Well, your midwife may be a very nice woman. But here's a list of the risks associated with formula feeding from http://www.normalfed.com/Why.html:

Here's part of the scary list:

People who were not breastfed tend to have:

poorer vision
a lower IQ
more appendicitis
more breast cancer
more hernias
more diabetes
more childhood cancer
less well-developed nerves
a thymus smaller than normal during infancy
a less effective immune system
more trouble with cholesterol
more emotional problems
more intestinal disorders
more allergies
more risk of crooked teeth or underformed jaws
a higher risk of SIDS

Women who don't breastfeed tend to have:

more premenopausal breast cancer
higher anxiety
lower self-esteem
more osteoporosis
more cervical cancer
less pleasure in early parenting

There are about 13,000 studies showing problems with formula-feeding, so why haven't you heard any of this before? Maybe someone thought it was too scary for you, that you would feel guilty, that you wouldn't be interested, that it doesn't really matter that much. But wouldn't you rather know now, instead of finding out later?

No i think its pretty ridiculous to try scare women into breastfeeding.. i love that i do it and I'm glad i didn't give up..

But i wouldn't in the slightest feel guilty if i did go to formula, and neither should any other women who choose not to, or to give up breastfeeding! Do you think its fair to make a mother who chooses to FF feel like shes not doing right by her baby.. i think its cruel.

Its a very demanding thing and as a single parent trying my best to bring up a toddler and a newborn.. i think Ive done my best, and would be happy now if i turned to formula, that Ive given him the best start i could. As it happens I'm not quite ready for stopping yet.. but if i did.. there would be absolutely nothing wrong with it!

At the end of the day its not just about the baby. If a woman is struggling to breastfeed and getting herself worked up over it.. surely its best for everyone for her to stop, that baby would rather have a happy stress free mum, who isn't exhausted all the time.

That's the advise my midwife gives.. and what all midwifes/health visitors should, instead of trying to scare women or make them feel guilty for not BF'ing. They should support them in the decisions they feel are the best ones for their family.

And all these studies.. well im sure there are equal amounts showing how dangerous co-sleeping is but BF'ing parents arn't made to feel guilty about doing that are they..

Okay, I have to say something. I really resent what you are doing here, MelanieF.
My daughter was combination fed as she was born early (32+5) and was an extremely lazy feeder. She was tube fed mostly for the first 4 weeks of her life. And because of that and the fact that she was in the NICU and I couldn't have skin to skin with her all the time as her heart rate would drop, or she would stop breathing, I had a really tough time with production. I was pumping 8 times a day,only able to get about 2 ounces per pump, on top of heading to the hospital every day to be with her. I was EXHAUSTED, both physically and emotionally. And if I had solely tried to breast feed her, she would have been in the hospital for a lot longer than the 5 weeks she was in there. I'm SO GLAD I had the option to give her formula, as everything I was trying wasn't helping. I was doing all the right things, the hospital she was in was extremely pro-breastfeeding and all the nurses I was dealing with were also lactation consultants.
I gave up breast feeding/expressing after 6 weeks because I was starting to resent my daughter for all the extra work.
She is now 11 months old, never been sick, is developmentally where she should be for her actual age, not her corrected age, and is a happy, well adjusted child.

On that note I am breast feeding my son with no issues. He had some formula (we are talking an ounce or two a day) for the first week and half.

Have I poisoned him? How about my daughter?

How DARE you come on here and spew propaganda to these poor women who are struggling? You'd think they were giving them booze in a bottle. You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, but do you understand what this forum is about? Support, not guilt.

You need to stop bashing people's health care professionals. If I had the time to go back and count how many times you've told women their doctors are wrong, their midwives are wrong, their HV's are wrong, it would be at least half of your posts!

I'm sorry MelanieF, but this post was just too much for me to keep biting my tongue.

I'm sorry if I have offended anyone else here, I just feel I had to say something. I feel that last post had gone too far.

I think your midwife sounds like the most wonderful supportive person ever. There is no point being stressed or unhappy and breastfeeding as the emotional effects of this will probably be much worse than formula (even if formula is as evil as suggested!!). The health professionals should be there just to support the mother and child in coming to the best decision for their well being, and this is excatly what yours seem to be doing!

I am glad to see that you seem to have a level head and are doing a great job of bringing up your child - well done!

Penny
Thanks xx

The wonderful thing about statistics and these studies is that it gived people like you a platform to stand and rant on. Jesus, what an awful post to put on a thread started by a woman struggling to bf.

Get a grip.

You should be thrown out for this. Nasty.

Thanks everyone

We seem to have come out of the growth spurt now and although im still giving the odd bottle of formula just to settle him when he gets really fussy (and i have my other son screaming at me for attention LOL) im still managing with the BF'ing. Just taking it one day at a time for now

xxx

I think you're doing a fantastic job Anababe! - our LO is our first born. He's generally been good with breastfeeding, taking long feeds and lengthy gaps in between, and even then it's still hard work and very time consuming. It works fine for me as I can give him my undivided attention - but I am in awe of second time mums who manage to breastfeed with a toddler demanding attention at the same time!

On the subject of the formula, I'm a real advocate that it can sometimes be the thing that saves you from stopping breastfeeding. Things are going well for us now but our LO was born a bit early, at 36+6 wks - he was jaundiced and drowsy for 2-3 weeks. We stayed in hospital for 2 nights so they could monitor us and help with the feeding as he just wasn't interested and just wanted to sleep constantly. On the second day in hospital, the MW recommended we give him a little formula to wake him up enough to be interested in the breast. I was devastated, obviously due to the whole pressure to breastfeed, and it's always been really important to me to feed him myself. I just sat and bawled my eyes out (unnecessarily) attacking myself for 'being a failure on day 2'. I was convinced he would never breastfeed. Anyway, following this, he perked up amazingly so, started smacking his lips and making hungry faces for the first time since he was born and went on the breast to feed! It was a challenging first couple of weeks, with us having to wake him and strip him down to get him alert enough for every feed, but without the formula we might not have kick started things at all.

Sorry to hijack your thread Anababe - I just wanted to reinforce the use of formula with our experience as it was a great aid to getting breastfeeding going. I think it's important to say too though that there is no shame in switching to formula. I read some of the posts on here about women feeding constantly throughout the day and have so much respect for them carrying on. I don't know if I could have done with such frequent feeds, and no one should be made to feel guilty for switching. I mean jesus christ, the hype around it - anyone would think FF is neglectful! - isn't the most important thing that they are being fed in some way?!!!!

Congrats! I went through the same thing with my second, same sort of deal, born at 36 weeks, in the hospital a couple days for monitoring, they weren't going to let him leave if he didn't gain enough weight. I really believe that FF helped him get out of there, even if it was just a small amount. My daughter was formula fed by necessity so I had seen a very healthy baby come out of FFing, so I didn't have the same guilt I had with Betty, but I was really trying to avoid it, but now I am exclusively breast feeding (well, giving some EBM in the evenings by daddy, but I am glad he can go from the occasional bottle back to the breast with no issues. That was important to me!)
People need to do what they need to do.

YAY! I am so glad to hear! It is tough when you have another LO that needs you so much, I truly feel your pain, but what a sense of accomplishment to still be doing it, hey?
Good for you.