Chook n Boo Mum Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I do remember not being able to get a Savoy cabbage & ending up with one of those diddy very tightly wrapped white cabbages......it was like a cabbage puzzle until I got a Savoy Just realised, neither of my children like cooked cabbage...maybe I have stumbled upon the reason Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 HA ha. One of my colleagues asked a man to get a cabbage for his wife - he came home with a coleslaw! Not quite what she was after but at least it made her laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Sha x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooner.girl Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'm expecting twins in October and am gonna give breastfeeding a go but i'm not going to beat myself up about it if it doesn't work. If it was 1 baby i would be more determined to perservere but as its 2, getting them to latch on at the same time could be tricky so i will just have to see how it goes... Even if i can just feed for 3/4 months i will be pleased. 6 would be ideal and is my aim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looney Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Hey Helen, good to see you My friend had twins and did manage to bf for 6 months, she was lucky her girls were a good weight at birth and only three days premature so ready and willing to latch on What she found most challenging was when one wanted to feed for longer than the other, shifting one baby and burping it whilst still feeding the other was quite a knack! Around here there is a fair amount of support from the midwife and health visitors for Mums of twins and she found this brilliant, hope it is the same in your area. Babies! Very exciting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERTIE MCSQUIRTY Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'm expecting twins in October and am gonna give breastfeeding a go but i'm not going to beat myself up about it if it doesn't work. If it was 1 baby i would be more determined to perservere but as its 2, getting them to latch on at the same time could be tricky so i will just have to see how it goes... Even if i can just feed for 3/4 months i will be pleased. 6 would be ideal and is my aim. part of my role is breastfeeding support worker. feeding 2 should be no problem providing you are given some support in the early days and someone with knowledge to guide you into positioning the twins for all round comfort. today i saw a mother laying down on a bed with a pillow at either side whilst the 3 wk old twins crawled up and latched on themselves. it might be worth contacting your local twins club and visiting for a day to see how other breastfeeding mums manage the main problems from breastfeeding arise from poor latching on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 HA ha. One of my colleagues asked a man to get a cabbage for his wife - he came home with a coleslaw! Not quite what she was after but at least it made her laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I’ve never used cabbage leaves either Hennypenny- I have never had blood mixed with my milk but have had thrush and mastitis My son, now 4, was born 10 weeks early and spent his first 5 weeks in NICU. I had decided before he was born that I wanted to breast feed but his tricky start made me all the more determined. I was lucky to have had a great deal of support from the NICU nurses (those on maternity really weren't interested if I'm honest). It wasn't easy as he was too small to 'latch on', so was fed via NG tube for the first 3 weeks. I expressed so much during this time I felt like a dairy cow! I had a similar experience with dd who was a 27 weeker. Breastmilk is so advantageous for a prem baby it was well worth doing but it also helped me so much knowing that even though I wasn’t with her I was doing something for her. It also meant I could then go on and feed her myself when she came home I am another lazy person. I am also incredibly busy with 4 and breastfeeding means its one less thing to prepare before I leave the house I’ve been away from the forum and didn’t realize you were pregnant goonergirl. Congratulations Any woman is entitled to their opinion, and I'm all for informed choice. However, the author of the article is the deputy editor of Mother & Baby, and as such should (I think) give a more balanced view. She is giving a very one sided, personal opinion that breastfeeding is "creepy". That, to me, is sad, along with all the accompanying rhetoric about droopy boobs, bleeding nipples, and basic agony. It doesn't have to be that way, if you actively choose to breast feed and have sympathetic support. It was an appallingly written article. It wasn’t just the world from a bottle feeders point of view it was an attack of breastfeeders and actually wasn’t written very well at all with statistics being flung about that had no connection to anything etc The health benefits are relative. Not all breastfed chidren will be in perfect health but overall they will be healthier than bottle fed ones (this is information collected from hospital admissions and childhood illness records). There are always going to be healthy bottle fed children and sick breastfed ones. In this country we are lucky. We have clean water, regulations for formula production and good education for infant feeding as well as laws preventing unscrupulous practices, so children can be formula fed safely (though not all are). Things are not the same for much of the rest of the