To breastfeed or to NOT breastfeed. That is my ?

Ok so I would like to know everyone's opinion. Does it really help with weight lost and will your breasts sag if you do it? What are the other pros and cons?

how about the health of the child?  usually that's counted as a "pro."

In my opinion there really is no question.  It helps greatly with cost, post baby weight loss, health of child, bonding, health of your breast, ect.

I will be one milk making machine come December!

if you can breast feed, it's the best thing for the baby.

AND from what i hear you burn 500 extra calories per day while breastfeeding.

If you can breastfeed; breastfeed.  The "girls" will be fine.  It's healthier for the baby; and it secretes hormones to shrink your utuerus after birth thus speeding up the retun of the flatter tummy if we are talking about vanity here.

And, as you progress in your pregnancy; you will start thinking for the baby; and how to care for him/her the best possible way. 

It's also way more economical.  And it's an amazing bonding tool for you and baby.  If you don't want to do it for a whole year; at least try for the first three months.

hmm, healthier kid or not having saggy breasts...what's more important to me?

more intelligent kid, too, according to a fairly recent study.

your boobs will sag just as much whether u breast feed or not. its because they get bigger not breastfeeding wont make them not sag

It definitely helps with losing the extra "baby weight", and it is a very very good thing for the baby's health.

Highly recommended to breastfeed exclusively for at least six months.

Defintely breastfeed.  It doesn't matter if you do or don't, your breasts are going to change regardless.  Besides, breastfeeding is the ONLY way to go.  All the crap that they put in the formula is garbage.  And people wonder why babies get collic?  DUH.  You just have to pay attention to what you eat as sometimes it will affect the baby, ie gassy foods might give him/her gas.  Picking up a book on breastfeeding is a good idea.  I dropped my baby weight very quickly when I breastfed.  I was hungry all the time and ate small meals when the baby ate (a banana, apple ,etc.)  Good Luck.

Breastfeed. It's the best gift you can give your baby not to mention that it will help save a ton of money (not having to buy formula) and will help the two of you bond. I personally don't think that there is a choice -- if you have enough milk, breastfeed for as long as it works for you and your baby. They say that even just a few weeks of breastmilk gives the child a significant advantage in terms of antibodies, iron and other fundamental benefits.

I lost almost all of my pregancy weight with breastfeeding. And was eating normally and could even indulge every once and a while. I have a friend who found it difficult to lose weight until she stopped breastfeeding. Your boobs will sag (or not) regardless of the breatfeeding, although if they are already sagging before breastfeeding the breastfeeding won't help them.

Congratulations by the way :)

Breastfeed!

 I breast fed my daughter and she slept all night she was happy and giggly and was (and still is rarely ever sick) and now at age 11 she is still as she always has been a straight A student! Also it is cheaper which is a plus especially with food prices these days! You won't be sorry!

PS My boobs didn't sag at all!

I breastfed all three of my children and my breasts did not "sag" (and still don't!).  I nursed my daughter (the third child) until she was two years old.  Overall, even if your breasts do change (and they will, whether you breast feed or not), it is much, much healthier for the baby than formula.  (Not to mention cheaper!!)  Good luck and God bless!

WOW! Thanks to everyone. I never really thought about it but now I think I will definitely breastfeed, for as long as I can. I do want my baby to be as healthy as possible. I'm a little concerned about the leaking but I know there are inserts that can be used, right. You are so right. I'm gonna need the extra money saved from not having to buy formula.

I breastfed both of my girls until they were a year old and they grew up to be very healthy adults with very few problems.  One of my two kids also has perfect teeth alignment too. They never had a bottle. 

Now, leaking - that is really only a problem early one [or it was for me - at the beggining they would let down and could shoot milk a good 5 feet but as the babies got a little older things got more under control.  I just used small pads.

It is a time when I would NOT worry too much about weight loss - really I chose NOT to burn fat / loose weight when I breastfed because I did not want the toxins that were stored in my body fats to get released into the bloodstream and to into my babies. It was a tough decision but getting them optimal nutrition was more important than weight loss.

I cannot imagine NOT doing it but I was able to stay with my kids and did not have to pump milk.  When I saw the expense and all that trouble with bottles it added.  If you are going to do it, start toughening your nipples now - finding a local la leche league would be good. [but be prepared for culture shock- some folks breastfeed for Waaaaaay long ] - - -  oh we also did cloth diapers and saved a lot of money and waste.

