Breastfeeding. Should there be a choice?

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

Geez, not even the pop-ups can keep up with this conversation!!!

Rosie - posted on 05/02/2011

I just don't understand how not even trying constitutes laziness or selfishness. Maybe people have heard stories of being up nonstop feeding for months, maybe they know they can't physically or emotionally handle that. Why put yourself through the hardship of trying and failing of something that is supposed to be this magical wonderful passage into motherhood? So they can feel like even bigger failures because of other peoples judgmental attitudes? People know what they are capable of, they don't need strangers telling them what THEY think they are capable of.

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

Mel, a baby doesn't NEED solids at 6 months. The intent of solids at 6 months is to experiment and try things out. It in NO WAY replaces any of the nutritional benefits of breastfeeding or formula feeding. if it did, we would need our children experimenting with solids earlier, but we don't need that. Our babies don't need the nutritional benefits of solids at 6 months.



My daughter didn't really take solids until 8 months. She's not screwed up. She eats anything these days.

Esther - posted on 05/02/2011

@ Corrie - You may want to reread my post. I said that the benefits are real. I did not deny that. I just deny that they are as earthshattering as you would like to believe. I don't think any woman should ever have to justify her choice to breastfeed or not. It is entirely HER choice. She is under no obligation to try if she does not want to for whatever reason. Whether that be a reason you approve of or not.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 05/02/2011

Corrie, sorry but it really impresses the hell out of me that you have actually alienated yourself with the big pro breasfeeders in the bunch. That is how negative your "argument" is coming across.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 05/02/2011

Corrie -"But the answer "i don't want to" isn't acceptible. It's translates as "too lazy" to me.
Not for all no. But for most who just choose to formula feed cos they can buy it off a shelf and 'Save their figure, the bother, the time" Is shit.

Non of your business, and judgmental. Why do you really care? REALLY?????? Is it becouse you suffered yourself with all these problems and you still breastfed? Do you feel like it is an injustice for someone not to go through what you did and just "take the easy way out"? I mean, really....that is some quite high horse you are sitting upon.

Sarah - posted on 05/02/2011

Ooooh, you've got to love a breastfeeding debate! ;)

I didn't breastfeed either of my girls. In fact, I barely even tried.......I could write out all the reasons for that, some of you that know me on here may have heard my reasons before, but to be quite honest, I'm past the point of feeling the need to justify why I didn't breastfeed. It just doesn't matter that much to me.

I genuinely don't care that a breastfed baby MAY have a slightly better immune system than my girls......I don't care that they may score a couple of points higher on an IQ test, or that people may think that I'm less bonded to them (which is the biggest load of shite I've ever heard in my entire life btw)

I understand there are benefits to breastfeeding, I understand that "breast is best" (you would need to living under a rock to not have that shoved down your throat a few times!) but......in the long run......for me and my family, formula was best and that's all people really need to know.

I fully support breastfeeding, I think it's fantastic and hats off to those of you that succeeded, you should be proud.......but......to those of you who think lecturing and patronising and having a go at formula feeding Mum's id going to help your cause.........I've got news for you, it won't! The insane pressure put on women these days to breastfeed, I feel, is part of the problem.

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

Holy shit, this thread is moving so fast I can't even keep up with reading it, let alone responding..... :P

Mel - posted on 05/02/2011

Lisa - I could find you a tone of sites that will tell you, your baby NEEDS solids from 6 months. Heck I just came across one the other day when looking up baby led weaning, one how breast milk doesnt provide enough iron after 4-6 months. But I dont really want to debate this any further tonight, because you are quite set in your ways and beliefs so theres not really any point. I will only debate the original statement. No offence intended. I apologise

Corrie - posted on 05/02/2011

If someone feels the need to fuel their argument with other things such as feeding junk food, feeding organic food. using Disposable nappies and weaning early they're missing the point. Every mother does things differently, for different reasons, but there are some things which have more reason than others to be done. The benefits WELL outweight the negatives. Not for all women.
AGAIN.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 05/02/2011

You know what a valid reason to me for a women FF her child?????? Any reason at all.

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

Corrie, just for the record, I recognise your change of mind with respect to you OP :) Just thought I should put that out there in case it was lost - that tends to happen sometimes in a heated debate.



However, I do have to question - what do you consider a valid reason, and who made you the police of that?

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

Geez, this conversation got totally insane.

