Are you a breastfeeding snob? Then this is for you. Because I was, too!
If you are on any type of social media avenue, you‘ve probably noticed that whatever posts you watch or like you’ll begin to notice you see more and more posts like it, continue to pop up! My point in stating this is…if you are a mama who wanted to or chose to exclusively breastfeed you probably have seen posts shining a negative light on formula-feeding your baby, and a positive light on babies nursing on the boob. I guess the real question is…Is Breast always best?
As a mom of two little ones that are fifteen months apart, I set my sights high on the mountain of breastfeeding, I wanted my baby to have the very best, and I believed that the liquid gold (colostrum) and breast milk was just that. Before becoming a mama I had so many different thoughts about what my journey would be! The main one was that I believed it would be EASY! If you have breastfed or have a desire to, you know or will find out that Breastfeeding is a FULL-TIME job!
Not sure if you are a breastfeeding Snob? You might be a breastfeeding snob, if you think you are a failure if your baby doesn’t nurse with you. You might be a breastfeeding snob if you look down on others who are forced to use formula or choose to formula-feed their babies. I say to you, judge lest you be judged.
From my own personal experience with my first baby, I breastfed from the very beginning, I had always planned to do things as naturally as possible, I followed a plethora of instagram accounts that hyped me up and encouraged that desire to the point, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to rock this breastfeeding journey! Did I rock it, oh yes I did for about the first month, then breastfeeding began to ROCK ME! Shortly after my little one’s first month out of the womb, I found myself in distress. I was overwhelmed by what I thought I should be as a mother, so much so that I neglected all of my needs for my health, and became consumed with the needs of my baby, my home and family. The truth is, you will never be able to be the best version of yourself to your baby or your family if you don’t take care of yourself first. It’s like the flight attendant says on an airplane, “out your oxygen masks on, and then help those who can’t help themselves”.
Despite the fact that I still currently struggle with implementing this into my life. I know when I take time for myself, I always find that I present a better, happier version of me to my children and my husband, I am more present and able to get more done. I say that to say, when I was neglecting my health and pouring all I had out to everyone and everything I loved, my milk supply dropped…turns out my milk supply was running on fumes. I will never forget this day, my baby is crying profusely, I try nursing to calm her, she feeds very quickly and unlatches,but I can tell she needs more, I sit at the dining table, attach the breast pump to my right breast and do the suggested fifteen minutes of pumping…I literally only got a few drips. I’m devastated at this point, feeling defeated, exhausted, overwhelmed and to top it, I’m staring into the kitchen looking at the slowly growing pile of dishes in the sink. That’s when I realized, breastfeeding isn’t something that is easy. Breastfeeding takes discipline, discipline to take care of yourself so that your milk can do what it’s supposed to ; nourish.
Thankfully, after I reassessed and reached out to some mamas I knew could give me guidance, I quickly took steps to up my milk supply from rest & a balanced meal to mother’s milk tea. My milk seemed to peak overnight and I continued to be able to nurse for a full 10 months! Now a little back story, I became pregnant with my second baby while my first baby was 5 months of age. As much as I wanted to make my nursing journey a full-year, my body was struggling again to keep up with my milk production,as I neared 6 months of pregnancy. So to relieve the stress from myself and to make sure my baby girl who was growing oh so rapidly had the nutrients she needed, I turned to formula for the next two months until she could begin drinking cow’s milk.
The truth is I felt like a failure, I honestly felt like I wasn’t a good mom because I was no longer able to give my baby the “ liquid gold”, OH how naive I was. It’s crazy to think that we will do anything to bring these beautiful gifts of life into the world, but won’t be willing to accept all the possible ways to nourish them. With my second birth, I did the exact same thing, nursed moments after giving birth, but this time my milk supply stayed pretty consistent as I not only nursed, I pumped in between feedings when I could but I didn’t pump or nurse enough to create a large stock or freezer-supply of milk, I pretty much had three to four bags of milk in the freezer at a time.
Now, my second baby is about six months old. I’m trying to prepare for an event my husband & I just can’t miss, that will be out of state. I know that the milk stash I have in the freezer won’t be sufficient for the four days and three nights that I’ll be gone. Here I am sitting there contemplating not only how to wean my baby from the boob to the bottle, but how to introduce her to formula. You best believe, I researched high and low, which formula options were best for her, would mimic breast milk, be as clean as possible and not hurt my baby’s little tummy. Each transition in motherhood has its challenges mentally emotionally and sometimes physically. Temporarily weaning a breastfed baby for whatever reason is never easy. The thoughts that ran through my mind were, will she want to nurse when I return?, what is she forgets how to latch? But one thing I hadn’t considered was if my milk supply would drop while away. My biggest concern was if this was going to be the end of my breastfeeding journey, I wanted to prepare myself emotionally.
After settling on the formula that I felt was the best option for my baby based off of what was currently on the market (which you can read about the formulas we’ve tried and my thoughts on my thoughts on them from accessibility to gentleness on the tummy, HERE). I moved forward hesitantly with the majority of feedings using formula as my trip was approaching quickly. I can confidently say, our daughter took the formula with hesitation, but learned to enjoy it. Unfortunately my milk supply DID drop, while away. Due to the major drop in my milk supply, I was forced to continue supplying formula for the majority of feedings for about a month and half but thankfully with time my milk supply has increased to where I nurse throughout the day but supplement with formula for the night time feedings about 2 bottles to help our girl sleep through the night and to give Mama and Dada some quality rest.
So the question really comes down to is Breast always best? The ability for your breast to be able to provide nourishment to the little life you’ve just brought in this world is a miracle in itself, it’s a blessing and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Breast milk is said to have healing properties, be extremely nutrient dense and helps create a bond between you and baby! IF you can breast-fed by all means, embrace the gift as long as you can because it truly is so rewarding, it’s just another opportunity to connect with your baby through skin to skin while nourishing them. So I will always say, YES, Breast is best in the context that Mama is healthy (physically,mentally and emotionally) because as I came to realize, when Mama doesn’t take care of herself, the milk supply seems to drop quickly. I used to believe the milk quality was affected by the lack of nourishment causing watery breastmilk but after some reading, multiple source(s) have shed light on the fact that watery milk isn’t BAD milk, and it’s still good for babies but may not keep them satisfied for long. From first hand experience, I noticed that the more stress I was under, the less food I consumed ; My hindmilk (the fattier milk, released at the end of a breastfeeding session) was extremely thin when I pumped, my baby nursed more frequently than usual and it despite that the more baby feeds, the more milk produces, this felt extremely overwhelming and demanding with a six month old and a 20 month old.
So to bring this post to a close, Breast most definitely will always be best, it’s naturally produced from your body, it’s nutrient dense for your baby and as long as you avoid eating certain foods it’s easily digested, BUT motherhood is hard enough without putting yourself through the stress of how to safely nourish your baby. Just like when it comes to childbirth, you may desire a natural birth without interventions but when it comes down to crunch time, you will do whatever is best for you and your baby. Feeding your baby is no different, I strongly desired to nurse my babies for a full year, but life happens and despite my wants, I had to figure out what to do, that was in the best interest for my babies and myself. I say this often, whatever you do, do it well Breastfeed well,Formula feed well, Supplement your breastmilk with formula (please read on how to properly do this…don’t just go adding formula to your breastmilk, I will explain how I did this in my All you need to know about formula post), whatever way you choose to feed your babies to be the best version of yourself for you and your family, do it boldly and do it well.
With Love,
Classically Faith
