Breast or bottle

[hez2200]

Im bottle feeding although i would have loved to carry on breastfeeding. So what are your views on breast of bottle?? Which one do you personally prefer?? And why do you think people get so defnsive of how they feed their baby??

PS: Please everyone be civil . I have been on a few other forums and seen posts like this that turn so horrible. Just remember you are doing what feels right for your baby and you, noone else
xx

[Jeremy+3]

Hull is pretty close to me!

We breast feed, my wife breast fed all our children and our foster children, Olivia still breast feeds. We prefer breast milk as it is the only thing we are designed to eat and the only food that can give a baby everything they nutritionally need and health wise, e.g antibodies. Breast feeding has hundreds of benefits, formula has none, unless you are in the business and making money from it.

[hez2200]

I agree with you in the respect of it being very good for the child. But my son is a healthy thriving 5 month old who doesn't seen any less healthy than a child i know that is breastfed. I chose to bottle feed because for one my milk would just not come through and two it hurt so much i almost cried. I also didnt have a lot of support either. For example when i was in hopsital i buzzed for a midwife and i said "he is hungrey how do i feed him" And the reply i got is well just feed him, and only an hour later did she come back and see how i was getting on and by then aidan had been screaming and i was sore so i just asked for a bottle
xx

[Jeremy+3]

You can buy donated breast milk, it is normal for breast feeding to take 2-4 weeks to become established instead of being just foremilk.

[fallon]

first of all I want to address the comment on formula having no benefits...that's a ridiculous statement, babies thrive on formula every day. also mothers who can't BF are able to feed their children, and adopted babies can eat, they don't starve to death...sounds like a benefit to me. Also milk banks are crazy expensive, most people can't afford that, not really a perfect solution.

now here's my take...yes, breast is best but formula has it's place and personally I think everyone's choice in this issue should be respected not debated. I have 2 bottle feed babies. I choose to bottle feed my daughter when my milk didn't come in soon enough and my my son was born with a blood sugar problem and the doctors in the NICU said he had to have the formula. This baby I plan to breast feed but I also refuse to beat myself up if it doesn't happen. We're all free to make the best choice possible for our families...for others to judge and belittle that is really just sick

[Jeremy+3]

Here you get a prescription for breast milk, in the UK all prescriptions for those under 18 are free, so you don't have to pay for breast milk, the NHS pays instead. In America you can be covered by your insurance or WIC to receive breast milk at no extra charge( or a small co-pay), in the US you also use a prescription so you have something to present to your insurance company or WIC, so then if you have an allergy, such as sea food which can be passed on, a donor would be found that does not eat sea food.

[fallon]

In America you can be covered by your insurance or WIC to receive breast milk at no extra charge.

sorry but you are completely wrong there. That doesn't happen, WIC provides formula free, not BM and no insurance companies cover the cost of donated BM, you're lucky to get them to cover the cost of RX formula.

very cool that you can get it free in the UK though, but why only under 18...grown women have trouble BFing as well?

[Jeremy+3]

Originally Posted by fallon

sorry but you are completely wrong there. That doesn't happen, WIC provides formula free, not BM and no insurance companies cover the cost of donated BM, you're lucky to get them to cover the cost of RX formula.

very cool that you can get it free in the UK though, but why only under 18...grown women have trouble BFing as well?

The baby is under the doctor, therefore the prescription is in the babies name. We lived in NJ until 9 years ago (my wife is English, I'm American) and also fostered there as well, WIC and insurance companies do cover breast milk.

[fallon]

We lived in NJ until 9 years ago (my wife is English, I'm American) and also fostered there as well, WIC and insurance companies do cover breast milk.

I thought you said your wife breastfeed all the kids?

anyways.....maybe it was possible 9 yrs ago and maybe the rules are different for forster children BUT as of right now, today and even 6 yrs ago when I was on WIC breast milk IS NOT covered for mothers, I will admend that to say nationally it is not covered, it's possible different states have different rules on it but the facts are it is not readily availible to anybody who needs but. Also you need to have a VERY small income to qualify for WIC, the poor aren't the only ones who may need BM so really it doesn't matter much what they provide, that really isn't the point of this debate.

The baby is under the doctor, therefore the prescription is in the babies name

ahhh...I see, I misunderstode. I thought you were saying the RX was free for mothers under 18

[fallon]

WIC Food Package

here's WIC's site, it mentions nothing about donated BM that I can find