is anyone choosing not to breastfeed?

I’m exclusively breastfeeding, almost 2 weeks in now, but I can totally see why some would choose not to. It’s a lot for me to take on where my partner can’t really help, whereas with formula feeding, others can help out.

I am 11 months into breastfeeding and will absolutely do it with my next but I completely get why some people don’t do it. First not everyone has enough supply but second it’s a lot of work. Huge time commitment and the first couple weeks very painful. Dealing with clogged ducts can be extremely stressful too. Some prefer other people being able to help feed baby to take some weight off themselves

I breastfed my first for 14 months and will breastfeed my second. But I was discouraged from doing so by some of my partners family members and they wanted my son formula fed. They didn’t like the thought of it and it creeped them out for some reason. Ultimately I ignored them and did it anyway but I guess some people might cave to the pressure

I did breastfeed for 6 weeks but had to stop due to a long hospital stay.
What I will say is my 10 month old is super independent, sociable, and not overly clingy which means me and his dad can still prioritise our relationship and have us time as he’s happy staying with other people. He’s just started nursery and all of the workers have commented on how he’s such a happy, independent and headstrong little boy.
All my friends that EBF have never been able to be away from baby for more than an hour, they never get alone time with their partners and have really struggled now they’re getting to the age of going to nursery. It’s quite traumatic for them tbh as the babies are super clingy and often don’t have any milk at nursery and not a lot of solids either so now they’re having to extremely stress about that.
Theres pros and cons to both. Nothing wrong with formula at all. There’s no differences in development between babies who have both, read the studies ❤️

I exclusively breastfed my baby for six weeks and then combi fed after that because he had a tongue tie and trouble latching which affected my supply. I will say that exclusively breastfeeding was incredibly demanding, there’s nothing like the pressure of being the only person who can feed the baby when the baby needs feeding every hour or two day and night. The sleep deprivation and lack of a break is just unreal! Cluster feeding is massively time-consuming and if I had a second baby I don’t know how I’d manage it whilst also taking care of a toddler. So I would 100% not judge anyone who chose not to breastfeed! You may understand better once you’ve actually tried it!

Many people choose not to if they need to return to work quickly and don't want to deal with a bottle transition. There are people who have trauma related to that area and/or bodily autonomy who don't feel comfortable doing so. Some don't want to deal with pumping to let others feed baby or don't want to be baby's only source of food so they can get some sleep. Some people just don't want to or have any number of other reasons.

It could be your plan to breastfeed but for one reason or another it doesn't work out. I didn't produce enough so I pumped what I could and baby got formula to supplement.

Fed is best.

I exclusively pump as we had issues latching early on. It’s also been a godsend having my hubby be able to do some of the feeds as she’s bottle fed. You may feel differently when your baby wants to feed every 1-2 hours during the night! Exclusively pumping is HARD and so a lot of women choose formula over this too. I’m glad i can give my baby my milk but my journey hasn’t been easy and pumping is mentally wearing/as breastfeeding can be.

I exclusively pumped for 17 weeks and she drunk breastmilk 95% of the time till she went to nursery at 6 months. Then had 1 or 2 bottles a day till 14 months. I’m happy with that and baby is thriving

I suffer with bad anxiety it got worse when I was pregnant my partner family kept bugging me telling me how me feeding my baby milk is better for her and I was considering breast feeding and leaning more towards it and then they just kept nagging and it took my mind of wanting to do it but packed my breast pump bags ect and some ready made formula just incase o changed my mind I do wish I breast fed when my milk dried up but I’m also glad I didn’t as found out by the time my little one was 9 weeks she had CMPA and I knew if I was breast feeding her I wouldn’t be able to give up dairy hence why I’m glad I formula fed but also feel guilty not breastfeeding

I exclusively formula feed. I intended to breast feed but my little boy lost 12% of his birth weight and the midwife scared the shit out of me and made me feel dreadful. I put him on formula as my milk still hadn't come through, I then pumped for about a week but it was too hard and also I didn't produce a lot. He has thrived on formula, it means his dad gets to feed him as do his grandparents. It also means that I know exactly the amount he is getting which really eased my anxiety after that early experience.

