Pregnant - have phobia about feeding babies

[shelby1]

I have just found out the I am pregnant and we are over the moon. There's one problem though, I have a phoiba of feeding babies. My sister has had two children and each time she asks me to feed them I panick and think their gonna choke, every time Josh (2yrs) has food in his mouth I'm constantly watching him, and I refuse to feed Emily (6 weeks) incase I panic her because I'm panicing! - is this strange

[B00]

Believe me- if you dont feed it, the phobia you'll develop from the bellows of hunger will be far greater!

you'll be fine.

Congrats!!!!

[OBonio]

As B00 said, you'll be fine. Babies have a great knack of letting you know if there's something wrong! Namely, loud screaming.

Also, they have a very good gag reflex so will stop anything going down the wrong way. If something does go down the wrong way, they just cough it up like the rest of us.

You'll wonder why you were worried in no time at all!

[kick3m0n]

Everyone will tell you this but here goes...."it's different when it's your own." I have two friends who wouldn't even hold a baby, far less feed one, but all that changed when they had their own, and they are just the best mums I know. Don't get me wrong, one of them still isn't keen on other peoples babies, but copes brilliantly with her own. I'm not saying you won't worry over every little thing they do (or don't do), but your mothers instinct will take over and you'll just get on with the job in hand, whatever that is. Congrats and good luck. xx

[punk fan]

congrats shelby

it will come as second nature to you. i couldn't even be in a room with a crying baby until my little daughter came along. trust me you will be fine and make a brilliant mother.

congrats once again.. let us know how things are going

[debs05]

i dont find it strange but trust me when u have your own child instinct will kick in and u will be fine its amazing what changes happen when u become a mother - i could never change babies nappies for instance it made me physically sick but when i had my daughter hey presto it all just clicked into place and i had no trouble at all. good luck with the wee one when it comes and enjoy him/her. x

[Solarjunkie]

I know what you mean! But if you breastfeed, you know you're giving exactly the right food, at the right temperature, etc. Once you have got the hang of it, (it can take a few days!) with the help of your midwife or feeding advisor, you can just plug the baby in and let nature take over. Much easier. Then you can counter any phobic feelings knowing you are feeding the stuff that was designed for your baby, specifically!

As for the nappies thing, I was fortunate to be told to think of it as making my precious baby warm and comfortable, so I approached it in a much more positive frame of mind. Then it became such second nature I hardly even thought about it! Again, nature can be quite kind - the nappies in the early days (from a breast fed baby) only contain a very small amount of substance, which is really not too difficult to deal with.

I am sure I'm not alone in that I was convinced I had no idea how to look after a baby at all - you are an aunt, I had no such practice babies around! But babies are born to survive, and you'll do just fine.

Every time someoe said to me "it's different when it's yours" I though "yeah, right" but fortunately................ it's different when it's your own!

Best of luck, congratulations, enjoy the chance to be special and pampered for nine months!

[Plocket]

Hi Shelby! First of all CONGRATULATIONS!

Next - I was exactly the same! I think everyone is absolutely right that you will find it's different with your own child. However I would suggest that you have a chat with your health visitor - hopefully you have a nice one!!! Voice your concerns, explain the problems you've had with feeding Josh and Emily, and see what she has to say. If it's any consolation my heath visitor was fantastic! She suggested breast feeding and the idea made me feel physically ill. Eventually we (including my supportive husband!) agreed that we would see how things turned out. The breast feeding didn't work out but bottle feeding turned out to be fine. I'd had a chat with the nurses once baby was born and they were with me to help at first.

Take heart - please don't panic because it will work out ok for you.