To think formula is better than breast milk

[chardonm]

If you eat terribly?

I ebf, and my baby refuses to take a bottle. I had a bit of a terrible day of eating (no veggies, ice cream, etc)

Surely this has to be worse than feeding formula with all the right nutrients?

nope your diet doesn't really have much to do with the quality of your breastmilk.
You could eat junk all day every day, and your body would still make the perfect food for your baby (slight exaggeration! - try and eat some veggies once in a while )

don't worry

kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-diet/

No. Breast milk isn't based on what you eat so don't worry about it.

That's not what the evidence shows, to learn about the ingredients within Breast milk the human milk foundation is a good place to look. To learn about the ingredients within formula the first steps nutrition trust has the details. Congratulations on the birth of your baba, precious times however you choose to feed:).

I have three children (6years old, 20 months and 7 months) I set out trying to breastfeed all of them but didn’t last longer than a couple of days with any. I want to make you aware that I am NOT advocating that this is the right thing to do but as soon as I stopped trying to struggle with breastfeeding and gave them a big bottle of formula they instantly slept, stopped crying, put weight on etc. My 6 year old and 20 month old now eat any home cooked meal with no fuss (don’t get me wrong they also have McDonald’s once a fortnight and sweets, biscuits, choc etc as treats after their tea) but formula feeding did them no harm whatsoever and they piled weight on as soon as I switched to it. Bear in mind though that I am quite a slovenly mother and my standards are probably a lot lower than yours! My honest opinion is that breastfeeding is probably a million times better than what I did and even if you eat loads of rubbish yourself your baby will still be better off drinking your milk. I was just lazy and had 2 under 2 and took the easy way out. You could breastfeed and maybe top up with a bit of formula if that would give you peace of mind but I defo don’t think you should give up breastfeeding altogether XX

No, it doesn't work like that, but it doesn't stop some people from thinking it does, and/or using it as rationale not to do it (not that anyone needs a specific rationale, but YKWIM).

Babies are tiny, adorable parasites and will get what they need barring actual malnutrition on your part.

Eat some proper food for you, not the small person.

Your milk is still nutritionally superior to formula milk.

Your breast milk will be fine for your baby on practically any diet (as long as you are consuming sufficient liquid and calories, which can affect supply); however, producing breast milk is fairly draining on a mother’s body and YOU could end up mineral and vitamin deficient if you don’t eat in a relatively balanced way... I learned the hard way, and had bad cramps from a magnesium deficiency for months!

Unless you are severely malnourished, your breast milk is not affected and it is better than formula - all scientific and medical evidence supports this. Your body will extract nutrients from itself and even calcium from your bones if you do not consume enough from food sources. Baby will not suffer.

However you should take care of yourself for your sake and so you have the energy to care for your little one!

Oh thanks for the reassurance everyone!

I promise not every day is like that. But when looking back at what I ate today I felt a bit shit about what I was indirectly feeding my little one... (no choice though as he refuses the bottle)

The body will take what nutrients it needs to make breast milk FIRST - if you eat poorly while breastfeeding, you will suffer more than the quality of your breastmilk.

Your diet does have some effect on the breastmilk, but not in basic nutrients - more in flavour, it appears. Research has shown that flavours can come through in breastmilk, peaking between 1.5 and 3 hours after the mother has eaten whatever the flavour came from.
www.parentingscience.com/flavors-in-breast-milk.html for one piece on this.

BTW I notice a lot of women here saying their EBF baby doesn't take a bottle. I went back to work with two EBF babies and the trick is for mummy to be totally absent. Babies are smart - why would they take a bottle when the fresh option is right there on mum's chest? With one of my children I had to leave the house completely or else she'd refuse the bottle.

Extra calories, calcium, fat, and some sugar for energy. I’d say ice cream is perfect for a breast feeding mom, enjoy!

Brooks - sadly I've tried that. When he is at nursery he doesn't eat anything, period and just waits for me. Thank you though - at this point I'd take any suggestions.

I EBF for 6 months and my dd also totally refused the bottle, even when I tried expressing - I totally agree with @brookshelly (I didn't make myself absent tho, just stopped following the advice that it should be a slow progression 'mixing' bottle with breast) - she was always going to go for the breast knowing that they were on hand!

It took 3 days, a lot of wasted formula and a lot of calm patience but she took little by little and figured it out quite quickly - it was so hard not to just offer the breast though, but that was more me than her.

I think you need to make the switch before nursery tho? He will be looking to you for a feed, Breast or bottle?

Brooks - sadly I've tried that. When he is at nursery he doesn't eat anything, period and just waits for me. Thank you though - at this point I'd take any suggestions.

But did you try just leaving him at nursery with bottles? Or did you do a transition beforehand where you left the house and DH/your mum/whoever attempted to give bottles in a familiar environment?

Also have you tried a cup? Not sure how old he is but one friend's daughter never accepted a bottle but started taking expressed milk from a cup at 5 months.

We tried both. Me leaving the house and DH offering the bottle to DS.

As it didn't work, I thought - ok maybe at nursery it will work. Seven hours later nursery calls me to pick him up saying he has not eaten anything.

Apart from alcohol, I don’t think much of what you eat goes into the milk. Your body will deplete your supplies first.

My DS also refuses the bottle and the sippy cup. I’ve been back at work for a good while now and he mostly waits for me; nursery or his dad even have to syringe in milk. He’s also not bothered about solids despite a couple of months of trying to feed him nice things. It’s a huge worry for me, although DS seems happy enough

brookshelley some babies really wont take a bottle. My mother and and the nursery staff both assumed DH and I just weren’t being persistent enough and explained that they would manage to get DD to take one. And they never did- didn’t matter if I left, they used fresh ebm, frozen and heated, formula etc. Didn’t matter what bottle/tear/cup- if it was milk it had to come directly from the breast. She refused her first bottle at 3 weeks old and never took one. (She’s now almost 5 so she was fine!).

OP agree with others, don’t worry about a bad days eating!

Unless your bad diet includes crack cocaine I wouldn’t worry

Rinceoir yes well babies are little people, some are stubborn ones! My friend who was really struggling did find an open top cup was what worked funny enough.

Doesn't work like that OP. Breastmilk is made from your blood and body stores. So it's only damaging you if you eat shit.

Don’t worry. Tbh even alcohol passes through milk in negligible amounts. It’s roughly the same as blood level. You’d have to be drunk to the point of being very ill for any significant amount to pass to baby.

Jesus I hope yabu! My diet is far from exemplary and I’m bfing my 9mo. I mean, I guess hundreds of years ago women wouldn’t have had access to quality food, or any food, all the time and they all fed their babies, (or had wet nurses), as there was no other option...? They also probably drank more ale than water during pregnancy and bfing and we all made it this far as a species 🤷‍♀️. Obviously, I’m not recommending that though!