Okay so I am in the process of doing my research on breast feeding versus formula feeding. I have not decided what I would want to do. I have been reading lots of baby books and baby websites lately. One book I got in the mail last week is the The Mother of All Baby Books. I had already read the Mother of All Pregnancy books and I was highly impressed with it. So far I can't say the same for the Mother of All Baby Books. Yes it is informative but I have a little bit of a vent here.
Yes the breast is the best. Even formula canisters say that directly on them. (Well not that exact saying but the point.) I do not disagree with this. This issue is extremely high in debate issues. You hear it all the time. But what I don't agree with is that if a mother decides to formula feed her child that she is a failure. Sometimes this can be portrayed and it isn't true. In the Mother of All Baby books they obviously encourage breast feeding....pretty much everyone does. What gets me is that they will say if you decide to formula feed then don't feel like a failure but then they say something in the very next sentence that can be misinterpreted as looking like formula feeding moms are failures. And then they have a good 30 plus pages dedicated to breast feeding, but they only gave formula feeding like 2 and a half and it wasn't anything informative in my opinion...in fact it was treated like it was of no importance. I was highly disappointed.
I feel like it is a personal choice on what a mom feels like is best for her and baby. It is hard to get too much support for anything other than breastfeeding. So tell me how is a person supposed to not feel like a failure if they are treated like one? Just my little vent. I plan on reading other books as well...and I have checked out websites. I must say I am glad that I am doing this research now before I get pregnant because I can imagine that with the pregnancy hormones surging it can make it that much more difficult.
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I agree that it's a difficult choice to make. Brittni had issues & really wasn't dedicated to BF'ing, so she quit. At the moment, I'm swayed towards pumping & bottle-feeding because I still have issues with the thought of a child latching on. But at the same time, Colleen told me that if she could do it & stick with it, so could I. Too many people act like if you aren't providing your child with breastmilk, you aren't being the best parent possible. I totally disagree. I think whatever works best for the mom & child is the best way to go.
Well personally I have absolutely no intention of breastfeeding and highly doubt I will even try pumping. I don't think there's anything wrong with formula feeding a baby, all 4 of us were formula feed. Of course I still haven't decided if I want to be a parent either. After the screaming kid in the rest. the other night they don't rank too high on my list right now!! :) Why are parents soooo lazy!?!?! I mean come on, do something to try to make 'em be quiet!!! On I'm stepping off my soap box now. :)
Here's my two cents, ha, ha...
Dash and I did both. He was exclusively breast fed for 8 and a half months and ditched it then so we've continued with formula. There's upsides to both.
What you do is your choice and you're going to get flack from someone no matter what you choose. If you formula feed, they'll tell you you should have breastfed, if you breastfeed they'll come up with something. One of John's friends told him I should have quit before he turned 6 months old or he'd turn into a ti**y baby. (I can't even type it. How freaking rude.) Anyway, my best advice is to decide what you want to do (or give it a shot, whatever) and be confident in your decision. Stand up for yourself against people who have their noses where they don't belong.
That being said, breastfeeding is hard. At least at first. That's probably why there are 30 pages dedicated to it and only 2 to formula feeding. Formula, you try different ones, find one they like, add it to warm water, shake it up and you're done. It's easy to screw up breastfeeding and it's easy to think you're doing it right and not really doing it in a way where your baby gets as much milk as possible. The latching on thing, at least the emotions tied to it, is no big deal. I thought it would be but it's not. Instead of thinking "oh, I don't know if I'm comfortable with this" it's more like you chasing him around with your boob held out pleading that he'll latch on (again, at first). Seriously, don't let that be a hang up.
The pumping thing, it's hard to exclusively pump. Many women have done it but you have to really work at it because your supply is established by how much your baby is eating and it's hard to simulate that with a pump. When I wanted to up my supply at work, I squeezed in an extra pumping session and lengthened each one 10 minutes past when I would have been finished. It took about a week and I'd get 2 ounces more or so. If you just nurse (or at least partially nurse) you just feed your baby when he's hungry and the supply takes care of itself. And, it was a pain in the butt to pump while Dash was around. I'd have to get 10-20 minutes to myself to pump and 10-20 minutes by yourself is hard to come by. Like I said though, what you do is up to you, and as long as you're not starving your baby formula or breastmilk or pumping serve the same purpose.
I have to say though, Dash had one cold the whole time he was nursing. He didn't have an ear infection until the week after we switched to formula. I think there's a lot to that passing them antibodies thing. He's a particularly bug-resistant kiddo.
Another benefit that I LOVE is you don't have to deal with bottles. At all if you don't choose to. If you want to exclusively nurse, you can opt to never clean a bottle, never keep one refrigerated, never keep one in your diaper bag. Bottles are a pain in the butt. And being able to eliminate things in your diet that bother your baby instead of using special formula helps, too. Thankfully Dash never had problems with that.
My final thought, if you're thinking about breastfeeding even the least little bit, try it for 6 weeks. Just refuse to give up for the first 6 weeks. If you decide to stop, you can, no big deal. The first two weeks are really really hard, but by 4 weeks everything settles down and by 6 weeks it's no big deal. It was worth it to me, even in retrospect, even with all of its ups and downs. There're moments with Dash while he was nursing that I'll never forget and that I couldn't replace. He used to stop midway through, look up at me and smile and turn back to it. So stinking sweet. And it's an amazing feeling to see your strong healthy baby and know that you made the nourishment to get him that way.
OK, sorry for my novel. Seriously, both ways are good. Your baby gets what he needs, and in daycares you can't tell who is formula fed or breastfed. Whatever you choose you're going to have to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to certain things out there or you'll be ticked off all the time. Just do what works best for your family and for your baby and ignore everything else.
When I was pregnant I was all for breastfeeding. I still gave her my milk and formula while she was in the hospital. So I pumped and I would only get 2 ounces. I thought that once we had more time she would begin to latch on and take more of my milk. But I still got 2 ounces, and she rejected my milk. So formula it is. But I agree with Colleen. Breastfeeding is hard, but given the chance to do it again it will be my first choice.
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