The War Between Breast Feeding and Bottle Feeding

The scenario is always the same for us who choose to bottle feed our babies. We're out in public with our child feeding them from their "horrid" little bottle, minding our own business, when up walks the woman who says "You know it's better to breast feed your baby....your child won't bond as well with you if you don't..." And hence, the bottle feeding mother, who was doing nothing but feeding her baby and minding her own business, feels like a terrible mother and a failure. Maybe some of you who bottle feed have never had this happen to you, but I doubt it. Every single mother I know who chooses not to breast feed is at some point made to feel like a failure because of it, and it needs to stop.

Now I'm not here to attack women who breast feed, or to say that bottle feeding is better, because it isn't. It is a fact ( at least for now) that breast feeding is the best source of nutrition for your baby. If you enjoy breastfeeding, and think it is the most wonderful thing in the world, thats great. I think it is a wonderful thing and that all new mothers should give it a shot. But if you don't like it, or if it is physically impossible for you to continue, please stop and give your child formula and DON'T FEEL GUILTY about it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with formula, and no matter what some snub nosed women think, that baby doesn't care whether his or her food is coming from your boob or a bottle. That baby just wants to eat and as long as you are supplying food for your child and they are happy and healthy from that, you are doing a wonderful job as a mother.