When You Forget to Talk About the Beauty in Bottle Feeding

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My husband and I recently (somewhat recently) took a much needed get away to Seattle, sans children.  Thank goodness for helpful grandparents.  While there I was able to reconnect with a girlfriend that I hadn’t seen since before I had children.  She just recently had a little guy of her own and had mentioned that she has been keeping up with this blog.   

One thing I should tell you about my friend is she the one of the most genuine and straight forward people I know—one of the many reasons I love love love her.  I can always count on her to tell me how it is and not just give me the old “I read the blogs you have been writing and they’re great” … even if they may not always be.    

While trading stories of being new at this whole parenting gig, she started talking about how hard breastfeeding can be.  She said she appreciated me (and some of the other contributors) sharing their struggles but noticed that no one ever posts pictures of kiddos being bottle fed.   

She could not be more right! How did we miss this?  When I was breastfeeding, even though we did supplement at one point with both of our boys, I was so focused on trying to breastfeed, I never even thought of the beauty in bottle feeding too. 

Bottle Feeding

At times, especially with our first son, bottle feeding really saved us.  I am not going to get into the dos and not to dos of breast v. bottle, that’s not what this is about.  It’s about the fact that I completely neglected how much bottle feeding was a part of my kiddos’ first years.  Thinking back, bottle feeding did some really great things for us. 

  • Most importantly, it gave my babies the nutrients they needed to thrive when I couldn’t quite keep up. 
  • I am a working mom, so not using the bottle was just not an option for us. 
  • It gave my husband (and my older son) a chance to bond in a way they may not have been able to if I solely breastfed. 
  • It really took some of the pressure off of me, especially since breastfeeding and pumping were a definite challenge.   

I am a big advocate of fed is best and whatever works best for you and your little is the right decision.  There is a real beauty in both.  Whether you are exclusively breast or bottle feeding with formula, or a combination of both, own it!  Most importantly, don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong.

4 COMMENTS

  1. Love this! Thank you for acknowledging the other side of feeding. As a mom who was devastated with the news of not being able to breastfeed (no milk supply), I always felt alone and looked down on. Not to mention the side of judgement during national breastfeeding week and any pictures I posted of bottle feeding. I agree, fed is best. The flexibility is great but even beyond that some of us longed to breastfeed our baby but didn’t have the option. Thankful for good, healthy and even organic options in the formula world today. ??

  2. Bottle feeder here too! I love nursing when I can but there is no way we could survive without the option of bottle feeding.

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