In this corner the Breast and in this corner the Bottle
Feb 11 '00
I will be the first to admit, I bottle fed my daughter, but it was not for lack of trying to breast feed. Breast feeding is great and I highly recommend ANY woman who expecting to try to do it. On the other hand, my daughter was born with a dysfunction of her sucking reflex and she would just NOT latch on. I went to a lactation consultant who gave me every gadget imaginable. One that I especially liked and used for awhile was a tube that you taped under your shirt and placed near your nipple so that the infant gets milk and stimulates your breasts to letdown. Unfortunately, I think all the stress of trying to get her to feed also began to effect my letdown because it NEVER happened. Not once. I tried for six weeks to get my newborn to breast feed and it wasn't going to happen. This, compounded with the fact that she had colic and I had severe PPD was doing neither one of us any good. It was so frustrating to see her scream and actually push AWAY from my breast. I suffered guilt. Yeah, I wanted to breast feed, I was disappointed that it wasn't happening but I needed to move ON. Let me tell you, the dirty looks I would get out in public were HORRENDOUS. Let me remind each and every person reading this, you have NO idea why a woman is NOT breast feeding. There could be numerous factors, and chances are...she REALLY wants(ed) to breast feed. I don't think your (generic) dirty looks are going to help her any, as I know they sure did not help me.
I'd like to reiterate, if you are expecting, then I strongly support trying to breast feed. It IS superior than formula, however, for some reason if you cannot breast feed don't waste your infants (and your) precious time by feeling guilty about it. Just do the best YOU can do, and make the most informed decision you can. One place that was of great help to me was LLL (Le Leche League). You can look them up in your phone book or try this URL http://www.lalecheleague.org/
Good luck and may the letdown be with you!
Jennifer
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Epinions.com ID:
Gizzykat
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Member: Jennifer
Location: Orlando, Florida
Reviews written: 127
Trusted by: 92 members
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