Parental Hot Topics: Breast feeding or Bottle feeding?

My general goals for this blog series is to keep things as neutral as possible and to keep my own personal opinions to a minimum. I'm posting these for educational purposes and to share some things that some parents might not consider when it comes to their children.

This week we're discussing the differences, pros/cons of breast feeding versus bottle feeding. Feel free to comment below on agreements, disagreements or general feelings about the subject. Please refrain from being harsh to me or other readers. Thank you.
_______________________________________________________
 One of the most controversial and most talked about parenting issues today is whether to breast feed or to bottle feed. But for some Mom's, it's not even an option - the only choice is to breast feed and that's okay. I find this decision to be not that big of deal personally, but some parents do.

I'm going to start by sharing my story and then I'll go into some of the back and forth of both sides.

My son, Ryan, was born late one friday afternoon just over a year ago, and I had already decided to give breast feeding a shot. My milk didn't drop for over five days, and the nurses and every other person I asked about whether to supplement formula at that point told me to wait. "Give it time" was the answer I got, "Be patient" was the motto for that short week. So I did what everyone was telling me, I waited. On Wednesday the next week, my son was orange when we took him to the Pediatrician and she sent us on right away to the Children's Hospital in Atlanta. Ryan's billirubin levels were too high to be safe.

Hearing this news scared me to death - I had no idea that things were that bad. In all reality, the only thing my son had eaten in five days was some colostrum from me and that was it! I told the nurses and doctor's at Children's about all the advice I had been given. My son was given some formula and put under those dreaded blue lights for two days. He was sick, and dehydrated and hungry. I was upset, and mad and frustrated. It was one of the hardest things I've ever lived through and to this day I still get mad over it. I wish I would have listened to my head telling me to give him formula early on.

To end this story, the first night we were at Children's my milk came in and Ryan started to nurse. He was terrible at latching on and my body wasn't making near enough milk for him to survive. The next five weeks were spent giving him 1/3 Milk and 2/3 Formula. I'm glad he had some of my milk on top of the formula but when my milk finally dried up, I was happy I had the formula option to keep him healthy.

That being said - when we do go for baby #2 one day, I plan on trying to breast feed again, but I will have formula on hand DAY ONE to supplement if we need it!

Breast feeding comes naturally to some women; and even though I didn't have a good experience my first time around, I still encourage new Mom's to give it a shot. Breast feeding is a natural occurrence for human women and has been since the beginning of time. There is some sacrifice when it comes to breast feeding - you are the sole provider for that baby, getting up to feed and care for them 24/7. You can pump out the milk, but there is still some advance planning involved. Especially for working Mom's. In the first few weeks, the nutritional benefits from breast milk tend to out weight formula - it provides the perfect amount of protein, vitamins and fat that your infant needs.

Some women feel that breast feeding will ruin their breasts - that's not always the case. Most breast surgeons would probably argue that there are many other factors that could ruin the look of your chest more: smoking, age, gravity and genetics.

There are also so many benefits for Mom while breast feeding - you tend to burn more calories (ie. you lose the baby weight faster), you can save the money on formula, and the milk is always the right temperature for your little one. The best part is the maternal bonding experience. If you choose this route, at least do it for a short time than not at all. The first few weeks are critical to a baby's health and immune system. Just remember, that formula can also provide the same vitamins, protein and fats that baby needs those weeks too if you choose to go that route.

Moving on to bottle feeding. It's convenient, especially for family's that have two working parents. You can't always be at the beck and call of a baby with your breast when you are not in the same location. It's almost just as nutritional as breast milk, although most people would argue this point. All of the research that has been done in recent years has allowed the formula creators to get as close as possible to making a milk that is similar to breast milk. Babies also take longer to digest formula, so feedings are fewer and father between then breast milk feedings. One of the biggest reasons I hear about women choosing the bottle over the breast is that they don't want to have to feed in public. For some women, it's a modesty choice, and that's okay.

To make a decision on which formula is best for your baby, consider the following taken from a page on WebMD:

The three forms of formula -- powders, concentrates, and ready-to-use -- are based on different ingredients:

• Milk-based baby formulas

Made with cow’s milk, vegetable oils (for fat calories), vitamins, and minerals -- and usually iron-fortified (as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics) -- milk-based formulas are appropriate for healthy, full-term babies.

• Soy-based baby formulas

Made with soy protein, vegetable oils, corn syrup and/or sucrose (for carbohydrates), and sometimes iron, these formulas are good for babies with lactose intolerance who can’t take milk-based formulas, or those who have allergies to the whole protein in cow’s milk or are on a vegetarian-based diet. Soy infant formulas aren’t recommended for low-birth-weight or preterm babies.

• Specialty baby formulas

This is a big category, with infant formulas for low-birth-weight babies, low-sodium formulas for babies who need a restricted salt intake, and "predigested" protein formulas for babies who can’t tolerate or have allergies to the whole proteins in cow’s milk and milk-based formulas.
Infant formulas enriched with DHA and ARA omega fatty acids from algae have also found their way into the jam-packed baby formula aisle. These fatty acids appear to help baby's brain and nerve development and improve vision.

Breast feeding isn't for everyone and only YOU can make that call for yourself. There are many reasons to choose one or the other - or you can do a combination of both as I had to do for my son to survive those first few weeks of his life.

For a quick run down here is the list for both options!

BREASTFEEDING

-It's easily digested.

-It's readily available.

-It's free. 

-It can help mother's lose weight faster. 

-It contains infection fighting white blood cells that help fight infection those 

first few months when it can be most important.

-It contains the perfect proportion of nutrients that your baby needs.

BOTTLEFEEDING

-Infant formulas are a lot closer now than they used to me on matching all the 

nutirents that a mother's milk provides. 

- While breastfed babies may have relatively fewer infections, the vast majority 

of infants won't get a serious infection in the first months whether breast- or bottle fed. 

-Room temperature works well for it. 

-You can easily save un-used formula for the next feeding,

 as long as baby hasn't sipped from it.

-It's convenient.

With all these advantages of breast milk, should you feel guilty if you choose not to breastfeed? Absolutely not!

In my honest opinion, we need to band together as women and support each other on our OWN choices and stop criticizing and ridiculing each other for choosing one option over the other. We are all entitled to our own opinions and I hope that I covered just about all the issues within this topic that seem to be a factor of our choices. I think every new Mom (or repeat Mom) has the capability to make this decision based on her own ideals, just know the facts. Breastfeeding CAN be better for the baby in the first four months, but it's no the ONLY thing that can keep them healthy... formula is a good alternative and I'm really glad that I had that option when things went down hill in my own experience. 

In closing, I'd like to share an excerpt from an article I read about this topic today. It's from the site parentdish.com: 

Our culture is hung up on mama's milk, and the undercurrent is: Why should anyone consider what is best for the mom when the baby's whole future is at stake?

I'll tell you why. Because a baby's whole future is not at stake. That's the conclusion I came to after reading the new book, " Is Breast Best?" by Joan B. Wolf.

As Wolf points out, we are treating "Breast vs. Formula" as though it were "Safety vs. Danger" -- even though we know that millions of American babies have been brought up on formula and are doing just fine.

Are they doing as outstandingly fine as they could be if only they'd been breast-fed from day one through day 365? Pretty much, yes.

Read the rest of the article here.