Absolutely breastfeed if you can.  The number-one benefit is health:  both for the baby and for you. 

The second benefit is bonding with your newborn, and having a powerful way to comfort and reassure your child.  Our pediatrician let me breastfeed both my babies immediately following their immunizations, which was a blessing, and come to think of it, I also nursed my newborn son immediately following his circumcision.

Some other reasons:

money... 'nuff said.

weight loss... ditto.  (I actually lost ALL my baby weight within two weeks of birth both times, but I also was pretty overweight pre-pregnancy, so that might be unhelpful for comparison.)

convenience... I never had to warm a bottle in the middle of the night while a baby was crying, and sometimes I almost fell asleep during those 3 a.m. feedings -- at least I was certainly more comfortable than if I would have had to hold up a bottle and a baby propped up.

washing dishes... When my babies started drinking from bottles (when I went back to work), I learned what a drag it was to wash 5 or more bottles every day -- all those little parts.  Not to mention that with all the BPA warnings these days it would be reassuring to avoid constant exposure to plastic with newborn infants.  Of course, even when I was feeding my babies exclusively breastmilk, eventually I had to return to work and use bottles and wash breastpump parts... but I realized what a pain it would have been to do that from Day One!

laundry... When I weaned my babies (earlier than I would have liked, but that's a different story) and started them on formula, I found out that spit-up formula stains are terrible to get out, whereas spit-up breastmilk was no big deal in the laundry.

baby pickiness... Babies who are formula-fed have essentially identical feedings for months before they are introduced to food.  Babies who are breastfed have feedings that varies slightly each time, based upon the food the mother is eating, exercise, etc.  According to what I've read (and this was true with my own children), breastfed babies generally have a wider range of tastes that they like and also they develop a taste for vegetables, etc., that their mothers take in.

Not to say that there aren't struggles.  My personal nemesis was pumping when I went back to work.  I think if I have a third child I will try to find a way to stay home for a full year (instead of just 8 or 12 weeks) to encourage myself further to keep up breastfeeding.

And, having said all this, I want to encourage you to try breastfeeding even if it IS a struggle, or even if you cannot do it exclusively.  Giving your child even one or two feedings of breastmilk a day is of immeasurable benefit.  So if things are becoming difficult, try to at least continue a couple nursing sessions a day -- just because someone might have to supplement with formula doesn't mean all the feedings have to be formula.

Oh!  One more note:  someone mentioned leaking... I personally always had to use nursing pads, especially at work, but my sister never had to after the first few days.  I've also learned from friends that some of them never had a problem either.  I think it differs person to person, so you may find that it's not a worry for you!

Congrats on your pregnancy, and many blessings to you and your little one!

From what I've heard it has more to do with genetics and breast care(ie wearing good bras etc) whether or not they will get saggy.

When i get pregnant(not any time soon) I definitely plan on breastfeeding, the mother child bond is soooo important.

Wow! Thanks you guys for supporting this mother in waiting.  I breast fed my one and only for 3 years 8 months of his life. It was very worth it for myself and my DS. Just two weeks after weaning he told me my milk just didn't taste good anymore LOL. 

Go Visit your local La Leche League. They will help you in 9 months. 

As everyone here has pointed out, there are a number of benefits for both you and baby in breastfeeding.  So if you can and it all works out, do so for as long as you can.

But, I want to present you with my experience, just so you are aware of what may be involved.

I planned on breastfeeding for at least 6 months, but hoped to do it for a year, I learned as much about it as possible, and when my beautiful daughter arrived, I went for it full force.  Unfortunately for me and her, it just didn't work.  And believe me, I tried, and I persisted for 3 months.  I was seen by a lactation consultant for the entire first week of my daughters  life, and then once a week after that.  But, my daughter just wouldn't latch properly no matter what I or they did to facilitate the situation.  For the first month+, my nipples would bleed and the pain was excrutiating.  I would dread every feed.  But... I persisted, they kept telling me it would get easier.  Unfortunately, in the first week, I got a horrible case of mastitis, but made it through that, but then got it in the other breast at 3 weeks, and this resulted in a serious reduction in my milk supply in that side.  After the second round of mastitis, I spent two days with my daughter constantly attached to my breast and howling in hunger whenever she would come off.  When I took her to the early childhood centre here, they weighed her and her weight had dropped by almost a pound in the course of 3 days, she had never been a fast gainer in the first place, after taking her home when she was born, we almost had to return to the hospital because she initially lost a significant amount of weight prior to my milk fully coming in, but once my milk came in, she did gain slowly, so having her lose so much in such a short time was very worrying.  I was forced to put her on formula supplements because I just wasn't producing enough for her.  In the meantime, I spent so much of my time with the feedings and trying to rebuild my supply.  My feeding sessions would be breastfeed, bottle, pump to build supply.  An hour to two hours later, repeat.  I was so disheartened, and felt like such a failure because I couldn't do something that was so natural.  The lactation consultant even put me on some medication to try to improve my supply.  While I was able to rebuild it to some extent, it all just became too much, and after 3 months of this, I decided it was time to switch to bottles, I was stressed, did not enjoy breastfeeding, and was not able to really concentrate on my baby the way she deserved.  Let me tell you, the guilt I felt was horrible and I would want to cry when I saw people breastfeed their babies so easily, BUT, I was FINALLY able to fully enjoy my baby.  I never felt that my bond with her was effected by having to bottle feed (I always held her close while bottle feeding), nor does she have any issues with allergies, sicknesses, etc, and she is quite advanced for her age in many areas. 

