One of the reasons I’m ambivalent about having children. Luckily I have a partner who wants to be the primary caregiver so I can reduce the amount of bodily fluids that end up on me dramatically 
Being lazy and saving a LOT of money at the same time? BF’ing is a no-brainer. We did both due to me working full-time, about 90% BF/10% bottles. Used formula about 5% of the time if necessary, good to have the ready made stuff on hand (expensive, but my kids always spat up the stuff made from powder).
And yeah, doesn’t matter if bottle or not, kids will spit up and pee on you, and if you are unlucky, #2 on you. And if you are really sick, you getting sick on yourself or having to clean up your own mess (of whatever sort) can gross you out. The worst thing I went through was having to help my son do an occult blood and bacteria test on his BM when he was 13. We were both so grossed out and also not trying to get me sick with whatever he had (they never did find out what it was, but six weeks of bloody diarrhea was not good).
As for considering body parts “off-limits”, we do. Off-limits in terms of privacy, and not touching them in front of other people (feel free to do what you want in your room or the bathroom). But we also know people who don’t, to the point of a father taking a bath with his daughter. She was 8 and mentioned it to her teacher and her and her sister were basically thrown out of their private school (and moved on to a new one, which will likely throw them out as well - no requirement to report to child services a naked adult taking a bath with a naked 8 year old because they are private schools). Teaching the lesson that your body belongs to you is supported by the understanding that if someone brushes your elbow, or grabs your elbow, no big deal. Put in a few other body parts instead, and yes, it is a big deal and illegal in the US.
Elbow <> breast, more power to you if you don’t mind your co-worker grabbing your breast to get your attention…
I don’t like people touching me period to get my attention. I’m not completely deaf- calling my name works just fine.
By “off-limits” I just meant that I don’t consider them especially important to me. I am also well aware of cultural limitations and legal limitations and what not and obviously wouldn’t go around topless for legal reasons. If I was in a place where that was legally permitted, it wouldn’t bug me in the least.
I think WAY too much was read into what I said.
I liked the fact that the poopy diapers didn’t smell as bad when babies are breastfed. However, one time I ate popcorn and it did make the baby’s poop have an odd (not horrible) smell. weird.
I didn’t say that breastfeeding is more convenient for everyone, pizzagirl, only that it was more convenient for me.
And it was such an easy way to lose baby weight without the effort. (YMMV) 
romani, baby spit isn’t too bad. You just learn to walk around with a cloth diaper or something similar over your shoulder at all times. What I hated was the drooling. Sometimes babies drool because they are teething. For months! I put bibs on mine because I couldn’t stand the perpetually damp little shirts.
But they’re really cute and worth it. Really! I hope we’re not scaring you away…
Not true, but your own kids do gross you out less (in much the same way that your own body grosses you out less).
I remember that when my son was a toddler, changing dirty diapers didn’t bother me. It was routine. But one day I babysat for a friend’s child who was the same age. And during the time she was with me, I had to change her dirty diaper. It was unbelievably gross.
No you’re definitely not scaring me away.
I used to nanny for 5 children under the age of 10 (best birth control ever by the way). I am no stranger to the drool and the poop. Though now I pawn diapers and feeding off on my partner when we’re babysitting for the neighbor baby (who, if my kid was ANYTHING like him, I’d have one in a heartbeat- he is the happiest little boy). My partner doesn’t have a sense of smell and works with special needs kids who wear diapers well into their childhood. He’s truly my saving grace. I don’t know if I would even consider kids unless I had a partner as willing to take on so many baby-caring roles as he wants to.
I did okay with diapers until the kids were toddlers on the verge of being able to start potty training. Those were some nasty diapers.
romani, you are blessed with a GREAT partner!
From Post #141. That can’t be right. Am I missing something?
@Pizzagirl, my comments about my personal experience with breastfeeding were not meant in any way to insult you or anyone else who bottle fed / feeds their child. I looked at Babies R Us registry recently for a baby shower and there were literally over 100 types of bottles, and they weren’t just decorative.
I found them to be overwhelming when I was a new mother. And I was sent home with cans of formula from my hospitals…I read the directions, or course this was many years back , but they were powdered and I had zero idea how much a baby consumes at any feeding.
It seemed like there was a lot of potential for wasting it or having to make more if your baby is hungrier than you expect. It seemed like a lot to think about
I nursed because after a surgical delivery at 30 weeks gestation resulting in an 8 week stay in the hospital for D, it was something my body * could* do, after all that’s what they were for.
I think the biggest difference is the tactile stimulation breast fed babies get.
Comparing myself who was in the NICU for one month without my parents being allowed to visit, then bottle fed upon discharge, (& and could not tolerate any baby milks) to my daughter who was more than twice as early as I was, and stayed in the NICU for twice as long,(& & was 10x as ill) BUT we were allowed to visit as much as we wanted and she was breastfed when she was big enough, she is doing amazingly well.
Hard to prop a baby up with a boob, without touching them at some point.
Of course my youngest didn’t * want* to be touched, so while I did nurse her for the same length of time I nursed her sister, I had to be more creative.
Romani - if your kids are very considerate (like ours were), their initial symptoms from a stomach virus will hardly ever begin before 9PM, and H was always home by then. So he had vomit duty… seriously - I hated it so much that I took every other illness, but when it came to throwing up, H did it. More than once I saw him actually catch it in his two hands because he didn’t get the bowl to the kid fast enough, or the kid to the bathroom fast enough. It didn’t phase him a bit. The huge majority of time, though, I would be holed up in our bedroom because even hearing someone throw up could set me off!
All that being said, when babies are being exclusively breastfed (it all changes once you introduce solids or formula) their spit up and poop really doesn’t smell bad. And spit up from breastfed babies will not stain clothes like formula will.
I am the same way, teriwtt. I have to hide in the room even when the dog is throwing up. Even that story made me gag a bit.
Lucky for me, he wants to be the SAHP so he can deal with the before-9 puking episodes
When we were on a cruise last spring, H contracted norovirus and got sick several times during the night. I had no where to go in our little cabin (although it was a suite with a sitting area) and you could hear everything from the bathroom. I eventually threw on my noise-cancellation headphones I use for airplane flights, but when you’re wearing them, you can only lay on your back. Side lying isn’t very comfortable.
In Germany if I remember correctly the advice was to start kids on pureed carrots as the first solid food as opposed to rice cereal in the US. My oldest got pureed bananas. (We were back in the States by then, but only barely!) I don’t remember what I gave the younger one.
Of course, if they’re going to get seriously ill with a high fever, ear infection or something else requiring medical attention it will happen on a Friday night, preferably on a three-day weekend. The only exception is kids whose doctor’s office is open on Saturday. They’ll get sick on Saturday night an hour after the office closes. 
Guilty- I was that kid.
The urgent care staff and I were good friends in my childhood
I breast fed because my baby made it so easy. Even when he was eating solid foods, he liked the late night snack.
Smelly diapers was a real push for toilet training. I was surrounded by all these doctors offering instruction (not just to me, but in the hospital). I learned the M & M way and others. Then we stayed with cousins, who were a few months and 2 years older than son. They had several kinds of potties. By the end of the weekend, son was completely trained. Yeah for role modeling.