I wouldn't judge anyone for doing either, I will more than likely formula feed my next one because it works for me and my family! ♥️

I didn’t attempt to breastfeed with my first and I’m not going to with baby due in July either. I just one didn’t want too. I wanna smoke how ever much I want. In my opinion postpartum depression has a lot to do with breastfeeding because your constantly worrying if you are producing enough and having to kinda watch what you eat and drink and i refuse to do that after 9 months of throwing up majority of my food. I don’t wanna have a baby constantly on me either I wanna be able to do things without having someone attached to my boob. I wanna go back to work and have her in daycare so I didn’t wanna pump. I’m also not comfortable with just pulling my boob out in public to feed even if I did cover up I’d still feel uncomfortable

I wanted to breastfeed my baby and tried for 12 weeks. It was just a nightmare. My baby did not gain enough weight, which was very stressful as our health worker was coming back every week to weigh him and even sent us to our GP for a checkup. Then he got a tongue tie removed, but breastfeeding did not really improve due to poor latching. I've asked our health worker for additional support but did not receive anything other than information on how to achieve a good latch, which I already knew. I had hoped for more practical support but with no avail.

Since then I'm exclusivelt pumping and it's extremely exhausting. It takes time to improve milk supply to produce enough to feed your baby. It also takes double of the time, first you need to pump and then feed it. Nevertheless, I'll continue with this journey as good as I can as I don't want my LO to miss out on the goodies breastmilk has to offer.

I totally get it when some mums switch to formula for their mental health.

I breastfed both my babies but why would you care if someone’s formula feeding? It’s literally just a choice. Breastfeeding is mentally exhausting and draining and so hard at times. It’s not easy going at all or convenient for some people. If you’re set on breastfeeding then do it you don’t need opinions on formula fed babies. A fed baby is important the method of feeding is not

I chose to formula feed because I wanted to. I don’t think anyone needs a reason - we’re all doing the best for our babies and all entitled to make a personal choice.

ur choosing to feed ur baby chemicals…

honestly with this attitude I kinda hope you are brought down to earth with a bump. Breastfeeding is one of the hardest things. Some babies don’t latch, some women don’t produce enough and don’t even get me started on exclusive pumping and it’s full-time nature. Breastfeeding can severely impact your mental health. Clusterfeeding is hell, finding out your baby is allergic to things in your milk, vasospasms, blocked ducts, engorgement, mastitis are all very real issues that go along with it. Great if you can, but how dare you come at people with your judgement who are just trying to do their best for their babies. Mum being healthy is the priority so that you can look after your baby and that is why fed is best!

I don’t believe this is true…my LB is EBF & I have left him with my parents for half a day & they have a him a few hours some weeks. Not all babies are the same. A fed baby no matter what way is a happy baby 😊 my LB is so content & happy all the time!

I’m exclusively breastfeeding and my child has CMPA meaning the formula she can have would leave her lacking in certain areas, so for me I’m going to keep going BUT I definitely understand why people formula feed.

Here are some of the things that make BF hard:

- You’re the only one that can feed the baby, meaning you’re the one getting up every time in the night. With a bottle of formula, you can share feeds.

- You have to get a boob out wherever you are. If you’re in the middle of a food shop, this would be a LOT easier with a bottle.

- Even if you express, you have to pump meaning it’s impossible to have 3 hours off at any point. Even to sleep.

- I feel a lot of pressure to make sure I’m keeping up with expressing and getting enough milk, while also timing breast feeds to make sure I have enough milk.

- My daughter currently gets distracted while BF and flings around, exposing my boob in public. On a bottle, she’s chilled and drinks more volume (which is why I express + BF)

Then there’s all sorts of other reasons like poor latches, the nipple pain for the first week or two, needing to work etc.

