I don't think you should be judged on how you feed your baby as long as you FEED your baby. I did both. 1st DS would not and no milk came in so formula. DD did and fed for close to 7 months. Then formula. DS 3rd did like his sister and fed for about 7 months.

The 60's were big time formula, not breast milk feeding. It was "scientific", not feeding your baby a bodily fluid.

There is no way formula can equal breast milk.  Enzymes, antibodies.....breast milk is a "living" food source.

In my ideal world, every baby would have breast milk.  But I know that can't happen for a lot of (good) reasons.  Lots of women have problems that make it difficult or impossible, and babies can have problems too.  I personally think a lot of them could be overcome with education (thinking of my sister-in-laws), educated help, and time.  Breastfeeding takes at least 6 weeks to establish in many cases, and some women have to go back to work then.  Pumping is much harder then breast feeding most of the time.  I had an extremely easy time breastfeeding both my children.  I personally don't understand trying, at least the first time if possible, but everyone has her reasons.  Congrats to you ladies who managed to reach your breastfeeding goals, to those who tried and ended up using formula, and those who used formula.  Generations have been raised on various breast milk substitutes, and done just fine!

@finallyfreetobeme doll, go get yourself a coffee, and throw an extra scoop or two in the filter to make er strong. Let's face it, it's Monday, you survived the weekend, you deserve to get hyped up on caffeine c:

@ausmummy when you start a thread that may be controversial you will likely get a few responses you aren't thrilled about (see post above) stay positive, keep your thread and the subject on track and you'll do fine c; there are new members here everyday and soon to be mommies that may be on the fence about breastfeeding. If we can keep it friendly these threads as well as circ, co sleeping, CIO/attachment parenting, vaccine threads are helpful in making decisions for new moms. I would not recommend starting a thread for each of these at the same time! We can only behave so much in one day here before we all start acting 8-} c;

Why I think breast is best

You shrink! You literally burn calories while breastfeeding and your uterus continues to contract back to size. No need for the ab master ladies, just whip out the boob and feel the burn!

I'm lazy and breastfeeding makes being lazy easier :D no waking up to make a bottle in the night, heck I barely have to move. And once they get to the point where they can squiggle it becomes their job to find the boob. Leave me sleep and fend for yourself lo, make sure to pull my shirt down when you're done... No cold nips here!

I hate dishes! I hate hate hate them and noooo I don't have a dishwasher. I'm not a fan of washing a million tiny bottles, nipples, and w/e those ring tighty things are. Nah ah, not for me!

Bonding comes with the feeding schedule. I find this would be extremely helpful especially in moms with ppd. You don't have to think about it, it just happens. You stare into your babies eyes, they grab your finger, you stroke their hair, they smile, you melt, rinse and repeat. Bfing is a no fail bonding experience. I'm not saying moms who bottle feed cannot bond, bottle feeding just makes it easier to allow someone else to feed the baby, or to even prop a bottle on a pillow (I've seen it, don't act like it doesn't happen)

Poop is so much less yucky that formula poops. I'm sorry but I've seen both and every time you get formula poops they are sticky and smelly and gross. A lot of breast feeding babies poop less (bm is tailored to your baby's needs, there is very little waste and there for less poop!) it is not uncommon for a breast fed baby to poop every few days. let's be real less poop=happier mommy

It can make for an easier transitions to solids. Formula tastes the same every time. There is no getting used to different flavors or anything. When a mom bf's the food she eats is absorbed into her breast milk and it tastes different. Let's open that baby's palate up to a wild variety of shit so we're not in tears when they refuse the homemade asparagus you are trying to force feed them c;

Oh ya and I heard some shit about making your kid smart and healthy or something along those lines but let's stick to the really improtant stuff c;

Yes breast milk is better for babies than formula. That being said (like other mommies have said) infant formula is well regulated now and does contain the nutrients the baby needs to grow and develop correctly. You aren't a bad person for ff over bf, sometimes that is what needs to be done. No formula will ever match or exceed breastmilk. I honestly think that moms are so worried about being judged for not providing "the best" for their babies that they're claiming that formula is equal in order to lessen "guilt" that shouldn't exist anyway. 

*goats milk* Sorry can't spell this morning!!! lol

I did both, breast feeding was VERY hard for me, I ended up on boatloads of supplements just to get milk.  DD would nurse at the rate of 1oz/HOUR.  I also ended up taking domperidone because I just wasn't making a lot...if I pumped, the only time I got more than 50 ml...from both sides...was if I hadn't been able to bf for a while.  So, I supplemented with formula.  I have an incredibly healthy, smart child, who caught every cold in the daycare until I had PE tubes put in her ears.

I LOVE everyone's views on this it's definately made me look at breast feeding a different way then what i used to :) I don't think formula will ever be better then breast feeding but I don't think it's a bad thing if a mother doesn't want to breast feed WHATEVER her reason may be. My DD was never breast fed by choice and she is a very smart healthy 11 month old bub and I couldn't imagine breast feeding her I personally think I made the best decision for me and that's what it needs to come down to at the end of the day.

I did try for three weeks, due somewhat to lack of support and education (the nurse at our hospital who assists new Moms with breastfeeding was on vacation), I gave up and went to formula.  I got to the point I was resenting my son and husband.  I figured, it was doing no good hating him when I had the problem and formula was best for us.