world. BTW it's pregnancy that affects your boobs, not breastfeeding - doesn't make a blind bit of difference. I was going to write all that but instead I’ll just quote you I’m an odd person as my previous three child were all combination fed for part from about 5 to 8 months when I stopped breastfeeding. I have never had anyone say anything to me when I’ve been bottle feeding. I have suffered terrible pressure to bottlefeed at various times from health professionals including paeds to swap to the bottle. I still solely feeding Izy now and hes 14 months. I’m a bit fed up of peoples attitudes towards it. I don’t feed in public anymore as there is no need and its really nothing to do with anyone but they have to ask and then look horrified when I tell them. Breastfeeding is not better than bottle feeding. It is the norm and bottle feeding is a substitute. I see lots of threads on forums where you are not allowed to talk about the benefits of breastfeeding etc for fear of hurting/insulting someone but breastfeeding is regularly bashed as being odd/creepy/shouldn’t be done in public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I've read this thread and I totally agree with 'Mum's Choice'. I breastfed both of my children until they were 2, never suffered with mastitis although I did have an achy nipple with DD which a health visitor sorted out when she was a week old (not latching on properly). I fed in public and wasn't concerned about what anyone else thought My DH's cousin gave birth 7 weeks after I did and when she saw me feeding she said "I wish mine were that big so I could feed him properly!" I pointed out that size has nothing to do with it! My SIL tried breastfeeding and couldn't, when her daughter was 5 days old she 'confessed' (her words - not mine!) that she'd sent my brother out to buy formula. I asked 2 questions - was she happier? Was her daughter happier? She said yes so I said that's what is best. She still felt guilty though which is an awful position to be put in, my cousin couldn't bf at all and suffered with PND because she felt so bad about it. I must admit I did it because it was free and always ready I loved breast feeding and have done the same as Sha, walking and feeding, even at the side of a rugby pitch and I feel the most important thing is a happy mum and baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midori Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I had a similar experience with dd who was a 27 weeker. Breastmilk is so advantageous for a prem baby it was well worth doing but it also helped me so much knowing that even though I wasn’t with her I was doing something for her. It also meant I could then go on and feed her myself when she came home Breastfeeding is not better than bottle feeding. It is the norm and bottle feeding is a substitute. I see lots of threads on forums where you are not allowed to talk about the benefits of breastfeeding etc for fear of hurting/insulting someone but breastfeeding is regularly bashed as being odd/creepy/shouldn’t be done in public. I'm a bit suprised that oen one hand you say breastfeeding has so many benefits (for prem babies, admittedly) and yet then go on to say that breastfeeding is not better than bottle feeding. I don't think there is any doubt that breastfeeding is best healthwise for babies, and this is especially shown in prem babies (it helps prevent NEC for a start). The grey area is where Mum's are not happy breastfeeding, as this might mean emotional damage to the Mother, or between Mum and baby could occur, which could outweigh any health benefits. No woman should be forced to breastfeed. It certainly isn't the 'norm' though, far fewer mothers breastfeed when compared to formula feeding, and that is one of the reasons for all the current campaigning. There will of course, always be anecdotal evidence where children were bottle fed and are perfectly healthy, but studies do show overall breastfeeding is better. None of my own children were breastfed for very long (varying reasons, but they all basically amounted to little support, which wasn't available even when I had my youngest 6 years ago) so are really classed as formula fed, but all are exceptionally healthy, even my youngest who has Downs Syndrome and should therefore be prone to coughs/colds/infections. I did still try and breastfeed my daughters though and will try and breastfeed my next baby. Formula feeding doesn't harm babies and it is great that in this country women have a choice. It is just such a shame that any woman would find breastfeeding 'creepy' considering breasts were made for feeding babies, and it's a sad reflection of the society we live in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 I feel I'm right back where I started. I did find it creepy and as it was over twenty years ago, it was nothing to do with the crass society we find ourselves in now. I felt a lot of the emotions of the woman who wrote the article and was pleased to feel I wasn't alone. It probably is hard to understand but I don't think it's a shame, we're just all different. I posted about the article because I thought the shame was that women still seem divided about this issue. There it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I can see why it might feel creepy - I feel a great deal of ownership over my body, and one of the things I disliked about being pregnant was feeling that I had given over control of it and rights over it to someone else (and most of the general public to express opinions on what I did with it, but that's another