So I have a much older child, a teenager, but I still harbor feelings of inadequacy bc I was unable to breast feed him as a baby. Everyone had an opinion from DR's to family to strangers, EVERYONE. The nurse who wanted to know at his 6 week check up if I wanted the pills to restart breast milk that had finally stopped bc formula was not the way to go, the family member who told me it was my fault bc I didn't have patience, or the family member that told me I needed to try harder. None of these women were with me in the room while my child was crying bc he was hungry and didn't want to latch on. None of these women were the lactation consultant who was in my room and helped me make the decision. I couldn't let him cry when there was something I could do so I chose to switch him to formula to make sure he was provided for. I remember thinking that I was somehow broken and destined to fail as a mother bc I couldn't get him to breast feed.
Still to this day people insist that the only way to raise a healthy child is to breast feed so I still wonder if I did him a disservice. As many of my friends are getting to that baby having phase and social media is so popular many of them take the time to post articles backing up their opinions. Out of respect and not wanting to get into an online argument I am choosing to post this article here. This article made me feel like maybe I am not such a bad mom for not being able to breast feed, now don't get me wrong I have plenty of other things to question, as most parents do, but I feel better about my decision 13 years ago to give him food rather than let him cry until he did it the "right" way.
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/breastfeeding-just-might-be-overrated--study-finds-184819287.html
1 comment:
I read that article and I too have the same feelings as you since I was unable to breastfeed T. Other women don't realize how their holier than thou attitude hurts other women-- in the end... why does it matter? We feed our children and provide for them. End of story.
Honestly, I'm unsure how I will handle our second child because I loved that C could bond with T and help with everything. I do want to give breastfeeding another try but if it doesn't work I'm not going to beat myself up.
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