Is breast really best?

[sneakypanda90]

Hello all,

About to become a first time mum. For many reasons I've pretty much decided I'll be formula feeding however baby isn't here till the end of September and I still have a pretty open mind to how she's fed changing.

However, in doing some more research just now I've discovered that breastfed babies need vitamin D drops??
Soooo, if 'breast is best' and give the baby everything they need, surely you wouldn't need to supplement?
Do you see my point? I find the information on breast feeding wildly exaggerated and how a little contradictory which just adds to my thoughts of 'whatever' when someone's going on at me about breastfeeding.

I’ve been criticised on this thread as being selfish/less good parent for positively deciding to use formula from day one. Thank goodness Mn wasn’t around then.

Can you quote post? Actual demands posters justify themselves?

From a purely nutritional point of view, breastmilk is hands down better than formula.

If you take a more rounded view of individual circumstances, formula is sometimes a better option.

Not that hard really.

Not right now as I’m a bit busy, but if you search my posts on this thread you will see where I challenged them directly

I've seen one poster asking why anyone would not give it a go, on a thread asking about and fully discussing the benefits, directly stating she isn't asking for a justification. I don't think that's demanding a justification.

Yes, I thought you might be the kind of person who thought that was acceptable.

saying “I’m not asking for justification” while doing just that is a bit like saying “no offence but” and then saying something offensive. You aren’t let off.

The 'kind of person'? Any need for insults?

This is the problem with this kind of debate. You can't debate, question or discuss without causing offence or getting personal insults. It's about feeding babies and it is a valid question on a thread entirely about the decision between FF and BF. Fair enough I wouldn't ask it in the supermarket, but on a MN thread literally about this issue? Why post on a discussion board if discussion is not allowed?

I mean, I wouldn't say to a mum, 'why aren't you BFing', but if she joined in a conversation about why I am, to say she didn't even consider it, would it be offensive to say oh, how come?

I wouldn’t ask another mother they feeding choices - nothing to do with me. Only children I’m interested in how they are fed are my own.

19.03 yesterday

In a discussion about feeding methods? That you voluntarily entered? Okay.

Its worth saying too that within the demographics that don't bf, women who do are sometimes shamed for it, just as ff mothers say they feel shamed. People who dont bf are often quite aggressive, in my experience, about calling women who do bf dusgusting, perverted and snobbish. I knew a young woman from a v working class background who had a lot of pressure from her husband and wider family not to bf - she became a bf counsellor but she had years of grief. Women who bf for a long time are particularly criticised. It isn't all one way.

That poster is trolling. 200 odd posts of support for either method then one troll - she doesn't negate decades of snide advertising and comments about BF, especially as @SharonEllis says, to those of us who feed longer than a few weeks.

I don’t think you understand what trolling means. That’s a poster stating her opinion that many people agree with, that doesn’t make her a troll. She’s also not asking for justification, just stating her view.

Feed how you want to feed OP it's a simple as that.

The research is widely available if you so wish to go read it. Formula is also fine but it's never going to contain antibodies as it simply can't, Formula is fortified as other posters have explained. Vitamin D requirement is more because most adults in the UK have poor vitamin D levels and the advice to give vitamin D from birth if breastfeeding is relatively new - it was from 6 months for my eldest who is 4 now.

I breastfed both my DS's and whilst the early days came with some challenges the benefits outweighed the negatives for me especially because it was free. But also I didn't have to plan loads to get out the house and could easily go on little breaks, day trips or holidays without packing loads.

I don't give two hoots about how a woman chooses to feed her baby it's what works best for your own set up.

The reason why the 'breast is best' is banded about is because from a babies individual needs perspective, for the majority of babies, it is due to the way the body produces milk which is tailor made to that individual baby and the real time conditions within a few hours from weather to exposure to illnesses. So for example on a hot day breastmilk is more 'thirst quencher'.
Nutritionally there is nothing wrong with Formula but it cannot replicate that and it's consistently the same.

This topic is really fascinating me as I wanted to formula feed DD3 for a multitude of reasons, felt guilty about it and initially breastfed her! Long story short, baby was starving, topped up with formula while still in hospital - and gradually moved to EFF. She’s 5 week and perfect! Tracking us around the room, able to lift her head up for several minutes, babbling a bit, sleeping, no reflux, gaining weight etc, etc.

I EBF DD2 for 27 months. It was bloody hard, no sleep until just after her second birthday, and she only weaned when my milk dried up when 12 weeks pregnant. She has CMPA and a soy allergy. She’s equally bright and perfect, but I believe the antibiotics I was taking when breastfeeding her in the early weeks sensitised her to those proteins (altering gut bacteria etc), she was also ‘dairy’d’ countless times through my milk when I unknowingly consumed it via a takeaway or something. Anyway, it was damn hard, and she managed to still catch colds etc, etc. Did the benefits outweigh the toil? No.

DD1 was EBF until 3 months and combi-fed until 6. She’s a teen now and recoils in horror at the thought of ever been breastfed.

No difference long-term between breastfed or formula. And I would argue many of the differences come down to other variables at play - education level of the parents, support systems, and so on.

Do what you’re comfortable with, all your baby needs is your love and care (+ nourishment in whatever form).

Read somewhere that actually it's just the first three days colostrum that's actually really beneficial. After that it's not that much better overall. The thing is it's much more tiring for you. If you do it and love it and it's easy of course do it. If you don't find it easy drop it. Share the feeding with husband.

Interesting…where did you read this completely incorrect information?

Breast milk is better overall if you can do it, but formula is an adequate substitute. I don’t know anyone who didn’t find it work/difficult to establish but there are positives that make it worthwhile.

Agree it’s not always best in some circumstances:

• If mum is finding it too difficult and painful at a time when her mental health is already fragile
• baby isn’t getting enough from breast and they are losing too much weight

then I think it’s sometimes better for mum and baby to switch to formula and they are both happy.
there are benefits of breastfeeding so definitely give it a try and if it works well then brilliant, but in my opinion it’s not a big deal to use formula and the benefits of breastfeeding are hugely exaggerated in developed countries with access to safe water, sterilising etc.

There’s tons of evidence that points to breast feeding being better so you don’t really need to guess. We can’t always do the absolute optimum as parents and formula is a close second best.

Some of us didn’t want to bf and used formula from day one. We’re very lucky to have an amazing substitute.

From a nutritional perspective, barring any allergies, of course breast milk is better for babies. Statistically BF babies are less likely to die of SIDS, have fewer infections, lower rates of certain cancers etc. Direct breastfeeding is also better for the development of the jaw and palate.

Obviously breastfeeding can be quite challenging to establish and requires a certain amount of persistence. It’s not worth losing your sanity over if it’s not going well, but it’s worth attempting.

I’m sorry I don’t understand the point you are trying to make?

The point is that we have a choice and babies will thrive on either bf or formula.