story!). Although I was sad that Mog weaned herself early, I was also SO relieved that I'd finally reclaimed that last bit of myself. It's peculiar that it's such an emotive subject, but a lot of things to do with babies and child rearing seem to be very tribal. I've always just done what worked for us and what I felt comfortable with, and I suppose I'm biased towards the view that what I do is the 'best' way, but of course it's only the best way for us. Every mother and child and family is different. I never imagined that I would feed Mog from a jar when weaning, but I just don't have the time to cook, and they're super convenient I wasn't sure I'd still be using terries at ten months, but we're still very happy with them. And I certainly never thought I would be so grateful for the Night Garden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbier Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I'm a bit suprised that oen one hand you say breastfeeding has so many benefits (for prem babies, admittedly) and yet then go on to say that breastfeeding is not better than bottle feeding. It's a question of terminology, I think. Breastfeeding an infant is the normal way to feed them. It's only our society and culture that have led to some people thinking otherwise. The health benefits of breastfeeding over formula feed are well known and documented. Other issues, however, may mean that it isn't always "better" for everyone according to individual circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debbier Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I feel I'm right back where I started. I did find it creepy and as it was over twenty years ago, it was nothing to do with the crass society we find ourselves in now. It's not a recent phenomenon. I'm a baby of the sixties, and breastfeeding was very much "out of vogue" then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Speaking as a man (so feel free to exclude me from this topic altogether). I personally feel that breastfeeding is the most natural feed you can provide a baby and although I'm no expert, I would assume it's also the most healthiest feed as it is designed to provide all the nutrition a baby needs (just like a females body provided everything the baby needed when it was in the womb) and it is also what has fed babies for years before formula milk was introduced. I would assume it also enables mother and baby to form a closer bond and it's completely free and always on tap from bacteria free containers so it's convenient, flexible and safe. I understand that there can be some discomfort when they are teething and breasts can become sore, but surely breast milk can then be extracted and bottled as required? So from a mans perspective, all I see is win, win win! I think this is one of those subjects when sometimes choice can be a bad thing, as this wouldn't even be an issue if formulated milk hadn't been invented in some laboratory. However at the end of the day we are now able to make this choice, so all we can hope for is that accurate information and advice is available to enable individual parents to make an informed choice and decide what is best for them and their baby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I'm a bit suprised that oen one hand you say breastfeeding has so many benefits (for prem babies, admittedly) and yet then go on to say that breastfeeding is not better than bottle feeding. It's a question of terminology, I think. Breastfeeding an infant is the normal way to feed them. It's only our society and culture that have led to some people thinking otherwise. The health benefits of breastfeeding over formula feed are well known and documented. Other issues, however, may mean that it isn't always "better" for everyone according to individual circumstances. Again you've said it so much better than me What I meant was I dont take bottle feeding as the standard and then place breastfeeding as this higher thing. To me breastfeeding is the base line and bottle feeding is a stand in. Breastfeeders are made out to look like they think they are better than bottle feeders when most of the time it's not the case. And I have no agenda really as I have done both. The problem I have with the article is that we should be positively encouraging people to breasfeed and not making anyojne feel bad. That article pretty much encourages the reader to think that it is creepy. IF someone finds it creepy then maybe an article can be written in a way as to say you're not alone, it is ok and you're not odd but that particular article was not written in that manner and I think that the deputy editor of a parentling magazine should do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Having said that I don't see why anyone promoting breastfeeding would have an agenda. Theres nothing in it for them unlike formula companies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midori Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I'm a bit suprised that oen one hand you say breastfeeding has so many benefits (for prem babies, admittedly) and yet then go on to say that breastfeeding is not better than bottle feeding. It's a question of terminology, I think. Breastfeeding an infant is the normal way to feed them. It's only our society and culture that have led to some people thinking otherwise. The health benefits of breastfeeding over formula feed are well known and documented. Other issues, however, may mean that it isn't always "better" for everyone according to individual circumstances. Again you've said it so