I probably wont be breastfeeding either...ONLY because I have a baby already (he will be 1 when this one is born) and I dont have time to sit there and feed and chase. If you know what I mean. I was told I could pump, but hmmm then Im back to sitting again.
I didnt breastfeed my first 2 just cus the thought of it was disgusting. I breastfed my other 2, surprisingly enough they were 14 months apart and I was fine with chasing other kids around and successfully done it for 5 months with #3 and 9 months with #4...#5 I only breastfed for 6 weeks for these following reasons (he was born with 2 teeth OUCH, he has reflux STILL, he wasnt sleeping AT ALL, and was gaining weight TOO FAST. He was he gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks following birth and it was taking too much time to feed him every half hour like he wanted to and deal with 4 other kids and school runs etc)
I did breastfeed infront of people. I was ashamed at first then I said well, I started this, he will NOT take a bottle so deal with it. I remember this past October I had a parent teacher meeting and had no choice but to breastfeed in the hall, my son was so embarrassed. MOM DONT DO THAT HERE. I said yes lol and the teachers didnt care but some parents did. Its your choice personally, and if some people cant respect that then they have issues.
I feel bad not wanting to do it with this one, but my time is very valuable with the boys as it is.
If you dont want to breastfeed or breastfeed it is totally up to you. In all honesty, babies get the nutrition in either formula or breastmilk. I find it easier with the bottle and mixing formula. Sure breastmilk is free, way healthier than formula but then you have to deal with leakage, breastpads, engorgement, keeping up supply, what you eat, what you dont eat and so on and so on.
Yes breastfeeding helps with weighloss and uterus going down. It also helps keep your period away and that means no ovulation. With first babies its alot easier to breastfeed, I find.
So with this being #6, I think my decision is made to not breastfeed. I may pump, I dont know. I may change my mind tho to. WHo knows.

Sorry on this long posting
Congrats on your pregnancy.
The first time is so exciting.

WOW mommytolilmen, you sure do sound like you have your hands full. lol.
Totally understandable why breastfeeding isnt really an option this time round.

May i ask when you were breast feeding with your other 2, did you breast feed exclusively or did you express also? Sorry if these questions are so personal. With this being my first just trying to get as much info as possible.

xxx

I feel the exact same way. I wasn't at first, but the more I read about it and it's benefits, I think I'm going to. But more likely to use the pump rather than normal breast feed.

I didn't breast feed my first 3 children, and I won't with this one either. I will be using formula milk. My reasons are because (1) it doesn't really appeal to me, having said that, breastfeeding in public doesn't bother me at all! (2) Hubby loved doing the feeding, and I (personally) think that this is a good time for him to bond with baby and lastly (3) My diet is appalling, I don't eat fruit or veg or pasta or rice or cheese and I don't think my breast milk would be very beneficial to baby - at least I know that the formula milk will contain all the right nutrients!

I do think that breastfeeding is best in a lot of cases, just not mine!!

Good luck everyone!

xxxxxxx

I breastfed my daughter for 13 months, but only in public until about 10months and then she was on formula in the day and breastfed morning and night. (I started to get a bit self conscious when she was bigger.) I am sure it helped me get back my figure within 6 months and it was a wonderfully bonding experience which I loved. I probably would have put her fully onto formula earlier, but she is allergic to Dairy so has had to go onto a prescription formula anyway. I plan to breastfeed this one for at least 6 months, but who knows what will happen after as I don't know how I'll run around after my daughter at the same time!

Yes my hands are full and tied!
I did exclusively breastfeed, I didnt express or pump back then. I did pump this time around for 2 weeks while breastfeeding to get a supply for him while I transitioned him to bottle. But I found that I drank way to much caffeine and that was affecting him, so it went to waste. Such a shame.

I am available for info...this is preggy #10 for me but baby #6

thanks hunny, thats kind of you.

Did you find the transition from breast to bottle easy as the weening does worry me a little.

No, It wasnt easy. I wont lie about that. It took a good week or so for him to actually accept the bottle fully and formula. I had to temp it right for him or he wouldnt take it. And I didnt know how much to feed him either, ugh, it was a mess lol. But all good now. Hes taking his bottles when hes not chewing on them. He was born with teeth, so its chew chew chew. I did find it hard for my breasts tho, it was horrible. But it worked out good in the end. I loved them while I had them, then they shrunk hehe.

laura6914
I will suggest, if your going to express and freeze...to buy the freezable bags and only put about 2-3 ounces in there so you dont waste much of it when feeding as you dont know how much baby eats when nursing. . They have measurements on the sides of the freezer bags. And put in the deepfreeze as it will last longer in there. I dont know much about the thawing part and all but you could find links online about that as it was my first time pumping and freezing and ending up to throw it away anyways.

oh also, as for transitioning the other 2 breastfed babies to bottles it was easy for some reason. I guess cus with #3 I was nursing when got pregnant so things changed there but #4 as soon as he was crawling all he wanted was the bottle cus his brother had one. The thing I'm finding hard for the 4th is thumbsucking, he won't stop and he's going to be 7 in April but the others stopped any thumbs or soothers by 3. My 5th baby is a soother baby so far, ugh.