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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Bottle fed from day 1

No regrets, zero guilt, sooo much easier.

Bottles can be  washed in the dishwasher. If you want you can get a microwave sterilizer but it’s not necessary.

Premixed formula is available so open can, empty into bottle. Or powder - dump a scoop, add water, shake, heating it is unnecessary.

[/quote]

You don't get to say "soo much easier" because you did one way.

I both breastfed and formula fed my daughters. I found breastfeeding to be much easier and more enjoyable, but I am really glad we mixed in formula/bottle feeding so that DH and others could help, and so that my transition back to work was easier.

Pumping was NBD for me, but if it had been problematic, I would have just stopped. But to me, nothing was easier than simply breastfeeding. No prep work, no cleanup, and a wonderful rush of oxytocin and snuggles! (And no, put down your sword, I'm not saying that formula or bottle feeding isn't also a snuggly great way to bond. FOR ME, MY EXPERIENCE was that breastfeeding was the most profound bonding moments I had with both of my infants.) [/quote]

You keep acting like people are about to attack you (if you are the same poster from the last page who was emphatic about MY EXPERIENCE while simultaneously downplaying other's experiences) but you are the one doing the preemptive attacking.

Ask yourself this, do you harbor no bad thoughts in your heart towards women who choose to formula feed without trying breastfeeding? If the answer is no, then honestly you should find a different thread. [/quote]

I have fed my babies both ways. I do take issue with PP above declaring FF is “soooo much easier” when she doesn’t have the BF experience to compare. There’s really no arguing that someone who hasn’t tried both gets to declare which is soooooo much easier. [/quote]

Not that PP, but it depends on what one values and considers easy, and that can vary. In some ways FF more predictable in that there is always plenty of formula. It's always same calories and you know they are tolerated, it has vit D and iron, which are 2 things that you have to supplement separately during BF according to CDC. You can also have spouse or helper feed the baby, which means if you want or need, you can leave the house for more than 2 hrs and not have to pump in the car or at the dr's office. Or if someone is helping you overnight you can sleep a glorious 8 hr stretch and not be engorged. The bottle washing is a chore, but no more of a chore than cleaning the pump and bottles if you pump. Also, you can run bottles through dishwasher. You don't have to watch what you eat/drink. So in these terms it's easy.

In some other ways it's harder. I've used formula that required a certain temp to be properly dissolved and could not be pre-made in advance. So that required some level of being lucid for the multiple middle of the night feedings. We were both set on not co-sleeping in the same bed with the baby, so the convenience of breastfeeding while both are half asleep did not have any value for me - I wouldn't have done it anyway. Going places with the baby required carrying a thermos and formula making supplies (or stopping in starbucks and asking for boiling water - in the airport, pre-Covid). For some people it's not easy, but for me was ok. Same level of complexity as packing a change of clothing and diapering supplies.

I think you just have to figure out what works best for you, knowing yourself and your circumstances. In the absence of the "village" and paid extended maternity leave as well as lack of affordable daycare options for older siblings, each of us is just doing the best we can, and none of the choices on the table are ideal, in my opinion.[/quote]

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