My brothers and I were born in a small village in China. We were very poor and could not afford formula. So we were all breastfed.
But my mom thinks bc of her poor diet my brother was always hungry. He was tiny and screamed a lot. I think bc of that her views on BFing are a little tainted.
My MIL went straight to formula on all her kids. Don't know why?
Did your mom BF? What's her view on it?
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
Nope! My sisters and I were all formula fed. I don't think it even entered her head to breastfeed. It's a little frustrating now, because she keeps offering to come spend the night and feed the baby, and doesn't understand that I will be the only one who can feed her at first! Ah well.
squash / 13199 posts
@regberadaisy: My mother didnt BF, she used to think that formula was superior to breastmilk but now she understands that in a situation where the mother can breastfeed, breast milk is preferred
clementine / 896 posts
My mom didn't bc my oldest sister and she said it was because everyone told her it was gross. She bf me and my other sister though til we were 5 months. I don't know what made her stop at 5 months both times.
My mom was very supportive of me bf up to 1 year, after a year she thought it was gross or whatever.
FMIL didn't bc at all. No idea why.
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
Yup, my mom BF all five of us, but for various lengths of time (like, around 6 months with my brother, but she had to forcefully wean my little sister at 2 when she was pregnant with my youngest sister). None of us had formula except on the rare occasion that she went out for a few hours without the baby-- we all went right to cow's milk once we stopped BFing.
kiwi / 612 posts
Yes, my mom bf me until 18 months! She is very supportive of me nursing and was crucial in the beginning to help me figure out how to nurse. I'm so thankful for her help!
papaya / 10570 posts
I was talking to my LC about this the other day! She told me that the ladies she sees in our city who have recently settled here from poorer parts of the world, like certain parts of Africa, often *want* to formula feed because they see it as something the rich Westeners do, therefore presume it's waaay better than breast milk!
My mum didn't breastfeed. She didn't want to try it. Even now, she thinks it's disgusting - when I told her I was going to breastfeed she pulled a face like she had eaten something really nasty!!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
She did for the first month, but never produced enough. I think the hosp and dr pushed formula on her back then!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@Cherrybee: yup! That's pretty much the view in China! When we have relatives go back to China they literally buy cases of formula to bring back bc the formula in China is tainted.
pomegranate / 3503 posts
Formula was very popular when we were born so both my sister and I went straight to formula.
pear / 1672 posts
My mother breastfed until at least 6 months (I'm not sure how much longer after that). She encouraged me to do the same.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
Nope my mom had had enough of me being attached to her during her pregnancy she wanted absolutely no part in having me be attached to her via breastfeeding at all.
papaya / 10570 posts
@regberadaisy: Over here in the UK, the amount of pureed baby food and baby milk you can buy in the supermarkets has been limited because people were buying it all up and selling it to China (I don't know how - Ebay maybe??) for extortionate prices and the supermarkets were running out!!
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
I was BF'd. My mom has made uncool comments in the past about women who don't BF. Hey guess who didn't BF and only pumped? ME! Guess who's switching to formula now? Me! Blah.
clementine / 957 posts
No my mom didn't BF either myself or my sister. Formula was the big thing then, and I had allergies to her milk. I think I had a soy type of formula.
I'm not anti-formula, but I will try to BF/pump if possible... formula is expensive!!!
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@Cherrybee: omg I should start a business!!! haha. You can ship it probably?
cherry / 165 posts
Yep. Not sure how long she breastfed my siblings, but I was breastfed til I was 2! I believe at the time though it was sort of the "hippy" thing to do? When she talks about it now, she's really glad she didn't listen to any of her doctors or friends about formula being better.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
Nope, we were both formula fed from the beginning. Same with Wagon Sr. and his brother.
pomegranate / 3768 posts
my mom fed us formula. don't think she even bothered to try breastfeeding because she said back in her generation formula was encouraged!
persimmon / 1165 posts
My Mom BF my brothers and I as long as she could. Usually to four months because that is when her low supply really tanked. I've had low supply issues also and am approaching 4 months with my daughter so I've started taking supplements so that I can hopefully BF until 6 months. And now my daughter is very distracted when I'm nursing, which doesn't help my supply when she gets bored of the boob really quickly!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
She was young when she had my sister and back in the early 80's there was no support for breastfeeding moms so she only made it two months. With my she was able to go 6 months and by the time she had my youngest sister she was well supported and more educated on it and BF for over a year. I know she felt a lot of guilt once we were grown because she wished she had stuck it out 
but the oppression from her family was brutal! I don't know that I could have continued either.
