My Thoughts on Breastfeeding

I am a new father, my son is 1 year old. My wife and I are travelling to the town in which he was born to get together with our old prenatal class to celebrate a communal birthday for the babies. I recall in the lead-up to the birth, how often breast feeding and it’s importance was drilled into us. Now, I recognize that there is no doubt that breastfeeding is the ideal way to feed your baby…no doubt. The issue that I have is the alleged drop of in the quality of baby you will have if you formula feed. This supposed drop off in quality is imparted by the powers that be, and by the powers that be, I mean public heath nurses and the Laleche society. In discussing it with a few of my recently turned father friends who have had similar experiences, we agreed that the powers that be would have you believe that if you do not breast feed your are doomed to have a short retarded criminal of a child with diabetes and osteoporosis should they live that long.

My wife is a very practical woman, but by the time our baby arrived she was hell bent on breastfeeding until he was on solid food come hell or high water. He milk did not come in as expected, one breast was almost completely dry, the other was not compensating enough to feed. My wife spent almost 2 months pumping constantly trying to get her milk to come in but to no avail. She cried a lot and and felt like a failure throughout the whole two months. It was very hard on her. She was at home while  I was working and felt like she was getting no time with the baby because she was spending all of her time pumping. One day, the baby was crying because he wanted to be held, and she was pumping and it just occurred to her that this was not worth it, we had to find another way and from that day forward he was exclusively fed formula.

Our son is now one year old, he is robust, full of energy, smart and full of smiles. He rarely gets sick and has a great appetite.  I want to be clear about my point. I believe that that women when they can should breastfeed, I also believe that that women should be allowed to breastfeed wherever they wish. What concerns me is that women should not feel so inadequate if they cannot breastfeed and should feel safe to go to formula if breastfeeding is not working out. The pressure put on women is just too much. Having a new baby is stressful enough, the stress of believing you will somehow harm your child if you do not breast feed just compounds this.

To all of the women having problems breastfeeding, I would say this; do not be afraid to switch to formula. Your child needs you love and attention and for your energy to be one of love rather than stress. Give your child  the formula, and hug and kiss him often.