And with my daughter having a CMPA, I’ve had to cut all soya and dairy out of my diet otherwise she ends up in agony and has blood in her nappies. So that’s been the hardest for me because I can’t eat out, and have a very strict diet and this will continue as long as I breast feed :)

They’re just some of the reasons I can think of, but I completely get why people choose to formula feed. It can feel like A LOT! :)

Just saw the replies in here… it’s everyone’s personal decision and any way of feeding a baby is the best. It completely depends on individual circumstances and from the outside, you can’t understand.

My mental health has been seriously dented by breastfeeding - it can definitely come with its challenges if your baby is struggling to put enough weight on while breastfeeding etc. while you’re also trying to juggle work.

Also the ‘chemical’ argument is kind of invalid unless your entire diet is made up of completely organic foods, you don’t use deodorants with chemicals, don’t use cleaning sprays etc. as everything your skin touches, you eat, or you consume can make its way into your own milk :)

If it was chemicals it wouldn’t be on the shelves but go off sis I just hope you are able to breastfeed then 🤷🏽‍♀️

And you’re chosing to interfere and give unwanted comments to formula feeding mums! Why start a post just to bash those who give the answers you want? Get a grip

I never said all babies were the same and I never said breastfed babies weren’t happy babe. I was giving examples and experiences of potential reasons why someone would choose formula… and that is a reason. A few hours and half a day isn’t really freedom for me. And it definitely wouldn’t work for our nursery days, which again is another reason. It’s great that that works for you, it wouldn’t work for me. We’ve just done a weekend away for my husband birthday whilst my LB stayed with my parents and I know I wouldn’t have been able to do that if EBF. I’m sure you’re happy with EBF, just like I’m happy with formula so that’s all that matters

I didn't breastfeed or express milk at all. We went straight for formula. It was a personal choice. I believe my baby slept better and I was less tired by not breastfeeding. She's now 3 years old and thriving! 🙌
I don't think mums have to justify their reasoning for bottle feeding. Babies are still being fed!

hell yeah! The amount of times I said just get a bottle of formula for the night feeds 🤣 I am a BF mum but I HATE when other BF mums think they’re so superior and start bashing formula babies. It is so wild the opinions people have

Breastfeeding can be tough and hard on mama especially first month where hormones are high. I'm ebf now but I had a rough beginning on this journey. Since she was born they try (at the hospital) to latch her on me, I ended up with very sore nipples. I knew she had to feed and I wanted so bad to breastfeed and I kept latching her but my nipples were so sore that at every feed I was there crying in pain counting every seconds so I could unlatch her from me and take a brake. It was insane that I stopped Breastfeeding and had to switched to formula and express milk. This was how I fed her the first month, I wasn't happy but there wasn't any other solution. I got a lattant consultant that helped a lot, but then cluster feeding hit and man, that's another story. I was so tired exasperated and everything that I lost it, I cried and told my husband to feed her with formula or my milk if any and bottle as I wasn't able to keep it going that way. Onde again, not happy. I'll continue in another mex

Then I started breastfeed again but she was screaming and unlatching continously and it was more a pain that an happy thing for us that I said stop, it doesn't make any sense to keep going this way, she was upset every time I was mentally exasperated that I said not worth it, as long as she is fed, doesn't matter how. I told my lattant consultant that I decided to stop and I told her why and she helped once again. Now we are breastfeeding and we love each other doing so, we have our routine and it's amazing but it required some work, really hard work. So, for some breastfeeding is straightforward for other is not, sometimes switching to formula is the only way to stay mentally sane.

it’s how it came across, but no worries. I can leave my little one for a day, overnight, weekend if I want to as I express & he takes a bottle. I just choose not to leave him yet because I want to be with him all the time. I still feel like I have freedom. Just because I BF he’s not strapped to be all day long! Everyone has a personal preference no matter what way a baby is fed it doesn’t matter.

I’m going to express for a week then change to formula but not actually breast feed x