Oh and DH's mom was gung ho on BF (even in the early 80's!) and BF my husband til he was almost two (I think, def 1+)
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
She did. However, based on all the BF threads I don't think she did it for as long as she would like me to believe. I never saw a breast pump and recall my brother receiving formula bottles as a little baby.
pomelo / 5628 posts
I think it was really regional back ten (early 80's). My mom bf'd me in 1980 in Iowa for a year and my sister in '83 in CA. She never though twice about it. But none of her current friends bf'd their kids. They were all in CA.
watermelon / 14206 posts
My mom breast fed all of us, but not for very long. She gave up by 3 months on all of us.
My MIL went straight to formula.
pomelo / 5820 posts
Nope, she only used formula. She said she had no desire to breastfeed my brother or I; it didn't appeal to her. She has been pretty negative about me breastfeeding, which I was a little surprised by. She doesn't understand why I'm breastfeeding, and she thinks I should just use formula. I would use formula if I needed to use it, but bf isn't really a problem, so I'm sticking with it. I think she just thinks I should do everything like she did! (No thanks, haha).
clementine / 899 posts
Mum didn't breastfeed. But not for a lack of trying! I don't think I would latch on, or something of the like. I can't remember right now. I was also a very colicky baby.
I'm not sure if she even tried with my sibling. Might have just gone straight to formula.
I think she's pro-BF. But only for the first few months. My aunt BFed her kids 'til they were well over a year and Mum thought it was disgusting that her kids were coming up to her and pulling on her boob to whip it out for some "nums".
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
My mom did, for all three of her children, but my little brother had some other issues that made it a real struggle, so at 3 months, he went to formula.
My MIL formula fed all 4 of her children, because of oversupply.
GOLD / wonderful pea / 17697 posts
My mom EBF me and my youngest (older) brother and did a combo of BFing and FFing with the twins.
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
My mom BF all of us for a short period of time. I think maybe three months or so?
persimmon / 1420 posts
My mom EBF me for a while (10 months?) as I refused a bottle. She tried to pump, but she had a crummy little hand pump that didn't do much, and I refused bottles on top of it, so she just nursed. She BF my sister, but my sister ended up getting formula much sooner because my mom had a screamy 2 year old on top of it (whoops...).
pomegranate / 3895 posts
Nope, I was strictly formula fed. For some reason my mum had no interest in trying to BF. In fact, it seems like she was always kind of against BF...I don't know why.
I EBF and she keeps asking how long before I switch to formula. When I tell her I plan to BF for a year she rolls her eyes at me. I think she may feel like my choosing to BF is somehow a judgment of her choice to FF.
papaya / 10473 posts
My mom BF'ed both me and my sister for 2 years each. I never knew that until I was pregnant! She said she was too much of a softie to wean us at a year, and neither of us would ever take a bottle. We weaned straight to regular cups.
MIL FF'ed DH and thinks breastfeeding is gross and inconvenient. She also thinks its some conspiracy on my part to keep her from staying over very long or from babysitting... Lol
hostess / papaya / 10219 posts
Yep 13 months with my brother and 9 months with me (she was working when she had me and had trouble with pumping as all she had was a manual pump). She's very supportive and really loved it.
My MIL did with her first but with DH she stopped at 3 weeks because he doctor told her the baby was failing to thrive and she had to stop. He wasn't gaining and was constantly spitting up tons. We now suspect he had a milk protein intolerance like DS, but her doctor didn't know what that was. She said the dr. made her feel like there was something wrong with her milk.
cantaloupe / 6800 posts
My older sister was formula fed from birth, I was breastfed for 6 weeks but my mom said I didn't react well to spicy food and apparently she was on a Mexican food kick, so she quit haha.
Both DH and his older sister were given formula from birth
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