to tell you but the reality check is it's just not that easy for most mothers (mothers who no doubt do not visit this website!). If it were, a much higher percentage of moms would be nursing at 6 months. The reality is, nursing is very challenging for most moms in the beginning.

I spend FIVE minutes mixing a day's worth of formula every morning and put the bottles in the fridge. When the baby is hungry, I get one. I don't heat it up. I put the dirty bottle in the dishwasher. There is no breast pain 24/7. I don't have to use BOTH hands and 3 pillows to support my baby while I'm nursing after I spent a few tries getting her latched on correctly. The baby sleeps better and I sleep better which if you ask me a well rested mom is a better mom. My kids aren't sickly and they never have been.

The thing I really don't understand is why anyone gives a rat's arse how I feed my child. I guess I won't be hanging around here much because I don't need such condescending crap cluttering up my day. Holy cow women.. get a grip!

[dentmom3]

Originally Posted by dubfam

And you know this because you have done both? Or are you just speculating?

Done both. BF DD for 6 months and then switched to FF for the next six. BF DS for 10 months and then switched. BF DS #2 for 13 months.

Originally Posted by dubfam

It really is interesting how many people here who have only breastfed insist there is no way formula could be more convenient.

And for many women it is much more than Lift Shirt, Insert Breast. If it were that easy everyone would do it.

I personally had TONS of problems. I thankfully had support and that is the only reason I was able to BF for 5 months. I have talked to many women over the years who had similar experiences to mine.
I just don't think it is honest to present breastfeeding as being the easiest thing you could do.

I had thrush for 3 months with DD. Tried diet changes, suplements, gentian violet too. Got thrush again with #2 and went on diflucan and had no more probs (I know some moms wouldn't want to take a presecription med for it but it worked for us and we had a great nursing relationship for several months longer)

DS2 had a terrible latch and jaundice which required every other day blood tests and checks with the ped for color. Also a false alarm that sent us to the ER which turned out to be a bad blood draw. The whole time (his first two weeks) our (old) ped kept telling me to supplement. He is a perfectly healthy thirteen month old now.

Originally Posted by dubfam

And I will say again that I don't think that ppl should FF out of convenience (I am not talking about needing to work etc.)
I am just trying to point out that for many women FF is easier, and I think that is why many women switch to formula or just never try to BF in the first place.

I have been a working and pumping mom with all three, so I don't think that needing to work = FF. I understand that pumping is not easy or workable for all women, but I don't think that it is a given that you need to use formula if you work. And I have dealt with pumping in rooms that don't lock, in my car at conventions, in a booth at the Javitts center in NY for a four day business trip.

Originally Posted by dubfam

Hey, for some people bringing a bottle with you or mixing things is a nightmare. That's cool too. I am in no way trying to argue in favor FFing or say that it is better than/or as good as Bfing.

This thread was looking for opinions/experiences. In my experiences with 3 children and having BF and FF them it is my opinion that BF is far easier. I think the prevailing opinion that BFing is so hard is propaganda that is out there in pamphlets on Breastfeeding Tips which are written by formula companies and set breastfeeding up like this giant hurdle to be cleared rather than the norm.

[Electra375]

I think it depends on your experience.
For me I FF my 1st. BF 2, 3, & 4 and I'm transitioning #4 over to FF due to FTT which I have in detail else where here.
My only EASY bfing experience was my 3rd. It was everything it should have been. My 2nd was a nightmare and I was too stubborn to not bf. My 4th has been a roller coaster event and really has been no fun from the start with his short little tongue.
I've been having to carry around a pump and all that since July, so moving over to just bottles will be a dream once we get there.

[Changed]

Originally Posted by M2Mommie

Formula was ten billion times easier for me.....

I suffered from reynaud's, vasospams, sore, cracked nipples, and plugged ducts like crazy. (Not to mention misdiagnosed thrush and true low milk supply with my first baby).



Well sorry to tell you but the reality check is it's just not that easy for most mothers

You yourself listed the very real reasons you struggled with nursing. No one is negating that those reasons are real and hard. However, the truth is that your situation is not that of MOST women. MOST women can nurse with maybe a little trouble in the beginning but can breast feed. I would say that after the first few months, breast feeding is easier than FF for the vast majority of women who are able to nurse exclusively.

[tinkentinken]

I suppose every situation is different. For us, however, feeding formula would be way more troublesome. We like to get out on multi-day trips in the mountains, and I can't imagine having to deal with formula and bottles and sterilizing/cleaning etc out there!
I am so, so grateful to be breastfeeding - true, in the beginning formula would probably have been much "easier" (practically speaking, not emotionally) since we had an extremely hard breastfeeding initiation with 2 severe cases of mastitis, painful blocked ducts every couple of days, yeast, pumping to heal a traumatized nipple etc etc for the first 2 months of what seemed like bare survival. But switching to formula would have cost my child the best nurishment and would have been very upsetting to me emotionally.

