More Evidence For Direct Breastfeeding

[@llli*amysmom]

The other thing is to change our thought processes about bottlefeeding. There are so many "rules" you'll hear when you have a bottlefed baby, kind of like there are with nursing moms (you know, the ones that make us go ).

I had to learn how to bottlefeed a baby with Gavin. And instead of following the bottlefed baby rules, I decided to treat him like a BF baby who is nursing. So, if he wants to eat, he gets fed. If he doesn't finish it, OK, you can have it again later, and I use the remnants at the next feeding. Sometimes, that means he eats every hour, sometimes it's more like what people think a bottlefed baby should eat like, every 2-4 hours. I don't encourage him to finish, and I don't restrict him either.

I kind of think a lot of the bottlefeeding rules are NOT of the benefit of the baby, but for the benefit of the caregiver, and because most babies are fed formula, which has different handling rules than BM. I spend a LOT of time messing with these stupid bottles and I'm sure it would be easier if I were giving formula.

Sorry. Probably totally off topic. But I think if bottles better imitated nursing, and bottlefeeding imitated breastfeeding on demand principles, breastfeeding long term might be easier for many moms who have to be separated from their babies for work purposes.

Think about it though - have you ever heard of a bottle fed baby being fed every hour? Other than Gavin of course. If the bottles didn't continue to allow flow without active sucking, you couldn't over feed. We've been there, in the middle of the night and we think the baby should nurse more. We tickle their feet, we unwrap them from the blankets, but if they're done, they're done. We can't make them actively nurse. With a bottle you can, because there's still milk going in, they have no choice but to swallow.

Instituting a "BF approach" on a FF Mom and baby (and caregivers) would be wonderful - but wow, what another uphill battle.

[@llli*katia11]

True all that. I always wondered why FF babies get faster flow bottles. Shouldn't they be allowed to regulate themselves too? I think I remember reading somewhere too that the AAP now only recommends a max of 6 oz of formula at a time, not that anyone seems to follow that :rolleyes

My bottles you can hold upside down and nothing will come out. So it isn't so bad.

I will admit though that while I don't encourage him to finish, I don't give him more when it is done unless he REALLY needs it.

I love the idea of making bottlefeeding less of a schedule. It annoys me so much when my dad is like "when does he get a bottle?" "umm, when he's hungry?"

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Think about it though - have you ever heard of a bottle fed baby being fed every hour? Other than Gavin of course. If the bottles didn't continue to allow flow without active sucking, you couldn't over feed. We've been there, in the middle of the night and we think the baby should nurse more. We tickle their feet, we unwrap them from the blankets, but if they're done, they're done. We can't make them actively nurse. With a bottle you can, because there's still milk going in, they have no choice but to swallow.

Instituting a "BF approach" on a FF Mom and baby (and caregivers) would be wonderful - but wow, what another uphill battle.

I think part of the reason I was able to do it, actually, was the type of feeder I have. I can change the way the milk comes out. It can be easy, where every little sucking motion gets milk, or it can be hard, where nothing comes out.

But yeah, changing the whole scheduled mentality that people have in general and making them follow baby's cue...sure. That will be easy. Not so much. I hate that our society makes babies fit THEM and not fit the BABY. Like having a baby is going to be convinient.

True all that. I always wondered why FF babies get faster flow bottles. Shouldn't they be allowed to regulate themselves too? I think I remember reading somewhere too that the AAP now only recommends a max of 6 oz of formula at a time, not that anyone seems to follow that :rolleyes

My bottles you can hold upside down and nothing will come out. So it isn't so bad.

I will admit though that while I don't encourage him to finish, I don't give him more when it is done unless he REALLY needs it.

I love the idea of making bottlefeeding less of a schedule. It annoys me so much when my dad is like "when does he get a bottle?" "umm, when he's hungry?"

'Zactly. But your bottle might drip if there's any pressure on it at all. Does that make sense?

[@llli*durhamgrrl]

I did a lot of "bottle nursing" DS. He was a bf baby so he nursed when he wanted but for him nursing meant nurse-bottle-nurse. And I did bls and didn't push him to eat (ever seen a 18mo getting formula before). I have often wondered how much of the benefit of bf is the milk and how much the nurturing which is necessary to sustain a good breast feeding relationship. Because i really truly feel it is about more than the milk. The milk is super important, but so is the nurturing, the skin on skin contact, the having to drop everything to give your baby what it needs, the snuggles etc, etc. And all that is possible with a bottle. There is probably more to it as well. Maybe I am just rationalizing because I couldn't ebf DS.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Well, if you are rationalizing, I am too. Because I totally believe the same thing. There's way, way more to BFing than the milk. Yes, that's part of it. Yes, it helps kids learn when they are full and helps them avoid health problems. But I think it's the lifestyle that most BFing moms adopt that helps, and yes, I totally believe it could be done with a bottle too...I'm doing my best to do so.

ETA: although, do I believe that a mom who could nurse and chooses to EP is possibly doing a disservice to herself and her baby? Yep. There's a difference to me between having to pump and feed versus choosing to pump and never nurse. The first is making the best out of a bad situation. The second is taking an ideal situation and making it second rate.

[@llli*bxlgirl]

ETA: although, do I believe that a mom who could nurse and chooses to EP is possibly doing a disservice to herself and her baby? Yep. There's a difference to me between having to pump and feed versus choosing to pump and never nurse. The first is making the best out of a bad situation. The second is taking an ideal situation and making it second rate.

Agreed

[@llli*zorkycharlemagne]

I dislike the bottle so much. While I am at work, my LO's sitter (which is also is grandma) will feed him SO much when he is not that hungry. She thinks that just because he is gumming the nipple (and NOT sucking) that he MUST be hungry still and rushes to the fridge to get more milk.

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

Here is the study in its entirety

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...0/?tool=pubmed