Today I'm talking about breastfeeding and formula. There are some serious opinions out there about breastfeeding. After having Hadley and Griffin, I've used both breast milk and formula so I'm going to weigh in with my opinion.
I used to work in the NICU. I know the benefits of breastfeeding backwards, forward, and side-to-side while blind-folded. But I also know how difficult it can be for some moms. It was hard to watch them sit by their baby's bedside crying because the only thing they feel they have control over is the milk given to their child...and for some reason or another, aren't able to produce enough.
Do I support breastfeeding? 100%. Do I support formula? 100%.
I think how you feed your baby is completely individual and based on your own experience! The important thing is making sure your child is taken care of. Breastmilk can do that. So can formula. "Breast is best" is a term a lot of hospitals and caregivers toss out, but is it really? What if you can't produce milk? What if you're on medication? What if you just don't want to? All of those things (plus many others) are going to influence why breast is not necessarily best! I'm not arguing the plethora of goodness breast milk delivers to our precious babies. Not at all. But if you can't produce milk- your baby isn't being fed. If you're on medication- it goes to your baby, too. Depending on what type of medication it is, it may be contraindicated for breast feeding. And you may not be able to stop the medication to breast feed! If you don't want to breast feed, then guess what? It's not going to go well and you're going to be frustrated, baby is going to be frustrated and it's already a stressful (happy stress!) time and breast feeding can just pile on top of that.
For me, breastfeeding was the right choice, although it didn't come easily for me with Hadley. However, with Griffin, it was a piece of cake.
Cons (Most of these were with Hadley):
1. It HURT. Their was cracking. There was burning. I cried through feedings for what felt like weeks. Add in postpartum hormones and I was convinced my "ninnies" (as Hadley calls them) were just going to fall off one day. My poor husband had no idea what to do, he just sat there and watched me cry. Ha!
2. Mastitis. I got it. So now, not only was there cracking and burning, the flu-like symptoms, fever, and excruciating pain were like the cherry on the top. And I don't like cherries.
3. Not helping the case at all, Hadley's mouth wouldn't open wide enough. It. would. not. open. So she wasn't latching on correctly. And then once she did start latching on correctly, her tongue didn't thrust correctly which just added to the pain!
4. Overproduction. Way more than my girl needed. She would choke, sputter, and cry her way through feeds because my body was literally shooting milk at her. Bad mommy.
Looking back I'm wondering why I even continued breastfeeding, haha!!
Pros:
1. Hadley and I worked together and finally got the hang of it. She figured out how to open that tiny mouth of hers, we learned how to latch correctly, and I learned how to prevent cracks. Griffin just instinctively knew what to do which made it so much easier.
2. When Hadley was in the womb, I could control everything. When she came out, I lost that control. I had to {gasp} SHARE my daughter with people. Breastfeeding was something I had control over. It makes me feel good that I know what's going into that little body of hers. Same with Griffin. Both of my babes were born at the beginning of flu season and the nurse inside me cringed a little anytime ANYONE other than me held them.
3. Weight gain. She lost 10% of her weight in the hospital, but 3 days later at her first doctor appointment she was ABOVE her birth weight. I did that. My body was doing what it was supposed to for her. Griffin barely lost any weight. That boy was an eating machine.
4. They know me. They bonded with me. At 2 1/2 months old, they knew me and my voice. they smiled when they heard my voice and when they saw me. No one else gets the privilege of their beautiful smiles like I do and I'm convinced it's because they know I've been there to take care of them from day one. Hadley nursed until she was 15 months old and at almost 12 months, Griffin is still nursing with no sign of stopping in the near future.
Even given all of these wonderful things, both of my babies started falling off their growth charts around 4-6 months old. We aren't really sure why. I still produced milk, but whether it's just in their genes (neither my husband nor I are really large people) or something else, I wasn't enough anymore. With Hadley, we were able to get her to 6 months and start solids. She's been a great eater from her first taste of food, so we filled her up with all the fatty foods. Griffin had a dairy/soy allergy, so once he exhausted all of my fat (I lost 20 pounds after giving it all up for him) I couldn't do anything for him. We started him on solids but he couldn't have any of the good stuff. He needed something more and in came formula.
He nursed and we supplemented for a few months until he gained what he needed to. I am so glad there was an alternative for him. I don't want to think about what would have happened if formula wasn't available for us.
What's your story? What are your thoughts this Thursday about breastfeeding and formula? I can't wait to hear!
It is so sad that there is so much guilt associated with this topic. When Madeline was born I only had one friend who had experience with breastfeeding. No family members, no girlfriends, no co-workers. Basically, everyone I knew hadn't had children yet or had thrown in the towel after a couple of weeks. My mom was an older mom and her body did not produce milk at all and my mother in law worked in corporate San Fran in the 80's so of course she chose formula. It made for a really trying start for us.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the most dangerous things for a new mom and baby are all the rules thrown at you. If you want to breastfeed, do this, don't do that. Don't give them a bottle until they are six weeks old. Never use a paci. I had a postpartum hemorrhage when Madeline was ten days old. I was literally risking bleeding to death and my biggest worry was that she was going to have to drink pumped milk from a bottle because every LC I'd talked to and mom board had said that was a big no-no.
I am really glad I chose to stick it out and breastfeed, even through a case of mastitis and two clogged ducts when my boss wouldn't let me pump at work (majorly illegal but still very difficult to remedy without an attorney). We chose to add a bottle of formula in the evenings because that was the time my supply was the lowest and even at three months she would still nurse on and off for hours. That was another "broken rule" but we all were happier and better rested for it. At five months, we moved to combination feeding because that was the best choice at the time. My biggest advice for a new mom would be don't worry so much about the "rules" of breastfeeding. See a Lactation Consultant to help you get a good start and then do as much as you can for as long as you can.