reasons I've heard for not breastfeeding

Elitsirk wrote:

Oh yeah, from what I've been reading, the better breast pumps for
daily use run somewhere around $250-300. I guess compared to several
months of formula, that might even out in the end. I do still have
the fear that I'll pay for the expensive pump, and then end up having
to wean the baby to formula anyway and will have wasted a lot of money
that we don't really have to waste.

Well, breastfeeding doesn't have to be "all-or-nothing."

If you run short of pumped milk for a few days, you can always give
formula without actually "weaning" to formula.

While I actually haven't done this, I imagine it is entirely possible to
pump without exposing yourself. If you had a double electric, such as
the Pump-in-Style (I have this pump and I like it), a hands-free
pumping/nursing bra (I plan on ordering one of these today, as a matter
of fact), and either a loosely-fitting blouse or a stylish scarf, you
would be completely covered (just lumpy).

Just a couple of ideas. ;-)

--
Brigitte aa #2145
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrow...elected=782084

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

"T68b" wrote in message
...
It's rare, I suspect, to have a
successful experience when one is only using a pump, and not nursing.

just an fyi here....i exclusively pumped for over a year for my daughter
who
had medical problems excluding nursing. She never had formula, and
thrived
quite nicely.
( I do still hear that pump in my mind though!!!!

WOW. I'm incredibly impressed! I can't imagine how difficult that was.

Donna

Donna wrote:

Good for you. Has it been pretty easy for you?

Nursing was very easy for me. Only mild soreness the first two weeks and a
couple minor plugged ducts. Nothing went wrong at all.

I guess I'm curious
about what challenges people face to extended nursing.

Hunter refused a bottle and since I work that was stressful. My problem
with extended nursing is that I don't really like nursing much after 12
months. Who knew? :-) That is just a weird personality thing with me
though. It didn't cause any physical problems.

Kind of like
my little depressed libido thing.

You know I have serious problems with that. I thought it was because of
nursing. Luke has been weaned for months now and no return of libido so
there must be some other hormonal thing that was thrown out of wack with
pregnancy/nursing and never went back to normal?

Have you had to deal with any
difficulties that might make someone else wean? How did you address
them?

I had a pretty awful biting phase at 9-10mos with Hunter and I think some
people wean at that time. I just continued to try different things until he
stopped. He wouldn't take a bottle so weaning never really entered the
picture as an option.

Some people wean during nursing strikes. I was pretty pro-active in
attempts to avoid strikes. I considered my guys at high risk to strike
since they were in daycare.

I didn't cope well with nursing while pregnant and I did wean then.



--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)

On 01 Mar 2004 16:40:01 GMT, ojunk (T68b) wrote:

It's rare, I suspect, to have a
successful experience when one is only using a pump, and not nursing.

just an fyi here....i exclusively pumped for over a year for my daughter who
had medical problems excluding nursing. She never had formula, and thrived
quite nicely.

That's both mind-boggling and fantastic going!

( I do still hear that pump in my mind though!!!!

I can imagine.
--
Linz
YB: 4 months, 15lbs 14oz

"Elitsirk" wrote in message
om...
"CY" wrote in message
news:NPz0c.6640$Zp.1756@fed1read07...


The top 3 reasons I hear:

1) It's inconvenient (HELLO! What's inconvenient about a food that's
always
exactly the right temperature, always there, perfect in every way and
GOOD
for your child?)


I plan to bf my baby for as long as possible, but I have to ask: are
you hearing this one from SAHM's or working moms? I wonder because as
I've thought through the process for pumping once I go back to work, I
am afraid that it will be terribly inconvenient (I still plan to try,
though...). Between the time it will take out of my day, to the fact
that the only 2 rooms in the entire office that don't have uncovered
windows (not windows to the outside, but windows into the office) are
the 2, tiny, one-seater bathrooms that I'd have to wheel a chair into,
to the fact that I'm only 1 of 2 women of childbearing age (and the
only one who's planning to have children at all), I'm thinking that
the whole pumping thing may be VERY awkward to do.

