'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

Breast feeding rates are increasing but still woeful (just over half of babies still breastfed two weeks after birth). Breast milk is better for the baby and it's thanks to campaigns like this that we are seeing rates increasing.

Women have to stop seeing this as a guilt tripping exercise. It's not - it's about education and support.

I always said that I would breastfeed but the minute it became hard for me or baby, we would then move onto formula feed.

"The minute it became hard" you stopped?? Seriously? It is hard, at first, very hard. And then it becomes the easiest most beautiful thing in the world.

As I'm sure you have learnt, lots of things about having a baby are hard. It doesn't mean you just sack it off 🤔🤔

I appreciate your intentions OP but fed is the minimum and where breastfeeding is possible, it is best. You can't change the science.

You're brave on here op. You'll get people who've breastfed for 7 years and co sleep til the child is 9, with links to Facebook groups for people who breastfeed until their kid is basically in high school

It's a fantastic thing that formula exists. It's a public good and should be treated like one (cost price, not made by commercial companies). But breastfeeding remains the optimum - in ways we are only just starting to understand (and it frustrates me when the discussion focuses on studies re allergies or IQ points, some of which are on shaky methodological ground, that are labelled as debunking any and all 'benefits'). Close to 100% breastfeeding rates (obviously there will be cases of physical inability, trauma, incompatible medication etc - so as close to 100% as possible with these aside) would have a proper public health impact and are what we as a society should be aiming for as an ideal, and making it as easy as possible for mothers to breastfeed - good support (from paid people who know what they're talking about) in hospitals and the post-natal period, longer access to midwives after birth (e.g. with home visits), decent maternity leave as standard, a culture that expects fathers to step up much, much more at home in the early days (and ideally throughout parenting, obviously).

@karmakameleon Feeding your child is the bare minumum, so whether that is formula fed or breast fed, does it really matter?

It becomes a fight as many breastfeeding mums (that includes me, by the way, although I think I would bottle feed next time), invest a lot of time/emotional energy/money into ‘cracking’ breastfeeding and therefore want to feel their child will reap the benefits, which is completely understandable. I was hooked up to a pump round the clock for the first 2 weeks, then up all night breastfeeding for months after that! I did it because I thought it would have a very protective effect on DD’s health, but it hasn’t - she catches everything going, has an inhaler etc. Whereas her formula fed cousins are in rude health.

I don’t think I mentioned formula.

Formula is ok at a push

At a push?

Op - I've been here long enough to know that these threads always go this way.

Honestly, by the time they're 6 months everyone's weaning anyway and no one and I mean NO ONE will ever tell who was breast fed and who wasn't.

Some breastfeeding mums martyr themselves so much that they have to tell themselves is a magical elixir that equals a healthier, more intelligent child but there's zero evidence for that.

Posted too soon. And that feeding your child formula is like giving them crack cocaine

Are the benefits of breastfeeding significant enough that we should ensure there is adequate support for women to do so? - Yes

Are the benefits significant enough that women who do not want to or can’t breastfeed should have their mental health eroded due to the pressure to do so - No.

This isn't actually true. Tests in the gut of primary aged children can detect whether they were breast or formula fed.

Breastmilk is objectively, scientifically, better nutrition for babies. There are reasons why formula suits some mothers/families better though. I also formula fed.

This. I can't imagine getting so offended at every parenting topic, must be exhausting.

For the record, I have done breastfeeding to a year, and my other was weaned off breastmilk at 8 months to formula. I can't imagine giving a single fuck.

Breast is the default, formula is fine, can we move on from this topic now?

As I'm sure you have learnt, lots of things about having a baby are hard. It doesn't mean you just sack it off 🤔🤔

^ I agree. I and so many mums in my breastfeeding support group have gone through issues such as tongue tie, vasospasm, mastitis, biting/teething problems etc over the first year and haven't stopped because it was hard.

@OddSocksandRainbowDocs

Im ok thank you after meds and therapy!

Thing is I had to be in hospital anyway because I was so poorly and I got tons of breastfeeding support I can't fault it. I didn't stop breastfeeding because of lack of support I stopped because it was destroying me mentally and physically.

I don’t think I mentioned formula.

But that's what the comments were in reference to 🤷🏼‍♀️

As above...the statement isn't a judgement call...it is a scientific fact...

Breast IS best...whether you choose to or don't manage it is neither here nor there...thebstatement is still accurate..

@RavenPaws My daughter also slept through at 8 weeks old as I stopped waking her up for a feed, we began weaning her at 5 months old and sometimes I just plonk her in front of the TV for 5 minutes so I can get things done. I mean, come on, that's brave

"Fed is best" is such a crass statement. Obviously Breast is best and it's a rarity that women can not breast feed.

The support is dire. I did manage to breastfeed but only after a fight because my baby couldn't due to tongue tie so severe. Would have been much easier to have switched to formula.

Breast is always best, there’s no two ways about it. You can’t argue against it - it’s biological fact.

Your feelings of guilt do not change the fact that breastfeeding is best for babies.

I struggled to breastfeed to and it upset me. That doesn't make it not true that breastfeeding is best, it is best even if someone is unable to.

@Lovelystuff Yes toecurling is the most accurate description. I had to count back from 30 because the pain was so bad. Alllll I ever heard/read was "he mustn't be latched on properly" 🙄🙄🙄 Yet sooooo many mothers had this red-raw nips stage.

Then gradually over a few weeks it becomes so natural..And that let-down feeling when you're super full and baby just laps it all up...amazingg

Whether you like the phrase Breast is Best or not, the truth is it is.

Not a single one of my friends breastfed when ds was a baby 18 years ago, a few work colleagues did. Without the promotion/education information I saw, was given and read I probably wouldn't have tried it.

The problem is, it is impossible to promote breast feeding has significant benefits for your babies health without some mothers hearing you will be a failure and your child will suffer if you don't (which no-one is saying).

Removing the promotion of the benefits would be very wrong as it would result in less mothers giving it a go.

When people say fed is best, they usually mean 'formula feeding was a better option than the hell show of struggling to breastfeed given the abysmal support system for breastfeeding in the uk'. Which it often is.

That doesn't change the fact that breastmilk is objectively better as a nutritional source for babies. It has components in it that formula does not have, it sets up the baby's gut and immune system and helps reduce risk of disease, it supports brain development. Breastmilk is flavoured by the mother's diet so babies also start weaning with taste preferences that make them keener to try things. It reduces risk of disease and obesity later in life. It reduces cancer and depression risk for the mother. It has evolved over millions of years to support human life. Whereas formula is made from cow's milk and evolved for calves.

I wish people would concentrate their energies on removing the barriers to breastfeeding (better support, change in culture, understanding of benefits) rather than sniping about it as if it was a battle between women who breastfeed and women who don't.