I can see that for some families formula feeding could be more "convenient." I think it depends on what your goals and needs are. But I think that some mothers might lose out on the emotional benefits of breastfeeding by judging the "ease" of feeding a child only by the practical breast or formula comparison. For me, nursing is the best meditation and focusing link to my child - no matter what's going on or how stressed out I was, when I'm nursing my little one all the hubbub and bustle of life falls away and I find that wonderful calm focus and love for my child back in centerstage. In this way alone, breastfeeding makes my life far easier and helps me to simplify.

[Juvysen]

I haven't done both (bf only) but it seems as though FF is percieved as easier because it utilizes a skill set that you already *have* (i.e. measuring, pouring, heating, cleaning) while bf utilizes skills that both you *and* baby have to learn in the beginning. My experiences with breastfeeding, once past the initial stuff (sore nips etc.) was extremely easy... and even covering up, back when I was embarrassed about NIP wasn't what I would consider difficult. My dd *never* took to the bottle, though, so my experience w/formula feeding was horrifically difficult. She was screaming, refused to let the bottle touch her lips, etc. not too fun, to say the least. We gave up... it was too hard and we had something that worked well... the FF was just to be a "luxury" so dh, MIL, and whoever could take part in feeding... a few months later dd started solids... they just got to wait.

[grumpybear]

Originally Posted by M2Mommie

The thing I really don't understand is why anyone gives a rat's arse how I feed my child. I guess I won't be hanging around here much because I don't need such condescending crap cluttering up my day. Holy cow women.. get a grip!

I actually don't think anybody gives a rat's ass about how you feed your child. I certainly don't.
It's just that this thread was created for the purpose of discussion which is really what message boards are all about.
I really don't get why this topic seems so highly charged.
Judging from everyone's posts, it IS a case to case basis. Nobody is invalidating your experience whether you had an easier/harder time FF or BF. Maybe the longer you stick to a certain way of feeding, the easier it becomes.

[grumpybear]

Originally Posted by wannabe

but I don't know who these people are who've never heard a BFing horror story!

I'm one of those people who've never heard a real BF-ing horror story prior to my breastfeeding experience.
Everybody I know formula fed. And even though my mom and sisters told me how they tried and stopped because it hurt, I didn't take them quite seriously because they only tried for one day. I used to think that they were just being "sissies". I've since changed my mind about that.

[MilkTrance]

M2Mommy, I had excrutiating pain, too. We're talking crying, toe-curling, I don't-want-to-nurse-ever-again type pain. I was depressed, felt like a failure, wondered "why me" when other moms had it so "easy." Then after a couple months or so, the pain went away. Then I got Mastitis!

So please don't assume that anyone who is a BF advocate has not experienced troubles with BF. I am proud of myself for working through my problems. It is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

And as for caring how other moms feed their babies, well, some people really, really love babies and really, really believe in breastfeeding.

[Devaskyla]

Originally Posted by dubfam

I also could not sleep will bfing...I my breasts were a size H and we had to get out of bed to nurse.
So for me FFing meant that I could stay in bed.

Mine are at least that big and I nurse in bed. I have an advantage over smaller moms, I don't need to move him at all, I can nurse him from both with him on one side of me, I just need to roll over a bit. lol

When ds 2 was about 6 weeks old, I had to go on a long trip with my mother and sister, who gave lip service to making sure ds was taken care of. I had to buy a pump and make sure I had bottles for the trip, because neither of them were willing to stop for me to nurse him, or even comfort him. Even with having to try to clean a pump and bottles, it was still easier because at least I could nurse him when we weren't driving. I *hated* cleaning bottles and sterilizing.

And just for the record, I've had nursing problems with both boys (ds1 refused to nurse without a nipple shield, for the whole 32 months I nursed him & ds2 had an extremely bad tongue tie for several weeks and couldn't latch without the shield, luckily I was able to get rid of it with him)and I can't sleep while nursing and you still couldn't pay me enough to ff.

[ananas]

Originally Posted by dubfam

My son puked up breastmilk way more than the Goats Milk. I think a lot of it has to do with the quality of the formula you are supplementing with.

I actually had to check to see if I was still on MDC. :

There is no good formula. There is no formula that is anywhere NEAR breastmilk in terms of quality.

Could there have been a reason he was puking up the breastmilk that you didn't look into? An allergy? Perhaps he was sensitive to dairy or wheat or any other food?