Reply to Would You Breastfeed?

Forum Index » General Parenting Discussion

Reply to "Would You Breastfeed? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No I would not. [/quote]

+1. You shouldn’t put yourself through it if you will only breastfeed for 4 months. It’s not worth it. There is no point. I would just start with formula from birth. [/quote]

This has to be a troll. “Put yourself through” what? BFing? Which some moms very much enjoy and find considerably easier than formula feeding and which she hasn’t even tried yet? I EBFed through a year, but the vast majority of the health benefits are at the very beginning. BF through 4 months if it works for you; not being able to do more than 4 months exclusively isn’t a reason not to try (plenty of people still feed morning and night w/o pumping, so that’s an option you’ll have from 4 months on if you want) [/quote]

PP here. Not a troll. I had a very hard experience trying to breastfeed. As much as people claim it's a " magical experience", many women have a difficult time breastfeeding. I've had several friends also have a very tough time trying to breastfeed. Not saying that will OPs case, but there is no point in stressing herself out if we will just switch to formula at 4 months. Not be able to breastfeed when you want to can be physically, emotionally, and mentally hard.[/quote]

I’m sorry you had a hard experience (I myself did as well), but it is just NOT true that there is “no point” to breastfeeding if you plan to eventually switch to formula at 4 months.

There is a “point” to breastfeeding. A lot of the benefits are overstated, true (things like higher IQ are obviously correlation not causation), but there are tangible scientific evidence of health benefits that, yes, have been demonstrated in studies. Especially regarding gastrointestinal tract health, less risk of food allergies, and other reduced risk of cancers for the mother. Those benefits exist even if you only breastfeed for a short time.

Of course, those benefits have to be weighed against all other factors, including the emotional and mental health of the mother. If breastfeeding is too difficult or makes a woman severely unhappy, an unhappy mom is beneficial to no one.

So again. You can acknowledge there are some associated tangible benefits with breastfeeding, even for a short while, while still stating fed is best.

- Signed, a person who did breastfeed for 6 months, but also supplemented with formula when needed and didn’t feel guilty about it, and who never felt any of the “magical” warm fuzzy feelings about doing it.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics