Breastfeeding vs Formula Feeding

Many people feel very strongly about bottle feeding and breastfeeding, but I wanted to write a quick top 5 list about the benefits of both options. Here goes:

Formula Feeding:

1. Anybody can feed your baby and at 3am that’s really awesome
2. You always know how much your baby is eating
3. You can drink tequila and smoke peyote to your heart’s content
4. Formula is harder to digest than breastmilk so your baby stays fuller (aka asleep) longer
5. You can wear anything because you don’t have to worry about boob access

Breast Feeding

1. Technically speaking, it’s the way we’re designed to feed babies
2. Nothing gets much cheaper than free
3. Convenient and fast – you can never forget it at home and nothing silences a crying baby like an instant boob
4. It’s easier to digest (aka less crying) than formula
5. Your antibodies pass to the baby so it boosts their immune system

Now, you may already have a good idea of what you’d like to do once your baby is born but keep an open mind about this one. If you can breastfeed, I say give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, don’t beat yourself up about it. Both are completely acceptable ways to feed your kid including a little bit of both (do I hear the shrill of a public health nurse screaming “nipple confusion!!”?)

Depending on where you live there will probably be pressure to do one or the other. I’ve read about women being asked to leave an establishment  because they were breastfeeding but I’ve also known people who peeled the labels off formula cans so they wouldn’t be ridiculed for bottle feeding.

I honestly believe there’s a special place in hell for people that make a women feel like shit about the way she chooses to feed her child. Folks need to recognize that every woman wants what’s best for her baby and they aren’t helping the situation by adding to her doubt and fears. (Insert Little House on the Prairie type music here). I’ve done said what I feel is right. Go on now, be gone with ya.

P.S. Here are two links to sites that I think really have a good, non-crazy grasp on both sides of the issue: Fearless Formula Feeder and KellyMom.

Related:

Exposing the Truth Behind 6 Breastfeeding Myths

and, because balance…

When Breastfeeding Just Isn’t Going to Happen