Why the fuck is it ANYONE's business how ANYONE fed their baby? Why do people feel the need to judge that? Why can't we all just be fucking happy that people are feeding their babies and loving them? Why can't we just all agree that we all KNOW the physical benefits of breastfeeding (unless you live under a fucking rock), and just assume we have all (each and every one of us) has made the best choice for our babies given our individual circumstances?

Minnie - posted on 05/02/2011

No Mel, you are being judgemental. Because by saying you're -not- a 'crazy selfish mother- you're implying that mothers who waited until their infants showed signs of wanting solids (and many don't until later than nine months) are crazy and selfish.



It seems to me that sometimes you interpret the recommendations your way and not exactly the way they read, based on your interpretation of introduction of solid foods that Jodi linked for you to the ABA.

~♥Little Miss - posted on 05/02/2011

Ok, I cannot find the post by you Corrie, but even when you are softening to the idea that some people make the choice for "valid" reasons, you are STILL extremely judgmental. I messed up MAJORLY while BF my daughter. How do you ask? Becouse she is 1 year old, and completely hooked. I am not just milk, I am a goddamed pacifier. I attempted giving her a bottle at 3 months, I really should have introduced on at 1 month. If I would have know what my life was gonna be like now WAY back then, I maybe NEVER would have breastfed. Call me selfish, call me what you will. I tend to turn a sudden def ear to judgmental people when it comes to raising my kids.

Then the argument of how long it takes to bottle feed....what a crock of shit. You know how much time I devote in my day to breastfeeding? It is fucking unreal dude. I so wish I could get a break. Why can't I? Becouse my daughter outright refuses anything but breast milk. She will take water out of a straw sippy cup...but nothing else...not EVEN pumped breast milk. It is so time consuming, and my tailbone is actually bruised from the amount of time I am sitting on it. I am lucky if I get to go into my own bed to sleep even once a week for a couple of hours. Don't try to feed me the bullshit that breastfeeding is easy. It isn't. It is time consuming, painful, makes for a tired mommy ALL the time. I also breastfed my son, but he was on the bottle by 3 months so I COULD get a break when I needed it.

Jenni - posted on 05/02/2011

It's like saying: I'm don't hate foreigners... I'm just PO'd they keep taking our jobs.

Corrie - posted on 05/02/2011

I'm the original poster. And if you took the time to read everything i've written since, you'd know i've changed a lot of my stance on the original post because i was heated. It's a debate.
I suffered horrendously with PND. I have Bi-polar. I was referred to a Mother and baby unit. I was told i had a 1 in 2 chance of developing PP and trying to kill myself or my child.
Don't make assumptions. It makes and ASS out of U and ME.
I will repeat for what is probably the tenth time. I do NOT judge women for formula feeding. I judge them for NOT TRYING to breast feed when they do NOT have a valid reason.
All this Molestation and Rape and Abuse talk is just talking about the extremes. Pure psychological reasons for not feeding your child are acceptible, understandable and perfectly justifiable.

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

"I'm not a formula hater, I've never made any formula feeding moms in my life feel like I'm judging them, but the reasons I hear are appalling! "

And right there, you are judging them.

Seriously, you are!

Think about it.

Mel - posted on 05/02/2011

Im sorry Rebecca Im not heartless but I really dont see how breast feeding could bring up those images.

Corrie - posted on 05/02/2011

And Esther, are you denying the benefits of breast feeding?? The 'downsides', as you call it, are only due to misinformation!!!!!!!!!!!
Inconveniance... I don't understand it! If my child needs food, out comes my god damn breast because that is what it's made for.
It's because of our over sexed freaking sociaty that women no longer associate their own bodies as the temples they are, as the natural source of food for their children. NOT ALL THE TIME, i'm not saying we're baby machines and purely on this earth for child bearing, but COME ON!
Inability, again, you don't know until you try. And i'm trying to promote TRYING. Too many people have no excuse for NOT trying. And it annoys me.
Yeah ultimatly it's up to them.
"But the answer "i don't want to" isn't acceptible. It's translates as "too lazy" to me.
Not for all no. But for most who just choose to formula feed cos they can buy it off a shelf and 'Save their figure, the bother, the time" Is shit.

