Breastfeeding and bottles

Written on January 24, 2008 by admin

I just finished reading an article in the February edition of the BabyTalk magazine about mixing breast and bottle feeding. The article makes it sound like it’s no big deal which is completely bogus and made me so upset. It appears to me that the whole idea of this article is to make it easier for moms not to feel “guilty” about bottle feeding and not wanting to breastfeed exclusively. In my opinion the reasons for why a woman chooses a bottle over breast is because they haven’t received the proper support from the beginning as to how to breastfeed and what should be expected. I’ve delivered 2 babies and I have to say that the hospital staff in both cases (2 different hospitals) varied tremendously on their knowledge about breastfeeding. Unfortunately I don’t have the confidence that the staff in the hospitals around the US really is adequately equipped to support a woman who wants to exclusively breastfeed due to constant push by the formula companies with free formula samples etc.

The article also talks about how nice it is for the dad to be able to give an occasional bottle and how that’s good for bonding. The fact is that a woman was created with the ability to breastfeed not a man and for that reason alone, the mother is the primary care taker for a long time by nature. The father has several years to work on the bonding with the baby and one bottle here or there won’t help that bonding. It just confuses the baby who is looking for the mother and the breast to give him comfort. I’ve also heard that some women like it when the dad can do some of the night time feedings etc. The unfortunate fact is that having children is not easy and it was not meant to be easy so if a woman is not ready to have several sleepless nights, then maybe she is not ready for a baby. The time when a newborn needs a constant closeness and mother to feed every hour or so is so little in the child’s life that it certainly should not be a reason for a mother to choose to give a bottle especially one that has formula in it.
Now there are times when breastfeeding doesn’t start off the right way and a woman is forced to pump and bottle feed while trying to work on improving the breastfeeding situation. This actually happened to me with our second even though I considered myself to be a pro at it after nursing one child for 2 1/2 years. I had to pump and work really hard to get my baby to learn to breastfeed. It was difficult but all worth it. Everything worked out great due to wonderful support and guidance I received from a lactation consultant (Susan at Dr. Sears’ office).

When a mother returns to work, the baby obviously has to receive bottles during the day when the mother is at work but as long as this happens later in the baby’s life, it won’t affect the breastfeeding as much. The fact that women are expected to return to work at 6 weeks post-partum speaks to the problem we have in America and the lack of general awareness and knowledge about breastfeeding. A 6 week-old baby is not ready to be “weaned” from his mother during the day to be bottle fed by someone other than the mother. This is great rule for the formula manufactures because so many women won’t even bother trying to pump at work especially if they are not given a proper place and time to do it during the work day. I’m a working mother so I know first hand what it’s like to work and pump at work and juggle the pumping and breastfeeding. It might sound like a lot but it’s an investment you are making for your child’s future and it’s all worth it. Going back to work is no reason to quit breastfeeding and for sure is no reason to not to breastfeed from birth knowing that the mother will be going to work. Sharing those special moments after work while breastfeeding your baby makes all the difference in the world and helps the mother and baby to bond and take back some lost time. The bottom line is that I wish the society would be more pro-breastfeeding and the health care professionals would be more educated about breastfeeding and how to encourage and help mothers to succeed with breastfeeding. It’s proven to be way superior to formula in all the levels imaginable (nutrition, IQ, mental development etc) yet the formula companies have such a hold on the general public that more women choose the formula over convenient and free breastmilk just because they don’t know any better or are brainwashed to think there is no harm of giving bottles of formula to babies. Articles like this mentioned earlier also speaks to how the American public is conditioned to think this way. Since I’m from Finland I can say that the mentality there is very different and working mothers are being supported very differently than here in the US to assure that the mother and baby get off in a good start and can share what nature intended for mothers and babies.

Posted in Breastfeeding