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I was mostly dreading it.

Luckily we didn't have any major issues. I still didn't enjoy it for most of the time I did it (a year) but I was being stubborn and wanted to make the goal. Also the money saved not having to buy formula was a lot! I like to remind DH about that sometimes.

It is hard being the only one to be able to feed. We gave pumped bottles, but not in the middle of the night. I think it caused resentment someone's but luckily my husband is great and did things like bath and bedtime every night to make up for it.

Good luck. Whatever you go with is right for you!

I hated it at first. I remember looking at mom magazines and resenting the people smiling at their babies while nursing. I persevered because I am tenacious. It ended up being one of the best things in my life, for LO, our relationship, and me. I thought anyone who was even okay with it was lying. But it got better, then it became worth it. I was determined for medical reasons, but ending up ...yes... loving it eventually, but I wouldn't have believed myself when I first started. It took awhile!

Financially it was the best choice for us, and I understand the worry about your husband making a connection to your little one, but in the end, you have to make the decision that's right for you.

I"ve known a lot of woman who nurse AND use formula, that way others can feed baby without you needing to pump. Consider tis option!

Before I gave birth I was not looking forward to breastfeeding at all. I honestly didn't really want to and kind of felt pressured into it by everyone. In the end I figured I'll give it my best shot and if it doesn't work out oh well.

Strangely.....I really ended up loving it. I won't lie, I didn't love it immediately and we definitely had some bumps in the road. Its quite painful in the beginning, but once we got past it, I felt such an intense bond with my daughter. I just weaned her recently at 17 months old. If you had asked me when I was pregnant, I NEVER would have imagined I'd nurse for that long.

Good luck and do whatever works best for your family. I think a happy mom is more important than the kind of milk baby drinks.

I'm not going to say anything negative about breastfeeding but wanted to add (as someone who tried it and it just didn't work for me /my family), don't feel bad if you try it and realize it isn't for you. My (and many other) formula fed baby is thriving and is beating milestones. So it isn't a big deal if you decide it really just isn't right for you.

ETA: you are right that there are a lot of pros to breastfeeding. But it is not the end all, be all of child nutrition. Formula also has a lot of pros and there is no wrong choice so long as baby is fed and mama is sane.

Take the pressure off yourself and combo feed. Even if you give your baby some breastmilk it will give your baby benefits. Once your supply regulates you can pump maybe twice during the work day or just not pump and nurse mornings and evenings and nights and formula feed during the work day. The boob is a pacifier in a way so having it as an option to whip out when the baby is fussy helps. But I won't lie the first 3 weeks is really hard and then they say try for 6 weeks, then 12. My supply was finally established at 12 weeks and I was able to move to 4 hour stretches between pumps.

I combo fed and it was totally the right choice for us and we moved to formula totally by 9.5 months. My son is healthy and hardly sick and totally fine. I will not hesitate to combo feed again for #2, although I'm hoping it's a little easier this go around.

I wanted to nurse my child but didn't necessarily feel super passionate about it I guess. I did end up really enjoying it though.

My second LO is 7 weeks old and I find I like parts of it more the second time around (and parts are still annoying, but the good outweighs the bad for me).

I wouldn't overthink it too much. You will either like it or not, so have some formula on backup. Or, maybe just nurse on leave and not have to deal with pumping when you go back to work. I would seriously do whatever makes you happiest. I will say nursing does make things uneven with DH, but I'm OK with it, it's short term, and there is something truly awesome about the bond and comfort of nursing. For me at least, it's not for all, but you will know after a couple weeks if its worth it to you.

Sorry, I'm rambling... Just do you.

I went into it thinking I'd FF but I gave BFing a shot in the hospital. It ended up working well despite a few complications (mostly LO's reflux) and I really enjoyed it. I supplemented with formula once I went back to work and we switched to formula entirely around 9-10 months. Even pumping, which I dreaded while pregnant and before I went back to work, wasn't that bad. Because I was open to formula originally I didn't really experience any of the guilt - overall I just had a positive experience BFing and I'm glad I tried it.

It was really important to me to BF... for health reasons, the bonding, etc. etc. That being said, now that I am at 3 months EBF, I think my #1 favorite thing about BFing that was not really on my radar that much is the convenience. I am so sleep deprived and never have time to do anything that I cannot imagine having to prep bottles, washing, all the extra work! I just feed the baby. For me anyway, once I was able to get past the first few weeks of difficulty/some pain - and it is a steep learning curve- it's SO easy and convenient. I know this isn't the case for everyone, though.

Not exactly the question you asked, but my answer is that I didn't want to, so I didn't. I researched a lot, told myself I would for months, then realized, no I'm following my gut that our life will be better if I don't force myself to do something I don't want to due to fear of judgement. No regrets.

I think that you will make whatever choice feels right to you. I completely flipped flopped back and forth about the whole thing. The bonding seemed really appealing but I wasn't so sold.

