Fearless Formula Feeders

I have been putting off this entry for quite some time, for fear of losing some of you readers. And I hate that I feel that way. I hate that I am hesitant to share my personal views and opinions on my own blog because I'm afraid of what you will think. After all, this is the current culture with the Formula vs. Breast Feeding debate.

Yes, readers... I will be formula feeding this baby and all future ones.

It is my choice, based on experience, talks with family members, and most of all, what Phillip and I have talked about. This is our decision and we are sticking to it. I will not breast feed in the hospital, I will not attempt at any point, and I am okay with that.

Please be okay with that too.

I was not breast fed. Phillip was not breast fed. We both are still intelligent, successful, relatively healthy, and happy. We do not feel a disconnect from our mothers and harbor no resentment.

My personal belief is that the gap between breast milk and formula milk is not as wide as biased parenting magazines suggest. While breast milk is supported by the World Health Organization as the preferred method of feeding your child, no one says formula is terrible and a way to doom your child's life from the start. If it were, formula would be illegal. My belief is that a mother reluctantly forced into breast feeding by way of peer pressure, guilt, and fear of social suicide if she doesn't breast feed, is no better than a mom who happily embraces today's advanced formulas. I feel like a happy mom is more important than where proper nutrients are coming from, to a new baby. I want to be happy instead of dreading feeding time and hating giving my baby food. Studies do back up attitude versus physical environment when it comes to human development.

I came across this wonderful article that pretty much explains my feelings exactly. My favorite quotes in this article are:

And when I look around my daughter’s second-grade class, I can’t seem to pick out the unfortunate ones: “Oh, poor little Sophie, whose mother couldn’t breast-feed. What dim eyes she has. What a sickly pallor. And already sprouting acne!”

“The studies do not demonstrate a universal phenomenon, in which one method is superior to another in all instances,” concluded one of the first, and still one of the broadest, meta studies, in a 1984 issue of Pediatrics, “and they do not support making a mother feel that she is doing psychological harm to her child if she is unable or unwilling to breastfeed.”

I do not understand the new "club" of breast feeding moms that set out to ridicule, judge, and chastise anyone who formula feeds. A lot of these moms see formula feeding as failing your child or not loving them enough. I, for one, couldn't disagree more.

I will love my child regardless of the method of nutrition I use. And Phillip and I are living proof that our child will love us regardless, as well.

Sorry if I lost some of you, but this is me. This is my opinion. This is my choice. This is my blog.

You don't have to agree, but I ask that you respect my right to decide and ask that you avoid judgment.