How did you feed your baby

[PamelaBee]

How did you feed your baby the first 6 months?

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70%

 (26) 

Exclusively Breastfed

2%

 (1) 

Exclusively Formula fed

13%

 (5) 

Supplemented with Formula

13%

 (5) 

Mostly Breastfed, VERY rare occasion used formula

37 Members voted

[kellym]

I mostly breastfed or used breast milk.  It was the EASIEST, most convenient and just happen to be the best for the baby.  Around 4 months when I went on vacation and my mom had to babysit I did have her use formula and breast milk as I hadn't supplied her with enough.

[pertykitty]

with my son he had both bf and formula.  my dd was strictly bf.  you know i have never knocked women for doing formula, still wont, but from what i have been reading it is SCARY what some of the reports are saying about ingred.!!!!  if i have another it also will be bf.  its just my personal choice, and its something i love sharing with my baby.  

now after saying that, haha!, i did have several (ok many) times i wished dad could have fed her.  it was one of those things i could nurse her anytime, but i couldnt get more than a few ounces after 30 min of pumping.  

[AHP84]

I exclusively breastfed for the first two weeks, then due to my college schedule at the time, I had to supplement with formula during the days.

I plan to exclusively breastfeed this baby for the first 5-6 weeks, but hopefully longer by pumping and freezing, after returning to work.

[Ark16]

I only ever B/f my babies all to the age of 2years old. I don't understand why woman don't b/f, its cheaper, you bond so close to your babies, its easier, you have no bottles to clean or to buy. When u go out its so much easier, u can feed bub whenever he/she needs it. To b/f long term and have a stress free time is make sure bub is attached properly, which is the biggest problem why women don't feed log term. For me I never used clocks or time feeds just fed on demand. None of my 3 children as babies were big babies like some say you can over feed them and they get too big. If anything all of my 3 as babies even as children all have lovely bodies, nice and slim. Brest=feeding is the best part of having babies. I'm trying for my forth, been trying for 2 years but it does take me a while to fall pregnant.I hope I'm given another little Angle in my life.

[SuzM]

I breastfed my sons and it was my greatest pleasure even though I did suffer from mastitis at times. That cleared up fairly quickly when it did happen though. It's easy, and soooo convenient in the middle of the night. LOL No fuss. No muss. No worries about transportation of tons of stuff or sterilizing when you are in restaurants. The boobs go where you go and they are the right temperature all the time! :D  No spending tons of $$$ on formula. Your added baby pounds drops faster if you nurse too which is a nice bonus! The latch is critical though if you've never done it before so if you have pain problems or the baby just doesn't seem to be satisfied, check to make sure he/she is latched on correctly. It's difficult to BF and bottlefeed at the same time really because once you start feeding from the bottle your milk supply automatically starts to drop. My friend was heartbroken when she started to add formula and weaned her baby without meaning to. If a Mom can even just BF for the first little while, the baby gets all of those immunity boosts from the colostrum. BUT after saying all that... I just want to add, that even though I'd recommend any new Mommie BF, some just can't for health or work reasons but that doesn't mean Mommie can't get that special bond. Just make that bottle a very special thing thing between you and babe whenever you can and let the other folks jump in to help in other ways. Whew! THAT was a mouthful lol sorry. This is a subject dear to my heart. Nursing in the rocking chair was my most favorite time with my children.

[meiram]

I said EBF, but after she weaned herself at 10 months we went to formula.  I pumped while at work, so she got a bottles of breastmilk then.  I am EBFing my son, plan to do the same after I go back to work.  I plan on Bf'ing for at least a year, unless he pulls the same stunt as his sister.  

[tiredbuthappy]

i exclusively pumped for my first because she couldn't nurse. i pumped for 6 1/2 months, and had about 2 more months saved in the freezer.

this baby is ebf so far. i hope to continue even when i am back at work by pumping while i'm gone. it may be hard since i'll only be able to pump once while at work... hopefully i'll have another freezer stash to help by then.

[lmc2132]

I BF'd for the first 2 weeks then began pumping.  Now at 3 weeks I am supplementing with formula.  I aim to feed mostly formula with a little breastmilk by the time he is 3-4 mo.

@Ark16, the reason some women don't BF is that they can't.  For me, realizing that it wasn't going to happen was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life.  I cried for days.  Some part of me still holds out hope.  I hope those that did, can, and are BFing appreciate how lucky they are to have the opportunity.

[mum2beagain]

My first child was a NICU baby, although I tried to nurse he was too small and weak to latch so I pumped and bottle fed for 3 months, when he had to go into hospital for his shunt surgery my pumping schedule was disrupted and  my milk dried up, which was quite stressful and he was switched to a special formula for premature infants. My second nursed until he was 10 months, he had the occasional bottle; sometimes breast milk, sometimes formula. At 10 months he was no longer interested but I pumped for a while longer and had a huge stash of frozen EBM so he was about 75% breast milk until a week or so before his first birthday. Should I have another I would definitely try to breast feed again, it is more convenient and my second so has been so healthy. I must say for me personally I didn't feel this overwhelming amazing experience or bond from nursing as some say; I feel no different about the bond that I have with my first son than my second. In both cases I was just very happy to be feeding my baby and holding them in my arms.

[tiredbuthappy]

i agree- bf'ing instead of bottle feeding is more of a convenience thing for me. I'm only 6 weeks in, so maybe it's because it is so new and still hard, but i don't feel any more bonded with this baby than i was with my first.

[IsabelleCanada]

I'm too lazy to prepare bottles... I breastfeed exclusively til 6 months then introduce food but keep bfing til 1 year

[PamelaBee]

With my son, I tried to BF exclusively but I didn't have a good breast pump, and I couldn't keep up with the supply so I BF until 5 months...also, my son got his first couple teeth @ 5mos and almost bit my nipple off!! : O
This time, with my baby girl, I am EBF and so far so good....  

[Ready_4_Baby_2]

I was able to Exclusively Breastfed for the first 5.5 months and because I didnt store the milk that I pump properly I ran out to send for daycare. So I had to start giving formula along with breastmilk. It was still mainly breastmilk and I stop on her 1st birthday (also when she got her 1st two teeth lol)

[Latrice414]

With my son who is 14 i did not breastfeed, and he was a healthy baby, only problem i had was with him having colic, so i jus burped him more and used gas drops.  

With DD, who will be 1 month 2mrw, i am breastfeeding and supplementing, to be honest i dont think my bond is no greater than the one i had with my son, our bond was with a bottle filled with nutrients, and my bond with DD is with the breast.

I dont knock breastfeeding or bottle feeding, women should do what there heart desires and what makes life easy for her and the baby.

Like me, i cant EBF, i dont have enough time in the world to pump and store BM for when i go back to work which will be first week of november.  Being im a single parent i realized i have a lot of things i have to do to maintain my Home, my Health, keep up with my pre-teen, and my Sanity.  When i was pumping to store, i could not find time to sleep, eat, shower etc. and i need to be eating healthy in order to give baby good breast milk.  Now i feel much better and finding time to sleep without pumping to store.  

DD would nurse for an hour b4 she got full.  She was 7lbs 15 oz at birth and was 9.5 lbs at 2weeks, im sure she will be 11 lbs come 2mrw at her wt check at dr office.

So if you cant EBF dont feel bad, and if you can, that is Great.