The Honest Truth About Breastfeeding: Why Some Women Really Can’t Do It

1st one, I couldn't even try as I had chicken pox. (Yep, that was fun)
2nd one- Breastfed (she was like a leach and had me wondering if that was what they meant by the 'bonding experience)
3rd- Helloooo, after the 2nd one, hell yeah, I went back to bottle.

If one can breastfeed and be ahppy and comfortable, more importantly BABY is happy and comfortable- DO IT! Its best, I have no doubts about it.

If you can't? If it's just not working? No worries...bottle feed and enjoy the moments you have without guilt or stress.

They grown far too quickly to waste anytime other than enjoying them!!!

I agree wholeheartedly.

I agree, I breastfed both my girls until around 4 to 5 months, then I wasn't producing fast enough and everyone was getting frustrated...welcome to the world of the bottle. Thanks for posting this. Great perspective :)

I had that problem too. My second child pretty much weaned himself. He just wasn’t willing to stay still for it anymore, so it was easier just to give him a bottle and let him wander with it.

I tried with my oldest for a couple of weeks, along with supplement. Every time she drank my milk, within minutes she spit all of it up, but with the formula she kept it down. Plus it hurt really bad so I gave up and just stuck with bottle. For my second I only pumped a few times, mainly to help with the soreness, but I still stuck with bottles.

Pumping is horrible!

Yeah it was...kept waiting for a MOOOO to break forth.

LOL, I actually enjoyed my pumping time...at work. It was my time to be by MYSELF!!! I was always surrounded by people otherwise, this gave me an excuse to lock myself away.

Thanks for this post, Heather! It is so valuable to get people talking about breastfeeding. I tried to read the article you linked to but there were so many ads popping up and making the text scroll up and down that I gave up (time for a better computer? :D ) But I appreciate that you are spreading information. Information and support, as you say, are vital to breastfeeding success.

I want to walk the fine line between being a strong breastfeeding advocate and being a b*tch about it. Making people feel bad will further no cause. I had a friend who tried to breastfeed but her family could provide no support. She quit after a couple of months, and when she told me, she looked like she thought I was going to scold her. I told her, "Your baby had two months of breastmilk - that is wonderful that you gave him such a gift!"

Instead of women feeling like failures if they quit, I wish women felt strong and entitled enough before they quit to get the support they need. Family is so important. Especially if one of the grandmothers, who should by nature be the biggest resource a new mother has, is always advocating for a bottle, I feel like the breastfeeding relationship is doomed, and how can we blame the new mother in this situation?

One fact that I hope can be spread around is that supplementing will very often lead to a switch to exclusive bottle feeding, and if a woman seriously wants to exclusively breastfeed, she should avoid supplementing. The medical community is the biggest guilty party, I believe, for not educating women on this point. For heaven's sake, I even got a can of free formula in my complementary "breastfeeding" diaper bag at the hospital! It's like they don't really want us to succeed.

It may be that it takes a few generations before breastfeeding becomes successfully widespread in society. Perhaps if women who feel like they "failed" will channel that energy instead into helping their daughters or daughters-in-law succeed, then the next generation will have a better chance. Let's keep the conversation going and keep that information flowing!

My first daughter wouldn't eat from me to begin with. It was my first child and the lactation consultant a the hospital failed horribly. She kept putting me off, telling me to call her when I was ready to feed and she would be there to help. Several calls and she never came. I thought I was doing things right, and the baby was eating, but she wasn't. After a couple of days with no weight gain, only loss I was then introduced to a GREAT consultant at my pediatricians office. Because of the weight loss and sleepiness of my daughter we couldn't get her to respond to the breast. I was heartbroken and felt I did something wrong, spent the entire visit at the Dr almost in tears. I should have been given better education right away. This was a full hospital lactation consultant FAIL!!! So we supplemented as needed to get her started. From there I managed to get her to breastfeed successfully after a couple of weeks.

I agree there needs to be better education on both sides of the matter from the hospital, and maybe even the OB and the Pediatrician should do a little education before and after so the new mom knows what to expect if she does choose to feed and also if she doesn't.

Mary - it breaks my heart that you had such a bad experience due to the incompetence of a lactation consultant. The fact that you were able to supplement and then go on to successfully breastfeed is a testament to your determination and dedication!

Mary, that is very much what my niece went through, sleepy baby and no weight gain. Unfortunately, she just didn’t understand babies can nurse for hours at a time, and for some reason, her doctor didn’t spell it out for her. I agree, every mother, whether it’s your first or fifth child, should get some insight ahead of time and during. The rest of us need to support them either way they go.

I posted the link on my FB page. I agree that there is a fine line being a lactivist, and a nazi about it.

Thanks for posting the link, and I couldn’t agree with you more. Women need to support each other instead of cattily insisting on being right.

I bottle fed both my kids, because...let's be realistic....it was easier, anyone could do it for me, and it left me free to work...and have a life outside of being "mommy!" And as for bonding, my kids formed bonds with a lot of other people besides me...I was working on their social life from the first week when I decided breast feeding was to hard...and I don't care if that's what pioneer women did. Life is different today.

Cindy - I am glad to read your comment because I am very curious about your perspective. What was too hard about breastfeeding for you? Can you go into more detail about what you enjoy about work and "life outside of being 'mommy'?"

Cindy, I'm glad to hear someone say breastfeeding is hard. I did both, bottle fed one and breastfed the other. You're absolutely right, it is hard. I think that's why so many women who've done it are so passionate about. Both options have different advantages, and as a society, we need to respect and support each mother's decision. On that note, Good for you!

I remember when our first son was born and the nurse was teaching me how to breastfeed. She told me that he may not take to it right away but to be patient. I held him up to my breast and YEOOOOWWWWW! He clamed on so tight I almost changed his name to Cujo.