At first I bf, pumped, and supplemented with formula as DS had weight gain issues. Because I didn't feel strongly about bf'ing I wasn't commuting to pumping during the night and my supply never really established. Also DS developed reflux but we had to eliminate dairy allergy and I definitely wasn't commuted enough to do an elimination diet, so that's when we made a complete switch to formula.

With that said I noticed that the reflux wasn't as bad when he did have the breastmilk. My supply never was established enough to feed him 100%. So if I knew ahead that breastmilk would've made a difference I would've tried harder to stick with it. It sort of is the only thing I regret. I will make a greater effort to bf my next baby.

I never seriously considered using formula. Pretty much all of my friends breastfed, and I just assumed I would, too.

I never *loved* breastfeeding, but my kid sure did. I had this very anti-formula idea in my head, and it never went away, so I breastfed out of stubbornness. I never even researched formula; I just generally dislike the idea of processed food, and formula seemed like an extension of that. (I realize this is a completely irrational view, and I definitely don't judge formula feeders. I just couldn't get comfortable with the idea for myself.)

I did a lot of pumping at first because my son had a very painful-for-me latch for about eight weeks. I really hated pumping, and it ultimately made me grateful for nursing because it is equipment-free. Getting up in the middle of the night was, for me, waaaaaay easier to tolerate when I could keep the lights off and remain half asleep during the feed while sitting peacefully in the glider. Hooking up to a pump in the middle of the night felt horrible. I imagine formula feeding is similar since you have to prep a bottle, but I never did it.

I loved the fact that I could take the baby anywhere with just a few diapers and a change of clothes and not worry about having the right supplies to feed him. I like traveling light.

I did get exhausted and stressed out from being the baby's only food source for so long. Even if you are apart from your baby for a feed, you still need to pump, so you never truly get a break for more than a couple of hours.

To be honest, I think the combination feeders are the smartest. (I never tried that, but I assume it's best to wait a couple of months to introduce combination feeding because you would need to establish your supply.) That seems like the best way to capture the benefits and conveniences of both breast- and formula feeding. Maximum flexibility while retaining the benefits of giving your baby breastmilk.

If I have a second child, I will probably attempt another EBF baby because I will still have the same stubborn streak. But the demands of juggling two kids plus a full time job may make that an even more unrealistic goal then before.

I would say keep an open mind (about all of your options.) I wasn't super excited about BFing but decided to give it a shot- turns out we did have issues, I didn't love it - and that's okay. I thought I would formula feed full time but I'm actually one of those weird people who enjoys pumping never thought I would be an EPer by choice, but here I am pumping for my second child and using formula if I need to supplement.

There are lots of ways to feed your child - you might fall in love with BFing like a lot of women do, you might enjoy the cost effectiveness of pumping, you might love the flexibility of formula feeding... Take each day at a time and see what works best for you and your baby. Good luck!

BF never appealed to me, ever. I did, however, want to give it a shot due to its many touted benefits. So, I did. It was not easy in the beginning. We had a lot of latch issues and I resented that I was the only one who had to get up motn to feed (in my DH's defense, he always offered to get up and give LO a bottle).... long story short, I never felt a magical bond during BF. In fact, I loved giving LO bottles bc I could actually look at him whereas when he was nursing I couldn't really look into his eyes much.
It just so happened that LO weaned himself at 6 months (my goal was anywhere from 6-12 months)- I really don't think it was a "nursing strike," but rather an actual self-weaning. And you know what? I was much happier after he did. He was already sttn by month 5, so motn wakeups weren't an issue. It's just that by the time he was 6 months, I was ready to have my body back and not worry about what clothes I could wear that would allow easy nursing, etc etc. Life got easier for me at that point. We're one and done, but if I was to have another, I probably wouldn't even make it to 6 months.

Since you haven't even done it yet, I'd keep an open mind. I Didn't feel strongly about it either before I did it. Now at 21 months and 13 weeks pregnant I'm kind of over it but keep going because it's important to my daughter. You may end up loving it or hating it, you won't know until you try. Good luck!

Following!

I thought I would BF my son until a year, and had no intention of formula feeding. Well, he had a really shallow latch and after a series of setbacks I found breastfeeding to be so challenging. I started supplementing due to lack of weight gain at 8 weeks. We muddled through until 6 months when he really started to drop off in weight percentiles. Breastfeeding and pumping were much, MUCH harder than I expected and I never liked it. At 6 months I cut down to only BFing in the morning and before bed. I did that for 2 more months and then we quit. And frankly I feel like we were both so much happier after that. I'm currently pregnant with our second and breastfeeding is one of my biggest stressors going into it. I definitely am going to try, but I will be easier on myself this time.

I think breastfeeding is a wonderful thing, and I have lots of friends who have continued well past 12 months. However, after my personal experience I have really come to understand that it's just not for every parent/child. There shouldn't be any judgement in the breastfeeding v formula debate; we're all just doing our best!

Aww that's great! I'm really enjoying it too!

@desertdreams88 yeah! So happy for you mama!