Ok, I hope it's okay that I'm posting this here. I think I will get the most variety of answers here to hopefully help me make my decision. I don't want to start a debate about which is better. What I want is to hear from other moms that have done both or either about their experiences and how they feel it has/hasn't affected their children's health.
Here is why. I nursed Dominic for 4 and a half months and I hate to say it but it was a terrible experience for all of us. It was not at all pleasant and enjoyable partially because it was so painful in the beginning and then partially because no matter how many supplements I took I simply did not produce enough of a supply to fully satisfy Dom and he would cry and cry after nursing because he was still hungry and it just wasn't coming. It got to the point where I was taking multiple supplements recommended by my doctor and pumping every 15-30 minutes when not around Dom to try to build my supply. However his appetite was just too big (I'm talking at 4 months often eating as much as 10 oz per sitting and still never being above 50th percentile for weight with 95th percentile for height, he just ate a ton). So suffice to say it just wasn't a good experience for me, Dom, or my DH.
Originally I had thought that I wasn't going to even try with this one because I'm scared of another bad experience. So what I want to know mostly is those of you that did formula, what did you think? Also, for those that breastfed and had problems, how did you solve them?
I hope all of this makes sense,I appreciate anything posted.
Thanks!
Tiff
First off, sorry for the book
With G, I had a terrible first two weeks. I posted a lot on the b/f forum. I had a lot of support from a few ladies there and thank God I got thru the first two weeks with help and determination. I was determined to b/f that girl!
I started supp'ing her with 4 oz of formula a day from 2 months old to 3
months old, and after I saw she was gaining (she was only gaining 4 oz / week with me b/f, even though that is sufficient she looked skinny and hungry!) I went
back to no supp'ing. But I also started 'solids' early with her, my solids being pureed applesauce and also I would make 'smoothies' for
her with YoBaby and pureed applesauce or pureed peaches. I started her that early b/c I was worried that when I went back to work at 4 months PP, she would not
take a bottle from my parents. She had her first ear infection at ~ 18 months. She had 1 cold when she was an infant and vomited once from illness (not 'spit up') when dh had the flu and vomited for 6-12 hours, and I had the big D for a couple
days. I continued to b/f her till she was 9 months old, but the only reason I stopped was b/c we wanted to TTC again right away (she took 5 months of fertility
drugs to conceive) and since I need to be on injections, the doc did not advise I b/f while injecting & TTC. She had her second ear infection at, um, maybe
2.5 and that's all she's ever had.
With Alek, things went much MUCH better. For one thing, I knew what to expect. I think not having the anxiety helped me relax and helped me be successful. With G I hardly ever felt a let-down, she probably was only getting what was in my breasts at any given time, where-as with Alek I would b/f for a bit, and feel my let-down and he was satisfied for sure. (I think new-mom anxiety combined with 'this is supposed to be natural' anxiety worked against me that first time!) I did start solids at probably 4 months with him because he was so adamant about wanting what we had (ie, eating with spoons/forks at dinner)
,
and my solids with him were rice cereal mixed in with those pureed baby foods from jars that I used with Gabrielle (new jars obviously, just saying, same
routine, but he got rice cereal, and also smoothies... we never really did rice cereal much with her, maybe twice when she was an infant, and then a handful of
times when she was much older)
Ok, so where was I going with this
oh yeah... I b/f Alek till 15.5 months or so. Again, weaned him solely because I wanted to TTC again. With him, I
really missed it, I guess because we went longer and it was in general a much better experience. With G, I never regretted the early weaning probably because I
got pregnant with Alek right away and they are so close, it is wonderful they have each other... with him a few regrets because I'm not pregnant and not
b/f and therefore I don't feel like I weaned him "for a reason" if you KWIM. His first ear infection was 
a few months old I guess but maybe
he didn't have it and G did, or vise versa... I am thinking in Oct 2006 one of them had an ear infection and one did not. And then a few months later they
both did... so one of them has had one ear infection and one of them has had two. But still, that is pretty good to only have total 3 ear infections between
two kids.
This year Alek had an ongoing runny nose, I decided to get him tested for allergies. He also has the dark circles under his eyes which a lot of us in the family have and had had two hive-y episodes after eating waffles & syrup. We eliminated the syrup and no more hives... so we assumed that was his allergy? But did go ahead and get a skin test. He turns out to be allergic to soy, rice, wheat and eggs.
We will be getting bloodwork this month to determine how
accurate those are and if he has celiac's (severe wheat allergy... it runs in my family)
So overall they are pretty healthy, they don't do daycare, but a lot of playgroups at Gymboree. So they are exposed to germs frequently, but not as much as daily daycare I imagine. G seems to have no allergies so far (never tested, never a reason to) and Alek seems to have some. G had 1 months' formula supps and early intro to solids, Alek had no formula, b/f longer, and also early intro to solids. I did not enjoy b/f my dd until probably near the end. I was determined to do it because I felt it was in her best interests and also feel as mammals that is how we feed them
(but I also don't care what other
people do, that is just how I feel for me!) For Alek, I enjoyed it sooner but I do think when they are nursing around the clock, it makes it hard to say you
ENJOY waking at all hours KWIM? So I don't think I really really enjoyed it till 6 months when he was able to eat real good at dinner and sleep longer and
I wasn't his only source of nutrition. From 6 months to 15 months, I think I loved it really, we did have a good strong bond. 
If you asked me for advice I would say
- have a nipple shield and nipple cream on hand in the beginning (don't wait till it hurts and you are at home, get them from the LC at the hospital)
- visit the b/f forum A LOT. Ask tons of questions. Bookmark Kellymom.com.
- Try to have an open mind because every after-pregnancy is different (my mom made no milk for me, I was FF...she had over-abundance with my bro, he was b/f)
- Realize that it doesn't HAVE to be one or the other, that b/f is supply-demand and one CAN partially b/f and partially FF if that is what they choose, so they can get the best of both worlds (added immunity for baby, longer sleep overnight due to FFing dh)
- Realize if you do DO both b/f & FF that your supply will drop to compensate for the missed feeding unless you pump to make up for it. And that a reduction DOES NOT mean "I'm drying up." It is just natural to produce less since you need less. If you continue to b/f sometimes, you will have enough milk to b/f sometimes!
HTH!