much better than me What I meant was I dont take bottle feeding as the standard and then place breastfeeding as this higher thing. To me breastfeeding is the base line and bottle feeding is a stand in. Breastfeeders are made out to look like they think they are better than bottle feeders when most of the time it's not the case. And I have no agenda really as I have done both. The problem I have with the article is that we should be positively encouraging people to breasfeed and not making anyojne feel bad. That article pretty much encourages the reader to think that it is creepy. IF someone finds it creepy then maybe an article can be written in a way as to say you're not alone, it is ok and you're not odd but that particular article was not written in that manner and I think that the deputy editor of a parentling magazine should do better. I agree with you both. (I have also noticed my typing is appalling... ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 I think this is one of those subjects when sometimes choice can be a bad thing, as this wouldn't even be an issue if formulated milk hadn't been invented in some laboratory Indeed, but then the question would surely be whether or not to employ a wet nurse ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Wet nursing seems to be on the increase actually, though it is not widely talked about. I do know some families where all the sisters will feed each others babies! It can be very confusing for me when I go in to visit as I can't always tell which one i'm supposed to be seeing! Milk banking is more common though it is mainly used for babies in Special Care whilst waiting for the mother's own milk or if she cannot feed (because human milk is better for baby digestion especially premature or sick ones). It relies on mothers who donate their extra milk (needless to say there's a strict health screening process) and is usually free, though it can be bought - IT'S £500 A LITRE!!!!!!!!!! Many mothers are happier for their baby to have human milk rather than cows milk+additives which is what formula is. Goonergirl Congratulations! I would echo what's already been said and make sure you join your local twins club, along with TAMBA (Twins And Multiple Births Association) along with the NCT (National Childbirth Trust). Get all the help you can. My friend is fully breastfeeding her twins who are now 11 months old - she expresses loads of milk so she always has extra in the freezer and other people can help. I'd never say it's easy but it's getting there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Well I felt as though my body had been violated enough and no way was I going to breastfeed. The midwives in Ashford were complete nasty pieces of work - which added fuel to my fire. Basingstoke they were very understanding and not pushy at all. To each their own and as long as I don't see or hear guzzling babies on breasts anywhere near me, as I feel it is a private thing between child and mother and not the general public, fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
migsy Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 . The health benefits of breastfeeding over formula feed are well known and documented. Really - where? I think a lot of the claims are rather misleading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Well I felt as though my body had been violated enough and no way was I going to breastfeed. The midwives in Ashford were complete nasty pieces of work - which added fuel to my fire. Basingstoke they were very understanding and not pushy at all. To each their own and as long as I don't see or hear guzzling babies on breasts anywhere near me, as I feel it is a private thing between child and mother and not the general public, fine. I can understand the point about nasty midwives and reclaiming your body, but sometimes when I took Mog out (when she was completely breastfed) she got starving by the time we were going home and I either had to feed her or let her scream for an hour on the bus. I always fed inside my wrap but I'm sure everyone knew what was going on and you can hear them suck I'm afraid. It's not really a private thing between mother and child, it's a physiological necessity sometimes for them to be fed. I refuse to accept that Imogen being breastfed meant that I should have stayed home in purdah for six months. Sorry. I always tried to bottle feed EBM when I was around people I knew would be uncomfortable, but if you're sat on the bus, baby screaming and "Ooops, word censored!"ody can see your breasts, I think the general public can just live with it IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 . The health benefits of breastfeeding over formula feed are well known and documented. Really - where? I think a lot of the claims are rather misleading. Migsy, don't dare disagree with someone else's view or this topic will get locked and it will ruin it for everyone, just like the supermarket one... I don't know where we would all be without the powers that be controlling and vetting everything we view and say, so much for freedom of speech... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Migsy, don't dare disagree with someone else's view or this topic will get locked and it will ruin it for everyone, just like the supermarket one... I don't know where we would all be without the powers that be controlling and vetting everything we view and say, so much for freedom of speech... The supermarket topic has now been considered and reinstated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
