'Breast is Best'

[OddSocksandRainbowDocs]

It's National Breastfeeding Week and I've seen the phrase 'Breast is Best' banded about quite a few times.

Whilst I agree breastfeeding is scientifically better, some mothers (myself included) physically could not breastfeed so chose to formula feed instead. I was made to feel like a failure by a midwife for choosing to do so.

My little one is now one and a half. She is happy, she is healthy.

I don't know who needs to hear this but 'Breast is Best' isn't always the case. 'Fed is Best' is most definitely the case. It doesn't matter how you feed your baby, as long as the baby is fed, that is all that matters

No. Breast is best.

Crisps, chocolate and pizza is fed. Nutritious food is best.

Fed isn't best. Informed is best. Fed is the bare minimum.

I disagree. For a baby, being fed is best. Whether that is breast feeding or formula feeding. People should stop making mothers feel so guilty for not being able to breastfeed. Sometimes, it just does not happen!

I'm sorry you were let down by the system OP. There needs to be far more investment in supporting women who want to feed to do so.

Are you comparing formula with crisps, chocolate and pizza?

I don't know who needs to hear this but 'Breast is Best' isn't always the case. 'Fed is Best' is most definitely the case. It doesn't matter how you feed your baby, as long as the baby is fed, that is all that matters

I agree. This will turn into a bun fight but I agree.

Breast feed if you want to. Formula Feed if you want to.
It's really not worth the guilt, stress and angst some women are made to feel.

Breast is best - just because it doesn't always work out doesn't mean it's less good. The science speaks for itself. It's great formula exists and can do such a good job but you can't take away the benefits of breastfeeding because it doesn't always work out.

Thankyou @bbqhulahoop The midwife was absolutely awful. I buzzed for help for 4 hours and not once did she come. When she finally came, I was exhausted, I was tired, I was emotional and I felt like such a failure. I said I wanted to go home as I would have more support from family but I was refused. Apparantly, I would only be allowed to go home when I'd breastfed three times, despite her agreeing that there was issues with my daughter latching on. Luckily, my husband was there to advocate for me and we went home that day.

I knew someone would get stressed about that 🙄

I'm comparing 'fed' and 'best'.

I do not understand people who are obsessed with breastfeeding and telling others how it’s the best option. Why are you trying to convert and convince other people. Feed your own baby whatever you want. Who gives a shit whether the baby next door is breast or formula fed. Just makes me think these people don’t have much going on.

'Formula is okay at a push'. No, formula is okay full stop if that what works best for the mother

Formula is absolutely fine. I would never judge anyone for not breastfeeding.

But objectively, and without emotion, breast is best.

Yes it is. Fed is best.
I'm pro-choice.
I bottle fed all my children.
3 are grown up ( In 30's)
No allergies
Rarely at doctors if at all.
No issues whatsoever.
By bottle feeding, it meant my dh shared the responsibility of feeding our babies. We both did with love as much as those that breast feed.

I agree op, but you'll probably have the majority of posters on here saying breast is best.

No one knows who was breast fed and formula fed when they even start school. It really doesn't matter on the grand scheme of things.

I was also made to feel like a failure, I had a traumatic birth with transfusion and an infection but still tried and even pumped but I was exhausted and wasn't producing enough and in the end it just wasn't worth it. I was a better mother formula feeding because I actually got to sleep and recover instead of desperately trying to breastfeed.

I think it contributed to my pnd. So yes, breast is not always best.

And yes, a fed baby is better than an unfed baby - that doesn't even need to be said but it doesn't mean formula milk is as good as breast milk when scientifically it isn't.

Formula is ok at a push

This suggest that using formula is doing the bare minimum.
Formula is more than okay.

It’s incredibly rare that women cant’t breastfeed, but it’s incredibly common that they’re not given the support they need in order to make breastfeeding happen.

You can take away the benefits if it makes women feel like a failure because they apparantly cannot provide for their child. Women already feel vulnerable after giving birth. Women SHOULD NOT feel like they have messed up because they cannot breastfeed. That is what I am saying.

Well said.

fed is best
I was fed boiled cow's milk. Was this best for me?

What ACTUAL difference does it make? At 1 year, 5 years, 25 years - what difference to someone does it really make how they were fed as a baby? Are breast fed babies more intelligent, more healthy? Can you walk into a nursery and point out the breast-fed and formula-fed babies?

Just wondering.

Agree.

Breast IS best. I'm really sorry you weren't able to breastfeed and you don't have to justify anything to anyone. Nobody is saying that formula is poison, just that breastfeeding is the preferred method of feeding a baby. It should, in an ideal world, be the default, with formula serving as a safety net. But real life is more complicated than that!

Breast is best, but not everyone can or wants to, and that’s fine too.