BFing question

This is for everyone -

Moms who BF how long did you do it, why did you stop, and did you feel really guilty?

Moms who opted against it from day one do you regret it?

I'm in week 3 of bfing and some supplementing and DD latches and eats great - its just so time consuming and overwhelming at times and I'm so jealous of those who have kids that sleep 4 hours at a time. I feel wrong for thinking about stopping and depriving her of that since she is enjoying it and latches on great. Any advice - words of wisdom?

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I am not BF for several reasons. I don't regret it or feel guilty about it. I feed my son every 3-4 hours and I still feel like we are bonding great.

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I don't think that BF has anything to do with sleeping because I have friend that were formula fed and were not great sleepers. Your baby is still young and will eventually get into a sleep routine. I would say the first 6 weeks or BF were the toughest and then got easier. I BF exclusively for 3 months and pumped 2x a day and then BF when I was with my son. I BF until he was 14 months. He started whole milk at 12 months and I BF until I thought we were both done. I am very proud of
It is a personal decision. Don't let anyone make you feel bad..whatever you choose!

edited to add:
There were 1 million times I wanted to quit because I had low supply. I would get up at 4am to pump and pump at midnight. I had to leave my desk on a trading floor to pump and I hated carrying the milk home and my pump. I had to supplement at 9 months a few times and I felt guilty. When I look back at my dedication and accomplishment and the bonding I had with my son since I was away close to 12 hours a day working I wouldn't have had it any other way!
If I am blessed with another child I will try to BF again!

Message edited 11/29/2006 3:07:39 PM.

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I BFed excusively for 13.5 months. Stoped because it was time! After 12 months babies can have cows milk, so he didn't need BM anymore. So, I started weaning him at 12 months and we were done at 13.5.

I didn't feel quilty. I did what I had to do for my son! My goal was to BF till he was ready for regular milk and I achived just that. I was really sad though when it was all over! Those were such special moments and I will cherish them forever! He, on the other hand, didn't even blink an eye and transitioned very well.

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Ella's 5 months, and I still BF but I'm also supplementing now. I usually only BF at night and in the morning - she's on formula the rest of the day. It just works better with our schedule.

I don't feel guilty about supplementing at all. I think that any guilt associated with BF or not BF is ridiculous - do whats right for you. I'll probably stop around 6 months.

Ella made BF easy for me, but I never felt like it was such an amazing experience that I would have missed out on had I not BF. It was VERY convenient when she would wake during the night to not have to prepare bottles but now she sleeps through the night.

on a side note: E didn't start sleeping any better on formula than on BM. It just takes time.

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Thanks girls. I think it's overwhelming also because I pump inbetween so I have a couple of bottles ready in case guests come by so I feel like I'm always doing some kind of bfing all day and can't seem to get ahead. I'll stick with it. Those of you who BF just at night and in the am did you have to pump inbetween? That is a concern of mine with work..

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I bf for 2 1/2 months. I had a very difficult time with milk supply and tried so hard to have my supply increase that I would bf DD for 2-3 hours in the beginning due to cluster feeding and then I would bf and pump. It was very time consuming and I had to stop because of health reasons and having to have major surgery. The stress just killed my supply.

I was supplementing with formula and she would get about 18oz of ebm, and the rest formula. I so wish I was still bfing. I thought about relacatating but it wasn't reasonable with my return to work.

For me, I still feel guilty that I couldn't bf exclusively. I have grown used to using formula but still wish it to be different.

I know this isn't really the answer you wanted to hear but this is from a mom that truly wanted to bf.

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I've been bf'ing for 3months now and still going strong. I'm very lucky, DD has made it very easy on me. She latched on like a champ since the beginiing. She started sleeping through the night at 2mths and I have had no supply issues (well I actually at one time was producing too much) so I going to continue as long as I can my goal is to reach the 1yr mark and then start her straight on cow's milk.

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I BF all 3 of my kids. I BF DD1 until she was 18 months and DD2 until she was 1. I plan on nursing DS until he's 2. To me its one of the best parts of parenting- looking in your little baby's eyes while they're nursing.

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i bf for 3 months and when i stopped felt really guilty about it. I regret stopping and is stopped out of peer pressure. My MIL made feel like i wasn't feeding my daughter enough. It was hard during her growth spurt but got easier after. do what is best for you.

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Thanks for the support everyone! I'm going to keep at it.

xxxxxxx

Message edited 2/9/2007 7:39:32 PM.

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I BF for 7 1/2 months and am still BF. I went back to work when Jordana was 3 months old and have been pumping during the work day and nurse at night and in the morning. I plan to end when she is a year old.

The first few weeks were definitely tough. I remember the pain But the LC from the nursing class told us that if we were really devoted to BF, we should wait 1 month before quitting. By then it got a lot easier and I really loved it. But that is just me.