I hope you didn’t click-through to this post to read some heated one-sided debate in which I completely slam one side or the other. Because that’s exactly what’s not going to happen here. Which may come as somewhat of a surprise considering this is coming from a mom who exclusively breastfed from the time my daughter was born until she weaned herself just weeks before her 1st birthday.
I had my mind made-up from the time I knew I was pregnant. I knew I for sure wanted to try breastfeeding Alea. If it worked, great. If it didn’t, oh well. We weren’t the most financially well-off when we found out we were pregnant, so breastfeeding was really the ultimate goal. What’s better than free, right? Thankfully from the time she first latched it went off without a hitch. I had one episode of mastitis, but after a good round of antibiotics, I was lucky enough to be able to breastfeed Alea until the day she pushed me away and reached for her sippy cup.
I say lucky enough because that’s exactly what I was: lucky. Not every mom has it that easy and I’m well aware. There’s so much that can go wrong when it comes to breastfeeding. Clogged milk ducts are so very painful and if I would’ve experienced that one more time, I may have given up all together. If I wouldn’t have had the support I had from Cory, I would’ve really had a hard time with breastfeeding. Some women don’t have that support. Some mamas have to go back to work and struggle to keep up with pumping enough for their babies while they’re away. I absolutely hated pumping and can’t imagine how long I would stick with it if I had to exclusively pump.
I don’t blame any mother for choosing formula over breastfeeding. When it comes down to it, it’s a very personal decision. It’s our bodies. It’s our breasts that we have to give-up for however long our little ones decide to breastfeed.
I firmly believe that neither breastfeeding nor formula feeding makes you a better mom. They’re both completely different. And they’re both completely the mother’s choice. No mother should feel incriminated for choosing one over the other and unfortunately in our society, I think that nowadays, women who choose to formula feed are feeling that way.
And that’s saying a lot. It’s great that we’ve come so far where breastfeeding has become a more acceptable form of feeding an infant, but those who choose to breastfeed shouldn’t incriminate those mom’s who choose to formula feed. Unfortunately, I’m afraid the latter is what’s beginning to happen.
This little rant was inspired by the Breastfeeding vs. Formula article over at Yahoo! Parenting. I loved that this article shared my similar viewpoint on this “Great Debate,” but I also love that Yahoo! Parenting shares articles on various topics in parenting with all different viewpoints and stances. It really is a fabulous reference if you like to get lost in heated topics like I do!
What’s your take on the “great debate” of breastfeeding vs. formula?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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I didn’t set out to exclusively breastfeed, but that is just what happened. My body took over, and I was fortunate enough to be able to exclusive nurse both kids until they weaned themselves at about 9 months. It’s something I am passionate about, but I also had a great support team in my mom, my husband, and my friends. Not everyone understood why I didn’t want to pump but it was just what I thought was best! It may not be best for everyone, and that is just fine! 🙂
I was very lucky to be able to breastfeed Travis for an entire year without any issues. I’m very proud of the fact that he never once had formula–always breastmilk up until he began cow’s milk. And I completely agree that we should never incriminate a mother who wanted and tried to breastfeed, but for whatever reason just couldn’t. However, I believe that many moms take the formula route as an easy way out. They don’t try hard enough to breastfeed or they simply don’t even want to. And that’s not something that I believe in. I definitely believe that breast is best and that every mom should try to breastfeed before giving in to formula.
My son was born in 1995. I never breastfed him. There wasn’t/isn’t a healthier, stronger, happier baby than my son. No asthma, ear infections, stomach troubles. Rarely vomited. He is still incredibly healthy at 20 years old. I started supplementing the formula at 3 months with a tiny bit of cereal, mashed bananas. He loved it.
Didn’t hurt him. He was the tallest baby, kid and teenager and now taller than most men. He’s 6’3″ and NEVER gets sick (except for an occasional cold, but no ear infections, flu…)
I’m not judging bottle feeding or judging breast feeding.
Just stating a fact about my own experience with my own child that has stood a 20-year test.
He’s just as smart as his breast fed friends too.