Mel - posted on 05/02/2011

no Lisa, Ive just got common sense. Im not a crazy selfish mother so I dont deprive my kid of anything. Its not about the way *I* personally did it. Its about what is right for a baby, which everyone shouldo know, but alot of breast feeding nazis chose to ignore the reccomendations, I have found on some of the breast feeding sites

Rebecca - posted on 05/02/2011

Perhaps, I don't want to be in your village. I prefer a village that is less involved in what I do with my boobies.

And it is obvious the original poster has never had PPD. If a woman feels that trying to breastfeed would increase her PPD - that is her choice. How does looking down on that choice as lazy or not an excuse promoting that family's happiness. Seems to me the only thing that is promoting is you feeling "better than".

Do you get that some women feel that they will harm their children in the throws of PPD? If bfing increases that, how is that f'in good for the baby or mother?

And if a victim of molestation or childhood rape tells me that she can't bf because it brings up images of those events....who the fuck am I to say she is just being lazy and needs to get over it?

Seriously, get over yourself.

Tah - posted on 05/02/2011

This reeks of judgement and condescension. I breastfed and bottle fed and it concerned no one but myself and my children. I always wonder who in the world people think they are when they sit on their bf, natural birth etc. Thrones and tell other mothers how much their choices suck. I only read a couple post on this page and could not even continue I was so heated. Saying that your friends are too lazy to try etc. Did you ever think that's why they bs you, because you sit around judging their choices for their children. You would be the ex-friend and are probably well on your way. I wish people who knew it all could have their own planet....do they know how to make that happen?....why can't people support and respect other peoples choices for whatever reason they make them, or mind their own business.....all viable options....

Corrie - posted on 05/02/2011

Yeah, thats BS. I'm not saying NEVER FEED WITH FORMULA. Anyone who has a half intelligent health provider will tell you that if your child isn't gaining weight, and is fractious and unhappy, and adusting a Bf doesn't work, then suppliment. But giving up at the first hurdle is just fecked up.

Minnie - posted on 05/02/2011

Or people who are that obssessed with breast feedsing and being their baby's only source of food they refuse the poor thing solids for 9 months or longer risking thier health and development.



Oh, please. :/



I believe similarly to Erin- I'm supportive of women's reproductive rights- and within that frame is a woman's right to breastfeed her baby or not. Would I prefer every woman to breastfeed her child? Of course. But they shouldn't be forced.



But regarding my comment above, Mel, you seem just as judgemental of breastfeeding mothers as you do formula feeding. It seems that the only 'right' way to formula or breastfeed is the way you personally did it.

Esther - posted on 05/02/2011

I love how it's just assumed that women who choose not to breastfeed must be uninformed and if only the pro-breastfeeding crowd was more vigilant about educating other women we'd all breastfeed. Please, if I get any more informed on breastfeeding I may scream. Perhaps those women were informed that the benefits of breastfeeding, although real, are seriously overstated and made an informed calculation that the benefits did not outweigh the downsides, whatever they may have been in their experience (inconvenience, inability, etc.)

Laura Zoey - posted on 05/02/2011

Ok I only have one point I'm going to touch on,
Lots of people say all that matters is healthy mom and healthy baby who cares what baby gets fed.
Ok so if formula really does increase risk of diabetes obesity allergies asthma gastrointestinal problems, respiratory problems, constipation, reflux, childhood cancers, etc
And if not breastfeeding does really increase moms risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, etc
Then how is it an argument to say feeding formula doesn't matter because all we should care about is a healthy happy mom and baby?

I don't get that.

If anything else, formula is an artificially made food, and breastmilk is a naturally occurring food and I'm sure we all can agree that processed artificial foods aren't as good for our bodies as whole natural foods.

Sure the problems that could be from formula are usually small, and usually rare. But in whole I don't think we can claim that formula is guerentees to create the same healthy mom and baby.

And why do 'we' care what another woman feeds her baby? Well 'we' care because we feel a love of humanity and care about every human on the planet. That's why people support people in other countries, or give to food banks, or work in free soup kitchen type places. We care about people. So if someone thinks that formula really does increase risks of all these problems then why would they not be concerned when they see moms making misinformed or uninformed choices to formula feed.

It's sort of the whole 'it takes a village' mentality. We care about every baby as if it were our own, babies are precious and no one wants to see a baby being treated as second to it's moms whims.

I'm not a formula hater, I've never made any formula feeding moms in my life feel like I'm judging them, but the reasons I hear are appalling! I think it comes down to the general idea that formula is almost equal. If I believed formula was equal to breastmilk I would have been feeding my son formula a long time ago.

Mel - posted on 05/02/2011

@ Ashley I agree there why cant people just be honest Im sick to death of hearing my friends excuses. If your just to lazy to put the effort in or dont want to breast feed say that dont sit there and bullshit me and others. That drives me insane. They sit there making every excuse in the book as to why they couldnt BF when everyone knows they just didnt want to

Jodi - posted on 05/02/2011

I think you should have to get a prescription to feed your children any junk, high sugar, deep fried or convenience food. This includes any baked goods containing white flour. Ooh, so you now have to get a prescription for any bread except the wholegrain variety? How do you sit with that?

Mel - posted on 05/02/2011

I think kathy Sutherland made an excellent comment. I think alot of people on here seem to dig at or name call people who are pro breast feeding because they may be upset they coudlnt do it themselves and just know in general that person is right in what they are saying. Every baby does deserve the best possible start in life. Just because we are pro breast feeding doesnt make us bad crazy people, because of course we understand the situations where people cant breast feed, unhappy motehr unhappy baby, if mummy is depressed, feeding is uposetting her, shes struggling to cope with being tired (not good to be so tired you cant manage your baby you could lose control, you could fall asleep with baby etc), bbay is hungry, losing weight, unhappy etc these are all completely valid reasons. I see alot of people espeically on that breast feeding group who abuse or bitch about people who want to wean before 12 months or want to top up with formula. So wrong. Or people who are that obssessed with breast feedsing and being their baby's only source of food they refuse the poor thing solids for 9 months or longer risking thier health and development.

Corrie - posted on 05/02/2011

Good to see so many people have a strong opinion on this!
I apologise (Again) for coming across as demonising formula and apparently criticising mothers who use it.
I suppose taking away the opening post (which i've totally changed my mind about) wouldn't help?
Everyone makes valid points.
Hence the debate.
And like i said, i regret writing what i wrote because i meant to suggest strongly that all mothers should try. Unless there is a valid reason.
Lots of people have said
"Why do you care!?"
And
"How is it your business??"
I agree, other children, other mothers, not my choice. But i also think promoting what is best is the way to go about things!!!
I perhaps didn't go about it the right way.
And again, for that i am sorry.
I don't hate mothers who choose to bottle feed. I hate that they choose to do that without the proper information or valid reasons. Anyone who has a personal reason, i'm in total agreement. I really don't think formula should be prescription only..... i was being totally over the top.
The most important thing is a happy mother and a healthy child and i think breastfeeding in general helps to do that more than formula. I am a basic LC. I've done training, and i always try to gently encourage women to breastfeed. I strongly encourage them to at least try, but if a mother tries and fails, even with help, i have no problem whatsoever. You can totally take PPD out of it. Because that isn't a reason NOT to try. It's only sometimes a reason to stop. If a mother choses not to try because "She just doesn't feel like it" it upsets me!! That was the reason for the post.
It don't think mothers should be crucified for NOT Bfeeding. I don't think it makes them any less loving and caring to use formula.
Really.
But i'm glad people got to voice their opinions. Letting out a little anger is good for the soul....

Nikki - posted on 05/02/2011

I have one formula fed baby, he was formula from day 1- he is never sick, outside the normal colds and school age stuff. My daughter who was EXCLUSELY breast fed for the first 6 weeks, has EE (look it up, its long and easy to mis spell) she is failure to thrive, has severe excema, allergic to just about everything. So tell me which is best. My son does have autism but he also had a traumatic birth, so formula had nothing to do with it. but my daughter he was breast fed has all these health issues.

Mel - posted on 05/02/2011

I agree with Penny about feeding when out - much harder with breast feeding. Im pro breast feeding but it is a pain in the ass. Its like have to go to a toilet when there no parent rooms, to a car, you cant jst feed your baby at the park without a bunch of people around, more annoying you have to wear those damn breast feeding bras which make it so my bra shows with every single top I wear. When you FF you can just give baby a bottle while you eat your lunch at the shops , you cant just do that with breast feeding. Yes theres so many down sides to breast feeding but they are all just inconveniences which shouldnt even be an issue when you become a mother because you are there to do the right thing by your baby. You wont always be breast feeding so live with those inconveniences for a short time while your baby is young. Im not anti formula, as most of you know. I COULD have chosen to express for my first child and keep up my supply until they worked out what wass going on, but I didnt any milk I was pumped after starting formula was to stop the pain and it went down the sink. Im not 100% crazy, just pro breastfeeding to an extent. To an extent where like I said if its possible dont maske up excuses do it. Most people on here have had valid reasons. How the hell is being molested one of those? I dont see how feeding your baby shoudl be connectted to anything like that.

Yep formula fills the baby up - because its hard for thier little bodies to break down. I doubt some of you have done full research into how bad formula is for their tiny undeveloped bodies.

Nikki - posted on 05/02/2011

it is MY CHOICE how to feed MY child.

Jen - posted on 05/02/2011

OH Mary, I totally understood that. I was going right along with you. ;)

Erin - posted on 05/02/2011

I truly just don't know why people need to involve themselves in other people's decisions. I loved breastfeeding, and would likely still be feeding my 2yo if my health hadn't failed me. But how another mother chooses to feed her child is simply none of my business. I may not agree with that choice, but I don't have to.

I am usually up for a good breastfeeding debate, but this sort of discussion crosses the line from simply arguing the merits of breastfeeding. It invalidates women's feelings and choices, and that is not ok.

Mary - posted on 05/02/2011

I apologize (since this is totally off-topic), but Jen, it really is dogs, unless the cats go outside. Here's just one of several articles about it:



http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...



Oh, and while I am a dog owner, my post (in case anyone missed it) was really just a sarcastic pot-shot at those who belittle mothers who, for whatever reason, do not breastfeed. I'm not trying to tell anyone they must get a dog in order to be the perfect parent!

Ashley=) - posted on 05/02/2011

Jennifer what is far more important in motherhood is a happy mother&baby.
You have to do what you feel will bring Happiness in to your relationship with your child.You did just that.
A happy mother is a happy baby and in turn a Happy Family.Do not let anyone make you feel guilty for making a choice to enjoy your baby and the experience of being a mommy..I understand how you feel as you remind me of my experience with my second child.Hugs..you did great and are still doing a great job. ♥

Jen - posted on 05/02/2011

Mary, I am sorry but you are incorrect. Dogs do not do it. Cats do that. That's why all people should have multiple cat households when there are infants around. I have 5 and each one boosts that immunity just a little higher. That must be why my son is healthy as a horse even though he did get the evil formula after 6 months.

Mary - posted on 05/02/2011

To all of you who keep going on and on about breastfeeding and boosting immunities (and implying that those who bottle feed are, at best, ambivalent about their baby's health): I'm going to assume that you are all pet owners as well.



There are numerous studies that state that the presence of an animal in the home (dogs in particular, unless you have an indoor/outdoor cat) during infancy significantly lowers the level of sensitization to inhaled allergens and pollens.



....so, I guess the only logical conclusion is that it is only mothers who breastfeed and have a dog that are "truly" concerned about maximizing their baby's immune systems....right? All of you who don't (or didn't) have a dog living with you during your child's infancy are crap parents who are failing your child miserably, and setting them up for a lifetime of issues....right?



Thank you, dogs, for enabling me to be a superior, sanctimonious, and self-righteous uber-mommy. Apparently, I couldn't have done it without you!

Ashley=) - posted on 05/02/2011

My sister b/f for 2&half years second time around.She had a great experience after the first mth of doing it.She would love all mothers to experience what she did but shes not so silly to think that all will be able to have her experience as thats just not realistic.



Mel it does not matter if there excuses i feel sorry mothers have to make excuses then.Instead of been confident to stand up and say b/f is not something i want to do.I know many from the get go before baby is born stand there ground and i have more respect for them.Why start something they know 100% is not what they want to do.They will not be pressured or made feel guilty and i say hats off.

Jenni - posted on 05/02/2011

I hate to admit this. But another reason I switched was because of the depression and feeling like a failure. It was causing me to have angry thoughts towards my daughter. I also switched out of fear that I might hurt her.

I advocate BFing but the pressures on women who want to breastfeed and can't are immense. We feel like failures when we hear so many bfing advocates say how uncommon it is for a mother not to be able to bf. We feel there must be something wrong with us or we must be doing something wrong. The pressure to bf when you are struggling does more harm than good.

Jen - posted on 05/02/2011

"Now try forcing a mother who doesn't want to BF to go through all that. I think you'll wind up seeing a lot more cases of a PPD mother shaking her baby to death. "

Indeed. I read several posts that said it didn't matter if women didn't like BF because sometimes Moms need to ignore their own feelings for their babies. Nonsense. Start forcing anyone to do this and there will be some very bad consequences.