And what if I have to work late and didn't have enough milk put away?
And then there's the fear that I'll be sent on a business trip without
much advanced notice (it doesn't happen frequently, but it does
happen...usually we trip plans are figured out less than a week before
we go)--what if I don't have enough time to pump sufficient milk
before I go, or if I find it difficult to impossible to continue
pumping during off-site meetings. Or, better yet, if I try to explain
to my boss that I can't go on a trip and it ends up reflecting poorly
on my review or I get passed over for a promotion for being unable to
perform job duties. Or worse yet, I get fired for refusing an
important trip....not likely but still a fear.

Oh yeah, from what I've been reading, the better breast pumps for
daily use run somewhere around $250-300. I guess compared to several
months of formula, that might even out in the end. I do still have
the fear that I'll pay for the expensive pump, and then end up having
to wean the baby to formula anyway and will have wasted a lot of money
that we don't really have to waste.

I worked and pumped for DS. If you don't have enough pumped, you could
combi-feed, no need to wean. I now have the Whisperwear that is even better
than the Purely Yours that I used for DS, brcause it's compact and
hands-free. I plan to pump on my way to and from work and during lunch.
If DD needs more than I can pump, I will have daycare combi-feed her, like
they did with DS.

Irene wrote:

(And, Shena - Brigitte wasn't talking about herself - she bf twins for
a year, and is currently bf'ing her baby.)

Yeah I noticed that later - I just misread how she framed it.

Was thinking the same thing myself...

"Em" wrote in message
news:6gJ0c.15633$PR3.410989@attbi_s03...
"Donna" wrote in message
"Sami" wrote in message
"Marie" wrote in message
That's exactly how I feel about it. Its not something I'm comfortable
with
and I'm sure a baby can sense that. Rather than create a miserable
experience for both of us, I'll choose not to breastfeed.

Oh Sami, you have just been SO set up. shakes head

Look, if you have even the remotest interest in nursing, there are a lot
of
really great resources out there for you. I personally found
misc.kids.breastfeeding to be invaluable. So if you care to, you might
consider giving it a try, just to see if you still feel as negative
about
it
once you have tried. Nursing is medically best for a growing human, and
you
can always change your mind. Having said that, if you truly feel that
it's disgusting, then certainly there are other acceptable options.

I *really* question whether the post from "Sami" is a real post (the
"allergic to water" thing, etc.), but I don't have time to google her
right
now.

--
Em
mama to L-baby, 5 months old

Shena Delian O'Brien wrote:
|| The mind boggles. I understand choosing not to breastfeed if you
|| don't have proper supply and can't get it, if your baby isn't
|| thriving, or you have to take medications to live which would go
|| through the breastmilk and harm the baby, etc... but some of the
|| reasons I've heard lately just floor me.
||
|| For example:
||
|| 1) dh doesn't want me to (he thinks sex would be awkward with
|| lactating breasts, etc)
||
|| 2) I don't like looking at my breasts (!!?)
||
|| 3) it's just *icky*
||
|| Those seem to be the top three ?!

4) It's too much work!
5) It'll ruin my boobs
6)They'll sleep longer with formula
7)The studies on the value of BM are a bunch of crap
8)I want DH, kids, granparents etc to be able to feed them

When I had my DS it never crossed my mind to feed him any other way than
breastfeeding, ditto with DD and I am very much looking forward to the same
with this one. I can't say that my hospital was really that much help but
then again I didn't have too many problems (very sore nips at first with
#1). But my fav comment from one of the nurses after I had DS was "My you
have PERFECT nipples for breastfeeding!!" My Dad still laughs about that
one for he was visiting me at the time

IMHO I think it's ridiculous not to BF your child, that's what your breasts
are meant for. (barring *serious* reasons)

--?

Jenn
-WAHM
-DS Feb'92
-DD Feb'97
-Jellyfish due June 25/04

Fer wrote:

4) It's too much work!

It is work. Why did you have the baby if you weren't willing to commit?
If you think breastfeeding is work, just wait until the terrible twos!