@ausmummy Your daughter doesn't need to be sick at that moment.  You are not passing on an aspirin for the day you are passing on an immune system that you have developed over a lifetime to help her out for her entire life.  To me, even if that does bring in some unwanted milk, a weeks worth of leaky boobs is worth a baby with a great immune system with strong antibodies.

 

agreed with you torturedbytwins but thats why babies get immunised and my daughter hasnt been sick once where as alot of breast fed babies get sick all the time. Every baby is different, The colostrum is great to give your baby but its not needed is what im trying to say. :)

When I was pregnant I thought I'd go 3 months bfing - I have a crap immune system and hoping hers will be better. When I got past that "2nd month" and read that going 6 months was better
(French recommendations), I went on to 6, then I read that 1 year is
best (usa recommendations)... I'm going on 10 months... Don't think I'll
make to the WHO recommendations of 2 years (geez).

She has had one small cold and one runny nose. The cold she got at the pediatrician's at 3 months (which is normal as their own immune system kicks in at 3 months) and the runny nose is right now 9.5 months (from playing with baby who had a runny nose and which is also normal at this time, 9-12 months, as the their immune system goes through a 2nd major change).

Completely agree which @eapple for all the right (mostly lazy) reasons. I just wish I had a way of making her stop pinching me while she feeds. Slapping I got under control by taking her off the boob but pinching, it doesn't work - OUCH!!!

I always made sure I got the first couple of weeks in breastfeeding because my dr. told me that the colostrum has all the concentrated nutrients in it. When dd7 was born I was a single mom with a dd7 too. The exh and I split up when I was two months pregnant because he was a cheating piece of shit! I had to go back to work after six weeks and I was on the road all day long doing sales calls so i put her on soy formula because she would projectile vomit reg formula. She was the only one of my three that was a total pro at nursing! I mean, in the hospital right after delivery I had her latched on and going. No problem. The nurse started laughing because she was coming to see if I needed help and was like, no I guess you don't! But, she is a healthy happy girl! I love when you read stories like the dad who lost his wife right after she gave birth to their baby and women all over the country were mailing him breast milk for his son!! It was so nice!! I say whatever works best for you!! I mean, what about mom's who smoke, do drugs or drink all the time! You don't want an innocent baby ingesting that so it is better for them to have formula!

^ That's actually not correct. Breastmilk always contains everything the baby needs, even in women who eat a poor quality diet or live in famine conditions. Of course, it's not good for moms to be depleted of all those nutrients, but it does not affect the quality of the breastmilk.

@bellabefana so would ot be safe to say that if momma is producing enough milk that the milk is sufficient for babies needs?

@rosie08 I was trying to say that there's no need to give your baby the colostrum unless there premmie that's what I've been told by midwives anyway! I wasn't saying bf babies get sick more than formula fed babies I was saying I know of a lot of bf babies that get sick and my DD hasn't been sick once but each baby is different. More and more mums are FF rather then BF and it was a study on tv then they were arguing if breast was best anymore if woman should be pushed into BF if formula feeding is sufficient so mums don't have to worry about not BF therefore the post!

@chocoholic obviously what I'm trying to say about colostrum is coming out wrong. Colostrum is good for a baby but not needed I've been told (I dont know) that premmie babies have better chances of survival if given colostrum and being breast fed. That might be in the us but in aus a recent study was done that more and more mums are turning to formula feeding, it was on one of our nightly shows (the project) I'm also NOT undermining the fact that breast is best in any way shape or form and NOT once have I said that it's not.

I wanted to breastfeed dd and pumped for 3mo before drying out. bf ds for 17mo and will bf #3 dd got sick all the time and recurring ear infections and ds rarely sicker than sniffles and no ear infections.

Breast is best for me. I love doing it and the closeness.
If I see a mommy bottle feeding, its good for me too because I can ask to hold the baby and feed it, getting my baby fix. :-)

Ok, keep in mind that I only nursed my DD for 2 weeks (bad bad bad info) and BF my son for 26 mos.

See, its to each their own. Your baby won't die if you don't reastfeed but what really irks me is when people do the " well I didn't breastfeed and MY baby is smart/hasn't been sick/ whatever" like it negates the SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH That proves that breastfed babies tend to be ill less often or have higher IQ points or whatever other benefit.

I also get irritated when mothers who are perfectly capable of breastfeeding don't even give it a try just because they don't want to. Like, wtf, deprive your baby of this awesome super beneficial food because you just don't feel like it? Blows my mind.

didnt read most of the comments
the question this thread asks "is breast really best anymore?"
YES, there are numerous articles out there that show that breast IS BEST, and better than formula. but that doesnt mean that a child cant survive, and grow up to be bright and smart when fed formula exclusively or part-time. is it known that formula will NEVER be as good a breastmilk, mainly because its all artificial food... just like green bean tasting chewable vitamins that contain synthetic nutrients will never be as good as the real thing. for me, formula will forever be the last resort in feeding my child. i will try and do anything to avoid formula like the plague, but if other moms choose to feed their kids that, then its not really my problem. i feel good with my decision to not feed my kid what i consider crap, but as long as others kids are healthy and thriving, and have full bellies, so be it that i dont agree.