I am sick and tired of the push on breastfeeding!!!
I understand that reasearch has been done that tells us that breast milk is best for babies and thats great, but what makes me angry is the guilt that is layed mothers who chose not to, or who cannot breasfeed for what ever reason.
Some women physically cannot breastfeed for medical reasons and some women (like myself) found it an extremely stressful and unenjoyable experience for a range of different reasons.
I decided to put my son on the bottle when he was 5 weeks old as I found breastfeeding very stressful. He was a very hungry baby who would constantly feed and never felt satisfied with what I was giving him. I tried ringing various support agencies for advice and was made to feel guilty and like a bad mother for even considering wanting to put him on the bottle. They were no help to me! I began to feel resentful toward him for wanting to feed and could never relax while he was attached. I came to realise that this wasn't fair on myself and certainly wasn't fair on my son. I made the decision to put him on the bottle with his very best interests at heart and since then he has thrived. As for bonding, we have bonded better since being on the bottle as I don't feel the stress and resentment that I felt while trying to breastfeed.
If you can breastfeed and feel comfortable doing it then thats great, go for it! But the women who don't breastfeed their children need support too. We very rarely see articles that include info about bottle fed babies, it's main concentation is on breastfed babies and thats not fair to the rest of us.
Let me be clear that I am not against brestfeeding in any way, I am just against mothers who are made to feel guilty for choosing not to do it.
I'd be interested to know anyone elses view on this topic and would like to hear from other mothers who have chosen not to breastfeed and have been given a hard time for it.
Regards
Dayna
I understand that reasearch has been done that tells us that breast milk is best for babies and thats great, but what makes me angry is the guilt that is layed mothers who chose not to, or who cannot breasfeed for what ever reason.
Some women physically cannot breastfeed for medical reasons and some women (like myself) found it an extremely stressful and unenjoyable experience for a range of different reasons.
I decided to put my son on the bottle when he was 5 weeks old as I found breastfeeding very stressful. He was a very hungry baby who would constantly feed and never felt satisfied with what I was giving him. I tried ringing various support agencies for advice and was made to feel guilty and like a bad mother for even considering wanting to put him on the bottle. They were no help to me! I began to feel resentful toward him for wanting to feed and could never relax while he was attached. I came to realise that this wasn't fair on myself and certainly wasn't fair on my son. I made the decision to put him on the bottle with his very best interests at heart and since then he has thrived. As for bonding, we have bonded better since being on the bottle as I don't feel the stress and resentment that I felt while trying to breastfeed.
If you can breastfeed and feel comfortable doing it then thats great, go for it! But the women who don't breastfeed their children need support too. We very rarely see articles that include info about bottle fed babies, it's main concentation is on breastfed babies and thats not fair to the rest of us.
Let me be clear that I am not against brestfeeding in any way, I am just against mothers who are made to feel guilty for choosing not to do it.
I'd be interested to know anyone elses view on this topic and would like to hear from other mothers who have chosen not to breastfeed and have been given a hard time for it.
Regards
Dayna
Mum to Aiden John (born - 1st September 2003)