Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Options = Wonder

I know I know I know! Breast is best! But, why is breast best if the day I start giving my baby exclusively formula (just to see what will happen) he is happier, considerably less gassy, begins sleeping nine hour nights, and has begun to awe me with that smooth baby face that every baby should have.
So if formula is making my baby happier, why in the world did I make myself a slave to the pump for so many months of my life? I've pumped for all of my children when they were babies. All of them were gassy and colicky for the first few months of their lives. Strangely, they were gassy and colicky for all the months they were receiving breast milk from me. Can there be a connection?
I'm so tired of wondering what I should be doing. If he is happy, I am happy. If he is happier with formula, I am happier with formula. So, even if my freezer is filled to the brim with bags of frozen breast milk, I'm debating whether I will give it to him if it makes him so uncomfortable. I'm just so glad we have options in this day and age. I suppose that long ago there wasn't much wondering going on. There was only one way to feed your baby. So, I guess we wonder a lot more when there are so many options out there.

4 comments:

Code Yellow Mom said...

Options sure do create a lot of questioning, huh?

I'm enjoying and succeeding at breastfeeding for the first time ever - with baby #4.

Some things that my wondering on the same topic brought me to? The true differences between breast and formula are actually so miniscule, magnified by propaganda, and might even have more to do with the fact that the breastfeeding moms in the studies were also the moms more likely to interact in other ways with their children - talking, reading, snuggling, listening, playing, etc. I'm only sharing this because I dehydrated my first baby because he couldn't/wouldn't nurse but I wanted to do everything "right" and was sure that feeding him formula was something a sub-par mom would do. Heh. When we visited the pediatrician, she said, "If you're feeding him, you're doing what a mom should do. I'm going to fill a bottle right now and you are going to sit right here and snuggle him close to you and feed him a bottle. Bottom line is that your baby needs to eat!!" I feel so stupid now, but it really is crazy how we get so convinced that there is a "best" way to do things, when really it might not be the best for us or our baby. Go with what he's showing you - sleep, clear skin, thriving. He's happy and healthy! Take the option that workls for you!

Aimee said...

Well said Code Yellow Mom! With Whitney, I was just one breast infection after another (I think I was allergic to her or something?). After round three of antibiotics, I figured 5 months of torturous nursing was plenty. I'm all for what keeps the baby and mom happy and healthy.

Cameron said...

Christine you know what Robin and Kathy would say. You need to eat Oraganee so your breast milk doesn't effect little Hector like that. Ha ha ha. Hope little turd Hector is doing well. Can't wait to meet him.

skaMEDIA said...

Isn't it funny how nobody tells you just how much hard work it is to breastfeed until AFTER you start having kids? My lil booger is 6 months old now, and took probably the first 5 whole months to learn to nurse properly. I was a slave to the breast pump until just recently (I think you left a comment once on my post about feeling like a total dairy cow!!! LOL).

The thing is, he's always had such a HUGE appetite that I ended up having to supplement with formula quite often, just to fill him up. I'm talking 10-15 ounces a feeding when he was 3-4 months old! Sheesh.

But I think you're right on the money - moms need to feel that it's okay to follow their instincts and do what's best for their own baby. Which is definitely NOT the same thing for every mom, or for every baby.