There isn't any reason why you shouldn't breast feed your baby. I was scared at first about it but once we got the hang of it we were fine. We had a hard time the first couple of days but we are doing great now.

What you eat isn't much of a factor. I have seen any difference weather or not I eat spicy foods or foods that would make her gassy. I haven't changed what I eat at all. As far as drinking, unless you are planning on getting trashed everynight then you will be ok. I'll have a glass to two of wine or a beer or too and still breast feed her.

I can't help you with the late night feedings. I am a single mother so I have to get up anyway. I dont' mind, its wonderful.

While you are in the hospital the nurses will help you learn how to breast feed. Your baby will know what to do and your baby will probibly do better with you. It may or may not be painful, my cousin and her new baby are doing just fine and it's not painful to her. It was a little painful to me but after a few weeks we were doing great. If you can get past the pain you'll be fine. Trust me the pain will go away.

You are going to have to plan your days around your baby for the rest of your life in order to do what is best for your baby. I think that you should at least try to breast feed and if you can't then you can't.

As far as the transition .Melia has had no problem going back and forth. Melia has only had a bottle 4-5 times and it was breast milk. I want what's best for my baby and breast feeding is what is best. If your baby is hungry she/he will eat. Don't worry about that. Melia will not take a bottle from me, but she will take it from my mom, dad, anyone else but me. On me she can smell the milk and won't take the bottle at all.

It's your choice. But assuming that my baby would use like 2 of those cans of formula a week I have saved like $330.00 in the last 12 weeks. So it's been wonderful...As well as the bonding between my baby and i.

So please consider trying. It's a wonderful experience.

Even if you only nurse her for 6 weeks, she will get so much benefit from your milk. Those first six weeks are important!

A lactation consultant should visit you at the hospital before you leave. If one doesn't, ask to see one. They will teach you how to get your baby to latch on correctly. It will take a few days at home to teach the little one (they're so desperate to suck that they'll grab onto anything) and your nipples will be sensitive, but that fades so quickly. The key is to not give up. I wanted to give up so badly when .Alyvia was nursing, but I kept at it, and we've been doing it successfully and exclusively for almost 9 weeks now.

As long as you try to drink milk and eat protein (meat), you should be okay. But continue taking prenatal vitamins, and try to limit or cut out alcohol for those first six weeks. Another thing that'll probably help you eat a little more healthy will be your post-pregnancy body. At least, it helped *me*!

The beautiful thing about late-night feedings when you're breastfeeding is that you don't have to fool around with making a bottle. You just get the baby and pop your boob out. I've had my husband get out of bed and bring her to me, and .I've nursed her in bed using the side-lying position and taken a mini-nap while she eats.

If you decide not to, you're not a bad mother. And it's okay if you and your little one can't get breastfeeding down. A lot of mothers can't. But if you can do it, please do, at least until you return to work. Every little bit counts!

Even if you do decide to bottle feed I would strongly recommend you at least ensure your baby gets your colostrum, which is the milk you produce for the first few days after giving birth. It is packed full of goodies that will really really benefit your little one.

I breastfed for 10 weeks and then switched to bottle feeding and my son took to a bottle straight away with no hassle. It was probably because he was so hungry though as the reason I gave up was because I was no longer producing enough milk.

Breastfeeding did not hurt me at all by the way and I was absolutely gutted to give it up so early.

Thanks so much for all the replies.
I am seriously considering it now.
My friend bought a 250 dollar pump and couldn't breastfeed. She's giving it to me to use, so I don't have to worry about that.
Thanks again.
I'll let ya'll know what happens.

That's the thing about first babies. None of use knows anything! Those little babies are teaching us how to be parents.

No one knows how to breast feed at first - not even the baby! Few people take classes - if you can find them, that is. It is the same with discipline and various other life experiences - you just have to live them to learn them.

If you feel strongly either way, then go with your feelings.

It's not much easier 2nd time 'round either!!

Breastfeed for as long as you and the baby are enjoying it, or for as long as it's working for you.

From experience- breastfeeding is easier in terms of getting things ready, carrying stuff around when you are out, keeping stuff sterile etc etc- bottle feeding has lots of accompanying "jobs"

it is nice to have a little sleep in bed or on the couch next to your baby while he/she feeds. Both you and baby will learn how to do it in most cases, within a few days.

Your partner can take the odd night feed, either using your expressed milk, or a formula feed- whatever's easy.
Either way, introduce a bottle sometime between 3-6 weeks- too much earlier, and you risk nipple confusion, too much later, and the baby might be "addicted" to you, and will refuse a bottle.
I introduced a bottle too early with my second- I decided i'd do a night bottle and get a sporting chance of 6 hours unbroken sleep a night.
I started giving the night bottle from about day 3, it worked like a charm, but my baby preferred the ease of the free flowing milk from the bottle to working away at my breast.
I finally gave in and swapped to bottle after 3 months of trying to sneak a breastfeed into her while she was asleep, while I was walking around, using nipple guards so she would'nt feel the difference between teat and nipple, but she was never fooled!!!

Expressing and giving breastmilk in a bottle is really hard to maintain in the long term.
It has all of the disadvantages of both, with none of the advantages of either, except, your baby is getting breast milk.

That's what I found anyway.
Baby is happy if mummy is happy. No good giving breastmilk if it's making you miserable.