Baby Formula or Breastmilk?
Choosing how and what to feed your baby is one of the most important and most ridiculed decisions you’ll make as a mother. The decision to breastfeed comes naturally for some while for others it’s a choice that requires research and deliberation, and for even more mothers, breastfeeding could be completely impossible physically and biologically. There are many reasons a mother may not breastfeed and that’s where baby formula comes in. Selecting the best formula for your baby is as important of a decision to a non-breastfeeding mom as choosing to how and when to breastfeed is to a nursing mom.
Ultimately there’s no right or wrong way to feed your baby. A fed baby is a loved baby. As mothers we should focus more on our similarities and supporting each other than our differences. Do we both love our children? Yes. Our both our children being cared for and having their needs met? Yes. Can we both relate to the stresses and sacrifices it takes to be a mother? Yes. Do all mothers need support and compassion? Yes.
In life there will always be more natural, more non-toxic, more nutritious, more sustainable, more-more-more, better-better-better choices that we can make. They key word being CHOICES. Let’s get down off our soap boxes and respect each others right to choose what we think is best for our OWN families.
While one method of feeding your baby may seem like the most natural choice for you personally, it’s important to realize that breastfeeding doesn’t come naturally for all and that’s totally okay. No mother should feel alienated or unsupported on her parenting journey over the method by which she chooses to feed her baby.
What’s being done to help end the Formula vs. Breastmilk Mommy Wars?
Suzanne Barston is the mom behind the blog Fearlessformulafeeder.com as well as the author of the book “Bottled Up: How the Way We Feed Babies Has Come to Define Motherhood, and Why It Shouldn’t.“
Barston is standing up for moms who formula feed, no matter their reason for doing it, and helping bridge the divide between breastfeeding and formula feeding moms. She believes no woman should feel alienated by either real or perceived anti-formula messages.
Like Suzanne, Kim Simon of Mama by the Bay supports both breastfeeding and formula feeding and is working to unite mothers via the I Support You Project.
“The I Support You Project aims to unite formula-feeding and breastfeeding parents by encouraging open dialogue, respect and understanding about infant feeding choice. Parenting is hard enough without having to defend our choices. If you are feeding your child with love, then I Support You stands with you.”
For more information on the I Support You Movement please click here.
It’s normal as a mother to be concerned over the health and safety of children and babies who are not your own, however unless a child’s life is in danger, it’s important to recognize that we’re all in this together, loving and caring for our families the best we can. Let’s choose to support rather than alienate.
Disclosure: This post was created through a partnership between Nakturnal and Cloth Diaper Geek. This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions and content is my own.
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