Walking on eggshells with formula feeding mums
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I wouldn’t hide anything if I were you. If they feel offended, so what let them be🤷🏽♀️ FED is best regardless of the way . In my opinion breast-feeding is 10 times harder than formal feeding. We have to worry about Supply keeping up, if our supply drops , trying to produce more and stock up on supply , making sure our babies getting enough milk, making sure our milk is healthy enough , the increased risk of PPD ect . No offense to anyone buttttttttt All they have to do is put warm water in a bottle with some powder and shake it🙃 NEVER EVER feel like you should walk on eggshells you are doing what you believe is best and what works for you and your baby . I hope that feeling goes away soon for you ✨✨ keep up all of YOUR HARD WORK 🙌🙌
I hear what you're saying. I feel the opposite. Everyone I run into assumes I'm still BF, and when I say no, it's like, oh.. why not.. they never ask, but the tone and look say it all. I unfortunately dried up from not eating / drinking enough. Then I got sick and game over. You should be totally proud that you're still going strong and had an easy time. You're doing great mama!
So many formula mums are soooo defensive for no reason. I find it even worse cos I’m a young mum and typically young mums tend to formula feed. One group I go to is just for young mums and they’ve never had someone who BF attend. Anytime BF comes up they all get so weird and start saying things to defend why they formula feed even tho nobody is attacking them. It’s so draining honestly. If we was to defend ourselves and point out the facts about breastfeeding and how scientifically it is better than we’d be ridiculed but they can sit there and whine about people who breastfeed and go on and on about why they use formula
I get this so much! I will admit that we didn’t have much issues when it came to BF my LG took quite easily to it and we are 10 months in now and still going strong! But there were still times like when she was cluster feeding that were super hard! My issue is people saying oh why are you still BF when she’s eating 3 meals? Why would you do that when she has teeth? When are you going to stop? Well tell me this? How on earth am I supposed to switch to formula now? Why would I start something new with my child when she can have cows milk in a couple of months if I don’t want to continue BF? And why are people so obsessed with when I will stop? I’ll stop when I want to stop 😂
I think the judgement goes both ways. Everyone feels the need to explain themselves when they shouldn’t. Some mums may feel regret or personal sadness that thier breast feeding journey came to an early end for whatever reason that was. I don’t feel that I was prepared for how hard it would be at the start! I can totally understand why people stop and I think people who carry on despite all the challenges should be congratulated and celebrated because it’s hard work physically and mentally. Personally I would not want the faff of formula prep when once you have mastered it breast is so much more convenient. That said my child will not take a bottle, I can’t share the feeding responsibility with anyone and some days I am trapped, my body is not my own. As long as a baby is fed it should matter how but the reality is there judgement and complex feelings on both sides.
It sounds like the formula feeding mums making those comments are probably quite insecure about the fact they were unable to (or chose not to) breastfeed and feel inferior. When people are insecure they become defensive and it can come out as microaggressions. They know you've done an amazing job but it's easier for them to feel offended or victimise themselves than acknowledging your success was the result of resilience and not just good luck. x
I feel the same! It feels like people just assume it's the easy option sometimes and it was so hard at the beginning and is also really restricting in some cases but I'm so proud of pushing through and I love the bond it's created