I am not writing this to scare you away from breastfeeding, like I said before, IF I could have, I would have, BUT I want you to be aware that in some cases, it JUST doesn't work (I have a friend whose milk never came in).  If I had to go back, I think I would have given up earlier as it made for quite a stressful 3 months, BUT, I would also TRY to breastfeed again in the future. 

As for leaking, my breasts rarely leaked, only when my milk first came in and when I weaned.  It did not do ANYTHING with respect to helping me lose.  I have noticed with my friends who have breastfed, when it comes to weight loss, for some it help tremendously, and for others, it does nothing.  Yes, my breast sag more now than they did before, but as someone else pointed out, thats part of pregnancy and will happen whether or not you breastfeed. 

I truely hope that for everyone on here who will be having a baby soon and plans to breastfeed that you don't go through the difficulties I did.  In the end, go for it, and see how it goes.  I recommend sticking with it for at least 6 weeks as that is the time period where they get the most benefits to their immunity (in particular, those first few days when you are only producing colostrum before your milk comes in are probably the MOST important).   The longer you can do it, the better for both mom and baby. 

hi there,

I have two children. With my older son, I tried to nurse and it just didn't work. When I had my 2nd, I figured I'd give it a shot, but my expectations were very low. The 2nd time around was much easier, proving that each child, pregnancy, etc is very different.

I won't go into to pros/cons of it. Like everything else, there are many of both and it is all subjective. As for the weight loss, I have an interesting story. My birth weight was 175. With in a month, I was down below 150 and in button jeans! I ate ice cream every night and continued to lose. By 3 months the baby and I had settled into quite a comfortable routine. Unfortunately, he started to cut teeth and nursing was very painful for him so I brought a bottle in temporarily (so I thought). Once he realized how much easier a bottle was vs nursing, the boobs were out. I was okay with it and really never gave it another thought. My take was that we had 4 great months of bonding, which I was unsuccessful with my first child. 

Like I said, never gave it another thought until I couldn't fit into my button jeans, then my skirts were tight, then I had no tops that fit. Bottom line, he stopped nursing, but I forgot to stop eating as if I were still burning all those calories. Now, I am 175. So, yes, for me, nursing burned a ton of calories and I lost a ton of weight fast.

As for the sagging, after children, they will sag no matter what.

Good luck

with my first baby girl i planned on bfing but i never knew for how long just that i was going to do it.

in the hosp she was losing to much so they had me supplement w/ formula, which she took to breast bottle and paci just great- so others always assisted in feedings although she was mostly breastfeed she did well if had to have the bottle which was a nice relief. i ended up bfing her till she was almost a year old and i got really sick w/ the flu and decided to wean her then.

now i have a 5 month old who loves breastfeeding but hates pacifiers and bottles. he thinks those are for chewing on not sucking- but w/ a trip comin up i have to pump for him and he will be fed from the bottle so that kind of sucks b/c i HAVE to get him to take it.

i dont know why us breastfeeding moms feel this need to only fully breastfeed but we do- i will give him formula if needed but that has been like twice only- but i plan to breastfeed and pump for his bottles basically until he is a year as well but i stay home with him whereas w/ my girl i went back to work.

but breastfeeding is so wonderful and if u ONLY breastfeed great but if u SUPPLEMENT thats great too- whats best for baby is him/her being healthy.

i ask for all people to at least try bfing if it works - AWESOME!!