Breast or bottle ?

Hi Girls I am having a hard time trying to make up my mind on whether to breast feed or bottle I am just wondering is it better to do breast feeding for even a week or two than not at all or can you do it for this very short time? is it complicated to switch to bottle after only a week or two or would i be better off just to bottle feed? I dont want to do the whole breast feeding for months on end but i hear the baby benefits alot from the breast milk at the start and would i feel guilty if i did not try and the baby got sick i might think it could have been prevented if i tried to breast feed? Has anyone any words of wisdom?

I would love to hear replies on this too. I really can't decide. I wouldn't mind even just expressing for a little while and bottle feed the breast milk. [url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/] [img:306qxmrt]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/1;18;96/st/20090426/dt/5/k/cf9a/preg.png[/img:306qxmrt] [/url]

Yes, no matter how short you go on for BF'g is still a brilliant start. Expressing rather than BF'g from the start is tougher than actually BF'g IMO, I'd only do it if the baby couldn't latch on. There is a schedule somewhere of the benefits for any given duration of BF'g, I think it might even be a sticky on the magicmum BF'g forum.

http://www.breastfeeding.ie/benefits.php here are some benefits. Like Pattie said any amount of feeding is hugely beneficial. If it is something you are thinking about def give it a go. It is hard at the start though and you do have to be 110% commited IMO

They say every day you can breast feed is a bonus - so one day is better than none - I've heard that breasfed babies build a better immune system. I'm praying that I can breastfeed but plan to use one bottle a day (the last feed of the night around 10/11ish) so DH can be involved and baby should sleep longer with this feed as there'll be more in it - they say this is possible to do if you do it from day one.

I'm not going to beat myself up over it but if i can I am going to do it for a month or two anyway. As you say, i don't want to be bf for months on end and so tied down, plus i think hubby will really miss out if he doesn't get to share the feeding. so vague plan (if bf is a runner) is to bf for the first few wks to get the supply in and when it's fairly established to express to bottles and sort of combi feed the baby. Hope the baby obliges! I'd be happy enough to do the forumla too if it's needed to back up my own supply. I'm back to work after about 23w so nb really that baby isn't too hard to wean when time comes. bf is obviously good but plenty of us have thrived without it! so will try it and see how it goes. hth

Hey I decided to BF when i got pregnant but knew i only wanted to do it for a few wks. When i had baby he had to be taken to the neo natal ward for 4 hrs after he was born and they gave him a bottle there, when i fed him later that day he latched on without a problem. I stil needed help to latch him on each time though. The 2nd day he would not take the boob at one stage and he cried for ages so i gave him a bottle - he drank half an ounce and was happy again. So when he was hungry again i fed him myself and did that without any problems for 6 wks. Yes it can be hard and your boobs might have a searing pain every time the baby latches on but this is only for a few days, and its easily forgotten. I loved BF and got on brilliant with it. Expressing was nt for me and i wanted to be able to leave him for an hour or 2 so i gave up at 6 wks. I would defo do the same on the next one. I used the lansinoh cream in the early days when one nipple was cracked. Didnt need it after the 2nd wk. I got fitted for a bra in mothercare 2 wks before i had him and that did me until well after i finished BF. Also if you have small boobs enjoy them when they are large. I used to be a 36 c before i got pregnant, now im reduced to a 32 B!!!!!! Best of luck