But ahhh, I HAVE been there. I am, in fact, a born again breast-feeder. My first child received the benefits of my breast-milk for an exclusive 2 month period, becoming totally weaned to the toxic bottle by the age of 4 months. This was due mostly to lack of support or information (in regards to the benefits of breast-feeding as well as formula dangers). Being of the ripe age of 17, a full time student and worker as well as single mom and with no one urging or supporting me to pump for my daughter, the likely choice was to bottle feed with artificial and substandard baby-milk, also known as formula.
I never thought twice about this choice, and though I had enjoyed nursing my daughter, I had certainly had trials with it. One being that my mother had me nurse in separate rooms around company and that I couldn't "be a teen" while breast-feeding, aside from the nipple pain I had experienced in the beginning).
When my second child was born, my husband (then boyfriend) and I had decided we could not afford to raise our child, and prior to her birth had planned on adoption. Even during our stay in the hospital, this was our mindset. My daughter was receiving bottles of formula, as it was assumed this would be how she'd be fed upon her adoption. 24 hours or so after her birth we both finally admitted there was simply no way we could go through with it, and, no matter how hard a burden, we'd take care of her, not someone else. I half-heartedly attempted to put her to my breast. I was both nervous and emotional. She did not latch and showed absolutely no interest, and instead of pursuing it, I just admitted defeat. My second child never received a drop of breast-milk.
During my third live pregnancy, I decided I was going to breast-feed for a few reasons.
- It was economically wise
- I had no reason not to, being a SAHM
- I knew it had benefits over formula, not only financially but health wise.
- I missed nursing, even though I had only done it for a very short time.
I began to hear more and more about how dangerous formula could be, and when looking in at it from someone who could see both sides, I was amazed at the reasons one would choose formula (barring all true medical necessities). To this day, I cannot think of nor have I seen one SELFLESS reason to formula feed by choice. The more I read and researched about this infamous formula vs. breast-milk debate, the more I learned that there were many misconceptions surrounding breast-feeding. I could start to predict someone's story as to why they "had" to formula feed. It was much like the "necessary cesarean" stories, which all fell into the same cookie cutter shape.
By the time I was 9 months pregnant, I knew not only would I breast-feed my son, but formula simply was NOT an option. I can tell you, my son and I have yet to run into a problem nursing. I hardly even experienced soreness in the beginning. I attribute 99% of this to my attitude toward breast-feeding this time around.
Do I look down on women that formula feed? No, not really, more-so I feel BAD for them, because many believe they have a medical reason to be using formula, when the reality was just poor advice on breast-feeding.
As someone who has been on both sides of the spectrum, I feel obligated to share what I've learned and I love sharing what I know with other women. Just because you didn't breast-feed your first doesn't mean you cannot breast-feed your subsequent children. I think that mindset comes from inner guilt. As with many things in life and parenting, when you KNOW better, you DO better, and breast-feeding is no different.
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