Is it just a societal norm? (Breastfeeding related)

It's not really rocket science to know giving your baby something natural is going to be best for them.

Mercury, snake venom, arsenic, and ricin from castor beans are all "something natural".

Can you add a link to what you’ve read?

I’m being genuine! I’m happy to have my mind changed in a debate if the evidence is there

Also, no one is suggesting that formula is a bad idea for babies who need it!

Agree in some ways, but also people in less educated countries understand this too. It's not really rocket science to know giving your baby something natural is going to be best for them.

From what I’ve read, breastfeeding is only associated with a modestly lower risk of obesity, diabetes & cardiovascular disease in adults. There are lots of other factors which are more determinative (diet, exercise, environment, education, income, healthcare access etc to name a few).

Please stop pretending that breastfed babies are growing into these supremely healthy individuals.

Breastfeeding is (usually) healthier for babies but babies also thrive on formula. It’s not a case of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. It’s ‘good’ and ‘better’. You have to look at the overall circumstances of a family to determine what is healthier for that family as a whole. If breastfeeding is causing a baby not to thrive (through intolerances, reflux, low supply, lack of support for mother, mother’s mental health etc) then formula is the better option despite the initial health benefits of breast milk.

I care that those who use formula are supported and not made to feel guilty about their choices. You aren’t a better mother by breastfeeding or in any way selfish by using formula.

I think this is perhaps a link to the fact that more educated women are more likely to breastfeed because they actually understand the evidence.

Of course YANBU.

The NHS says breastfeeding cuts the mother’s risk of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and osteoporosis, among other things. Cancer risk def falls the longer she BFs. Win win!!

Typing this while BF my 8 month old of course 😂

From what I’ve read, breastfeeding is only associated with a modestly lower risk of obesity, diabetes & cardiovascular disease in adults. There are lots of other factors which are more determinative (diet, exercise, environment, education, income, healthcare access etc to name a few).

Please stop pretending that breastfed babies are growing into these supremely healthy individuals.

Breastfeeding is (usually) healthier for babies but babies also thrive on formula. It’s not a case of ‘good’ and ‘bad’. It’s ‘good’ and ‘better’. You have to look at the overall circumstances of a family to determine what is healthier for that family as a whole. If breastfeeding is causing a baby not to thrive (through intolerances, reflux, low supply, lack of support for mother, mother’s mental health etc) then formula is the better option despite the initial health benefits of breast milk.

People’s views on breastfeeding are so bloody weird. Idk if it’s just this country or not. You are expected to breastfeed because breast is best! but oh no you must only do it for a few months otherwise it’s weird and sexual! And definitely DON’T do it in public, what if you gasp happen to show a tiny bit of flesh!

I breastfed both of my children. Strongly pushed into it by the midwives and HV but no actual practical support given. The only person who was remotely supportive when I had problems with my ds1 was an unpaid volunteer from a charity. Ds1 had a tongue tie that wasn’t diagnosed until he was nearly 4 months old, by a lactation consultant that I paid through the nose to come to my house because I was so desperate by this point. I told my HV, thinking she’d be happy for me because she knew there were issues (I didn’t mention that she’d missed the diagnosis….) only for her to say that I was wasting my money!

Compare that directly to my now ex MIL who had a weird thing about breastfeeding, pressuring me to give him water when it got into the spring/summer, saying “when he gets to 6 months he can have juice instead of milk”. Then my friend, who took it as a personal insult that I breastfed and she didn’t (I didn’t give a shit that she didn’t) and told me “it’s all very well for you to do that with your first as you’ve got loads of time to sit on the sofa all day but you can’t do that with your second”. When we met up after I’d had ds2 I breastfed him on a park bench whilst ds1 was running around. She didn’t want to meet up again. 🤣

Then my now ex husband, who thought it was weird and embarrassing that little ds1, who was 3 at the time, used to pretend to breastfeed his teddies. 🤣 Of course he was quite happy for me to breastfeed because it meant less for him to do…

With ds1 I stopped at about 15 months but ds2 it was more like 20 months. I would have stopped earlier with ds2 but he wasn’t a good sleeper and it was one of the only things that would get him back to sleep again. I don’t think I told many people especially not my now ex MIL, who probably just assumed I’d given up long before. She’d probably have stopped speaking to me if she knew the truth 🤣

Sorry to rant. But yes, people’s views on breastfeeding are very weird, and most people project their shit onto new breastfeeding mums, oddly at a time when they are feeling very vulnerable. It’s not right.

My LOs were brilliant feeders but stopped bf, naturally at 9/10 months and the second at a year. They then drank cow's milk (or water) because I preferred that to highly processed formula milk.
We have been drinking animal milk for generations without issue, so not sure why it's such an problem now!!

Fair enough. I was using you as an example to point out that the breast feeding debate perhaps get side tracked down roads that while correct are not the most useful. Maybe the arguments won’t be as useful as giving partners 3 months dedicated leave when a baby is born to support a breast feeding mother, for example?

Best how?

Again, population level.

I understand when a child is older and away from their mother for longer periods of time at nursery ect that cow's milk would then be easier. But when the child is mainly at home with their mother, say under the age 3, why should she choose a cow's breastmilk over her own?

This quote from the OP jumped out at me. Great if you have three years maternity leave, or independent wealth. Most people are not operating from that position of privilege though, and have to make health decisions whilst balancing competing priorities. I think most people understand that breast is best, no argument there. But working mothers may find formula more convenient. Doesn't mean they don't care about their babies, or want what's best for them, but if the rest of the family are going to eat, then they have to be back at work long before the three years quoted above.

I never understood it either but I fed one child until 18 months (when I became pregnant again) and the other until he was about 3.

I had the judgmental MIL comments but generally kept it fairly quiet as people do look at you with surprise. I wanted to shout ‘I’m not doing it for me!!’

My son is allergic to milk, even his allergy doctor was trying to push some foul smelling milk allergy formula from 6 months. I said ‘no thanks, I’ll just breastfeed’ and he looked at me like he’d never heard such a comment before …

Looking back I’m proud at going for that long and am now much more confident in telling people that I did!