5) It'll ruin my boobs

Gosh I'm looking forward to that. It'll give me a real good excuse to
get a boob lift in my later years. (I've needed one since I was about 15
I reckon.) People will just nod their heads and go, "ahh" when they ask
me why I did it and I'll say, "Well after breastfeeding X kids.."

7)The studies on the value of BM are a bunch of crap

And the thousands of years of human history must be too...

8)I want DH, kids, granparents etc to be able to feed them

That's what pumping is good for. I have heard that one a few times too.
Women say "DH isn't going to have much bonding time with baby if I
breastfeed," to which I respond, "Nonsense. Have him do the baby's
nightly bath & massage, have him sit and read to baby, etc etc...
there's a thousand ways he can bond, just not as the milk cow."

Elitsirk wrote:
"CY" wrote in message
news:NPz0c.6640$Zp.1756@fed1read07...


The top 3 reasons I hear:

1) It's inconvenient (HELLO! What's inconvenient about a food
that's always exactly the right temperature, always there, perfect
in every way and GOOD for your child?)


I plan to bf my baby for as long as possible, but I have to ask: are
you hearing this one from SAHM's or working moms? I wonder because as
I've thought through the process for pumping once I go back to work, I
am afraid that it will be terribly inconvenient (I still plan to try,
though...).

IME breastfeeding and working is not terribly convenient but it is certainly
possible and not unbearably hassle filled either. It was mostly just more
stressful for me because #1 didn't take a bottle and #2 out drank my pump
output so I was always worried about that. Once I came up with a system
that got as much EBM as possible and I supplemented the rest that stress was
relieved. Formula has its share of common stresses to (constipation,
finding the right formula for baby etc.)

Between the time it will take out of my day, to the fact
that the only 2 rooms in the entire office that don't have uncovered
windows

I'd ask for some special accommodations of putting blinds up in one of the
offices or something.

And what if I have to work late and didn't have enough milk put away?

I left extra frozen milk with the sitter. I did reach a point with #2 where
I started supplementing with formula. That also worked fine and didn't
cause any problems with our nursing.

what if I don't have enough time to pump sufficient milk
before I go, or if I find it difficult to impossible to continue
pumping during off-site meetings.

Then you would have to supplement with formula. If you get 12 weeks of
maternity leave you can also get quite a stock pile of milk in your freezer.
I have a home office which was easy of course and would pump in the car if I
was on the road (which happens often). At out of town meetings I had a
motel room I could pump in. When mine were under a year I always brought
someone with me when I had out of town meetings so that I could nurse during
the non-meeting times.

Or, better yet, if I try to explain
to my boss that I can't go on a trip and it ends up reflecting poorly
on my review or I get passed over for a promotion for being unable to
perform job duties. Or worse yet, I get fired for refusing an
important trip....not likely but still a fear.

I can't guarantee that something like this won't happen but I can say that
there will be other child related issues that will have the same impact.
For example I found that child illness had a much larger negative impact
because that was something I couldn't work around or plan for.

Oh yeah, from what I've been reading, the better breast pumps for
daily use run somewhere around $250-300. I guess compared to several
months of formula, that might even out in the end.

Formula costs way more then a pump.

I do still have
the fear that I'll pay for the expensive pump, and then end up having
to wean the baby to formula anyway and will have wasted a lot of money
that we don't really have to waste.

The chances of complete weaning being necessary are very very small,
especially if you get support and input ahead of time so you can make plans
and know what to avoid so that problems don't arise in the first place.

*sigh* It's good to hear so much encouragement for women to bf, as I
agree that it's absolutely the best thing possible for babies. I just
wonder sometimes how well some bf-advocates really understand the
fears and/or realities that many women face when it comes to the
logistics of it all.

That is really true. There are many factors that lead to individual
decisions. You sound anxious. For anyone reading - misc.kids.breastfeeding
is a very active group and has such a wide an variable amount of experiences
and knowledge. Checking it out before the baby arrives is a great idea :-)
--
Nikki
Mama to Hunter (4) and Luke (2)