Jenni - posted on 05/02/2011

Ok. I'm gonna just throw this one out there:

Who cares?

It's not your child. It's not your business.

I struggled to BF both my children. My mother couldn't feed all three of her children past 2 months. My brother and my daughter were 'failure to thrive' before we gave up on lying in bed 24hrs a day with them and bought formula.

It's actually more common than you think.

So please tell me again that I should have to get a *prescription* to *feed* my babies?

I was so unbelievably miserable, depressed and frustrated when I struggled to BF my daughter. I was screaming at everyone. I was so determined to make it work. So stubborn. I made it to 8 months only because I co slept, laid in bed for hours upon hours, pumped after every feed and endured her latching off and on screaming and tearing at my nipple. I switched to formula the month my fears were realized and despite all my efforts she had lost weight that month.

Now try forcing a mother who doesn't want to BF to go through all that. I think you'll wind up seeing a lot more cases of a PPD mother shaking her baby to death.

Stifler's - posted on 05/02/2011

I found it shit bottle feeding. I bottle fed from 3 weeks and I've hated every fucking minute of it. I wanted to be able to nurse my own kid, the reality is that NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO. Get over it. All this bizzo about tax dollars, women aren't good mothers or real women if they don't want to breastfeed is all bullshit... this is the 21st Century. Forcing breastfeeding just causes more problems than it's worth. I'm all for promoting breastfeeding, but if someone doesn't want to then what is the point of debating with them that it's better for the baby, etc. They have enough on their plate with a newborn as it is.

Esther - posted on 05/02/2011

I always hate it when moms feel like they have to justify the parenting choices they made just because their choice is different from someone else's. Formula feeding isn't going to kill any infant, so if a mom chooses not to breastfeed because it's just not her thing, than it is her absolute right to formula feed. I'm not even going to say what choice I made with my son because it's none of anyone's business. I will say that he is now 3 and perfectly happy and healthy and rarely sick so surely that means he was breastfed right? Otherwise he would have certainly been a miserable sickly little kid.

Becky - posted on 05/01/2011

I think every woman "should" try to breastfeed, but I don't think anyone should be forced to try. There are reasons for not trying that I can completely understand, and there are reasons that I can't. But in the end, it's not my child, so it's really not my concern. If a child is healthy, happy and thriving, regardless of how they are being fed, then there is no reason to judge the mother's choice.

Lisa - posted on 05/01/2011

It does cost more money but the rest is rubbish. It is very easy to formula feed a baby. My baby slept better and BOTH of us were alot happier on bottles. How is breast feeding less effort? My nipples were nawed off raw, it hurt like a son of a and I hated it therefore no bonding was happening. The baby gets all the immunity stuff in the colostrum.

I am not really sure where this information is coming from but no physical problems happen in mothers and babies from formula. Formula has been around for Donkey's years it's not like this is a new thing!



I will also add that I did Breastfeed and also tryed pumping for the first 3 months. I didn't have enough milk so babes got my milk and formula.

Kathy - posted on 05/01/2011

Exactly, Kate!

Kate CP - posted on 05/01/2011

I'll be honest: I love nursing. I have mastitis (again) and I still love nursing my son. This will be the second time in three months I've had mastitis and I don't plan on stopping nursing any time soon.

BUT...breast feeding has been REALLY easy for my and my babies. Some women really struggle with it but my kids latched on easily from birth and have been champion nursers all the way through. The only problem I've ever had while nursing is frickin' mastitis. And it SUCKS. If I didn't enjoy nursing my son I would switch to formula in a heartbeat.

But I'm not like every woman. I have heard and read so many stories of women who have struggled and cried and felt guilty because they couldn't nurse. They deserve to feel the love and the bonding with their babies while they bottle feed and no one has the right to take that away from them by saying it's a lesser bond than those who breast feed. I admit that when I run across a woman who says that nursing is gross and she could never stick her boob in a kid's mouth I look at her kinda funny...but that's her opinion and it's her right. And it's my opinion and my right to think she's kinda nuts.

Formula shouldn't be RX only. We SHOULD have better lactation consultants on hand in hospitals and better education for doctors and nurses. But FORCING a woman to nurse makes the whole experience painful and hard. Not to mention a woman who isn't comfortable nursing won't successfully feed her baby. You can't get let-down when you're tense.