Call me crazy but if a new mom is unable to breastfeed her infant for one reason or another, how on earth...?

Question

... is she supposed to bond with her newborn?!?

Are there any other ways of bonding with a newborn besides breastfeeding?

Thank you so much for your reply!

Answer 1

i dont like the wording of your question.

''how on earth is she supposed to bond''

and the punctuation, makes the statment sound worse too.

either you are very vigilant with breastfeeding, or you dont have kids.

but ill answer your question. i couldnt breastfeed, for medical reasons i dont need to justify. after trying for 4-5 days, and with my babys blood sugars, dropping i gave her formula.

i have an INCREDIBLE bond with my daughter. my BF cousin breast fed her 2 kids, the youngest is 2wks younger than my daughter. and she is very detached from her kids. when she nurses the youngest, she stares off into space, doesnt look at her, smile, etc. she just always looks as if its such a chore. so yeh, id say i have a bond with my daughter that rivals other mothers.

your statment is incredibly naive and flavoured with a superiority attitude. so if a non breastfeeding mother cant bond with her child, the neither can any father as they cant nurse. and what about mothers who adopt newborns, obv. they are not lactating, so i guess you'd say they dont ever bond with the child.

i bond with my daughter through cuddling her, talking to her, stroking her face, reading to her, singing to her, playing silly games, talking to her, and taking care of all her basic daily needs. you are incredibly silly to believe that the only way to bond with a child is to breast feed. and i take the statment to be slightly insulting also.

Answer 2

Wow, that's a weird question, honestly I bonded with my son when he was still in me. And breastfed or not has nothing to do with it. I breastfed my daughter and had no milk with my son, I loved unconditionally  since the second I found out I was pregnant.

Answer 3

believe it or not... breastfeeding isn't the only way of bonding with your baby.

how on earth do fathers bond then? this seems like a question designed to annoy others.

Answer 4

You seriously have bonded for 9 months!

That baby knows who you are!

You can still bond by bottle feeding..most definately!

Don't take it to heart ;o)

Answer 5

Cuddling her when she cries

Feed her when shes hungry (with a bottle)

Changing her wet / soiled nappies

Singing to her

Talking to her

Playing with her

Taking her for walks

Reading to her

There are lots of ways. Breastfeeding isn't necessarily the key to bonding with your baby. Some women have a real hard time with and it and if they do, it can actually end up being a real struggle.

Answer 6

if you mean to say that is the only way you can bond i will not even waste my time with you..

if you mean how seriously, cuddling, talking to them, holding them , and so many ways breastfeeding while great is not even close to the only way i could make a huge list!

Answer 7

yes you hold them and make eye contact,it is not breastfeeding that bonds it is the closeness and eye contact

Answer 8

Ahhhhhhh....new mommy!  Don't worry about breastfeeding.  It is not "the "answer" to bonding with a new baby.  You will be so infatuated with your little one that you will be constantly hugging and holding him/her.  This will be your way of bonding.  Just like Daddy will do and remember, he can't breastfeed!!!  

Answer 9

simply by loving cuddling spending time together is bonding. When bottle feeding your baby see's you as the feeder.

Breastfeeding is just the #1 way of bonding, that's all

Answer 10

Looking into baby's eyes is bonding

Cuddling is bonding...etc. Why would you think you can't bond if your not breastfeeding? How do you think dad's bond with their babies?  

Answer 11

I couldnt breastfeed my son as he was draining both my b*****s in one sitting & still crying for more coz I wasnt producing enough. I sincerely hope your not naive enough to think that if you dont breastfeed you dont bond. I have always been extremely close to my son & he is now 7yo.People always comment on how we have a very emotional connection to one another.

My daughter was 3&1/2 months prem also so I didnt get to breastfeed her for 2months as she was on cpap & had ivs etc.I also have a very deep emotional connection with her.

So in no way shape or form does not breastfeeding your baby stop the bonding with them. The only time it will affect them is if you are not interacting with them at all.

Answer 12

Bonding is about interaction on the whole, and breastfeeding is one part of that.   Exchanging expressions, eye contact, touch playing, talking and so on is very important.

Answer 13

cuddling the baby, talking to the baby, etc

they learn quite early to recognize faces and voices

Answer 14

keep em' close....

if the problem is that you aren't PRODUCING milk, the baby would probably still enjoy the actual suckling on her mother....

Also, infants first come to know pleasure as touch.

The more you touch and cuddle with her, the better. Tickle her, rub her tummy, play with her feet, whole 9 yards. She'll love it..

Answer 15

The kangaroo hold is extremely helpful in bonding.  Sometimes helpful with establishing nursing also.  It's basically skin to skin contact and can even be done with dads too to form that bonding.  It's a wonderful thing.  You just put baby with no clothes on on your bare chest.  I wasn't able to breastfeed my daughter for almost a week and was afraid that my chance was gone.  With this hold, I was able to bond with her faster and we were able to establish breastfeeding.  It was an extremely helpful hold and made me feel closer to my baby when I had missed out on her first few days of life (she was in the NICU)

Answer 16

I am sorry but do you honestly think that a baby sucking on your boob is the only way to bond with your child?

Dont get me wrong I breastfeed and am all for it.

But for example my oldest had sucking problems. She physically could not latch on. We tried many different techniques and talked to many different lactation consultants...no one could help she could not do it.

I pumped the first three months of her life because I wanted her to get breastmilk.

But she was exclusively bottle fed.

We still bonded. In fact I had and still have people tell me they havent seen a closer bond between mother and daughter.

You play with them, hold them and love them.

You can nurse a baby and still not be bonded to them.

The boob isnt the secret bonding solution.

Bonding is an emotion, a reaction, a love.

Answer 17

lol oh dear you are a very naive person. breast feeding is not the be all and end all of bonding. i breast fed my son but had to start him on formula at 6 weeks "for one reason or another" and i had NO problems bonding with my child what so ever! i carried him for 9 months, felt his kicks and turns and hiccups inside me, i watched as the man i love caugh him when he was born.  we were very much bonded even before he took his first breath! i love him more than anything and i know he adores me. no matter how he is fed :)

Answer 18

Co-sleeping, bath time, feeding in general while swaddling baby, playing with baby, singing to baby, there's no end to the ways.