What is best for mother and baby?

Question

I have no children just yet, my friends and family are 50/50 on the subject. I always thought when I had a baby I would try and express and bottle feed, my reasons for this is that I would know how much my baby has had after each feed, and also my SO could help with the feeding. But there is so much pressure to breast feed. There are certain foods you can't eat, you can't drink and does it make it harder to have time to yourself?

I believe it's up to each mother to do what they want to do. This is just to find out off other mothers who have experience and to give me their opinion.

Answer

It is best health wise for both of you to breastfeed. But no one can tell you what is best for your situation except you.

But I do want you to know that pumping exclusively is probably not the best idea for several reasons.

1) Your milk supply will diminish faster as baby suckling stimulates milk production infinitely better than pumping.
2) Time wise it's going to be ridiculous. You're going to spend literally hours pumping and then turn around and spend even more time feeding. I breastfed and there were some days (during growth spurts) that I spent all day with my boob out. Now imagine doing that to pump and still needing to feed. 
3) Part of the benefit to nursing is the bonding that you can only achieve through the physical contact. I'm not saying mothers who bottle feed don't get to bond with their kids, only that I've done both and it's different. 
4) Sometimes, especially in the beginning you are probably not going to have a ton of extra milk. So you will either have to express while baby is crying to be fed or supplement with formula.

You need to do whatever works best for you. But I would knock the options down to breastfeeding or formula feeding since the other isn't really a feasible option for extended periods of time.

Answer

Baby won't starve breastfeeding ☺ you can track how much they drink because you can see/hear them swallowing when they have a mouthful.. Nothing wrong with measuring it in a bottle.. You could count how many swallows it takes for baby to drink the bottle so that you can know approximately how much baby has drunk by breast.

Answer

Depends on individual circumstances.  Unfortunately when I have a baby I can't breastfeed due to medication I'm on but I know lots of people who have formula fed and they are very healthy, happy babies xxx

Answer

Why haven't you added an option for other answers?

I personally would like to breast feed when I have children as I would want to bond with my baby but I'd also like to express milk so my now-boyfriend could feed his baby, too.

But the best option varies from baby to baby. Both breast & formula feeding have pros & cons. Some babies would benefit more from breast but others would benefit more from formula.

It isn't just about the baby; it's also about what suits the mother best. Some mothers can't physically breast feed; others don't want to.

There's no right or wrong way; it depends on what's best for the mother and baby. x

Answer

Breastfeeding is always the most healthy and "best" thing for baby, because it is natural.  That being said, breastfeeding isn't for every momma and baby, and that's okay.  Formula isn't bad, there's nothing wrong with using it if you need to.  I think everyone should try to bf before deciding to use formula though, but that's just my opinion.

Answer

You won't know until you have the baby what's best for you and your baby!!!!

Answer

Whatever works best for you without making you crazy is obviously what you should do. When pumping though you are expressing less milk that what the baby would be able to remove through breastfeeding so your supply would be at it's best when breastfeeding on demand. Also breast milk changes with the needs of the baby when they feed directly from the breast because their saliva tells your body what the baby is lacking.

Answer

I breast fed for the first 3 month's then switched to formula.

Answer

My mother bottle fed her milk and breast fed. She pumped at work and froze the milk for the little ones.

Answer

I didn't know that about pumping either, I am afraid that I won't be able to produce enough milk, a friend of mine works in a maternity hospital and she said that mothers get so stressed trying to breast feed, if baby doesn't lach on or get enough milk. I'd love to think that I will breast feed when I have a baby, but I guess il have to wait and see.

Thanks for explaining.

What is best for mother and baby?

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