Is Breastfeeding Really Worth It?

[Anonymous]

I had an easy time , physically, nursing and still found a lot (dryness and hormones; stress of pumping or being the one who had to get up) really hard. If I were having your issues I’d stop. My older DD is almost 9 and, unless the parents and I discussed it for some reason, I have no idea who was breastfed and who was not. And my kids nursed for a year or more and still had tons of ear infections and the like.

[Anonymous]

I would not let breastfeeding consume your experience and time and mental energy. Not worth that.

Also without a good feeding routine, you won’t have the tools you need down the road to help your baby sleep well. Feeding/eating well is not a guarantee a baby will sleep through the night early (like 2, 3 or 4 months), but hungry babies never do.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the situation. For me, the first 5 weeks were awful. Latch issues. A lot of pain. C-section recovery, and many, many tears. I put a lot of pressure in myself to “do the right thing.” Despite the rocky start, I ended up preferring nursing over pumping.

My sister had a very different experience and chose to formula feed. It was definitely the right choice for her and her circumstances.

[Anonymous]

The worth it ebbs and flows. You are the only one that Dan decide. I hope things are easier today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The worth it ebbs and flows. You are the only one that Dan decide. I hope things are easier today.

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[Anonymous]

OP here. I have decided to quit. We switched to Enfamil NeuroPro since I can get it at Target. He is getting some breast milk while my supply dries up but I plan to be done breastfeeding by 4 weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have decided to quit. We switched to Enfamil NeuroPro since I can get it at Target. He is getting some breast milk while my supply dries up but I plan to be done breastfeeding by 4 weeks.

Good for you. For people who love it and have a reasonable amount of support post partum it maybe worth it. (not breastfeeding support, but the support with cooking, cleaning, holding the baby while you rest, helping at night to burp, change, etc). For others it's not worth it.

I did same thing you decided to do and I was much calmer, had more energy, shared duties with DH, etc. We had zero help. Newborn stage is hard but I feel like if I was bfing it would have been much harder mentally and physically.

[Anonymous]

I am a SAHM, so for me it was worth it for the convenience - 6 weeks of pain vs a year of not having to make bottles, pay for formula, or remember to bring milk for the baby where I went. I worked briefly with my oldest, and had I not known I would be going back to staying at home after those 6 weeks, I would totally have quit nursing.

Personally, I doubt that BF is a better bonding experience than FF. If anything, bottles would probably have forced me to put down the kindle and pay more attention to the babies. I also think the nutritional benefits are largely oversold, especially after the first month or so. I did find that it helped me lose the baby weight, though, so there's that, but I know for some people it seems to have the opposite effect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have decided to quit. We switched to Enfamil NeuroPro since I can get it at Target. He is getting some breast milk while my supply dries up but I plan to be done breastfeeding by 4 weeks.

That is perfectly fine. FWIW, I struggled to breastfeed my first, but it was much easier with the next baby. By then I had gotten over the mental hurdle of wanting to make it work anyway, so I would’ve been fine with it if it didn’t.