Formula and motherhood?

Question

If a mother chooses to use formula over breast milk, is she being a poor mother? Can you compare it to feeding your older child junk food? With the studies that show formula leads to diabetes, obesity and other mental and physical issues, where do we draw the line?

Answer 1

I don't think anyone argues that breastmilk is best for your child. It is.

I'd say that most of the times when a woman decides to use formula instead there are good reasons for it. If it is just for practical (or vain) reasons, I'd say it is getting close to being a poor parent.

In our case my wife didn't produce enough breast milk so we had to supplement with formula.

I don't think the comparison with junk food is valid. Formula tries to be as close to breast milk as possible. Bad parenting causes the issues you describe, not formula...

Answer 2

I think we should draw the line at allowing mothers to choose which they will use. You never know the situation and I'm begging you to leave mothers alone. Too much pressure is put on new mothers as it is - to be perfect. This is coming from a mom who has two that were breastfed and one that was bottlefed. The oldest got a combination of both breast and formula and she is not obese by far. The two who got the breastmilk are actually very very skinny and I kinda wish I had given them some formula from time to time. LOL They look like a couple of undernourished pigmyes. LOL They eat alot and won't gain a pound. I'm doing some joking here, but the point is that a good mother knows the formula to motherhood is doing the best she possibly can and leaving the rest to God.

Answer 3

I don't think you can honestly say that giving your child formula is a bad thing! What about those kids that won't take the breast? I don't think it's the same as feeding your child junk food! I think it all has to do with how you raise your children. You have to teach you kids at an early age what is good and bad for them, and not just waht to eat either. It's the parent's responsibility to prepare their children for the real world. If that were the case with formula, then we shouldn't let our children watch television either. There are so many bad comercials about fast food and candy and things that are bad for your children. I think the focus should be on the FDA to show commercials on fruits and vegetables and things that are good for our kids! Giving your child milk from a bottle or the breast, I think it's really a matter of choice. As long as your child is healthy, happy, and well taken care of, that is what really matters!

Answer 4

girl, u are so uneducated its not even funny!
I have 2 boys.. and I almost starved both of them to death trying to breastfeed.. my husband both times had to make me give them formula. the second was the nightmare because these idiots called "lactation experts" well, they didn't have anything to pull out of their sleve when my little one wan't getting anything from me.....
they gave me a hard time in the hospital, and made me so stressed I was in tears trying to breastfeed.... over and over again I told them with my first I just couldn't produce enought milk.. and the same was true with the second....

my 1st little one was raised on good start and he is 4 years old and healthy as a horse... stronger than any other 4 year old out there

my second is on Elecare formula because of allergies... that the so called colstrum (that I did make sure both boys got, since I couldn 't feed them every meal) was supose to help prevent.

I gues ur dumb a** is going to say that a prescribed formula from the doctor that is 52$ a can is "junk food"

get a life! it was not my choice with either child... I wanted that bonding witht hem.

and no if a mother chooses formula she is not a bad mother, and I think people like u should get a life!

they should draw the line with idiots that haven't seen sick babies like my second, and mothers who obsessively try to breast feed and cry for hours cause they just can't produce milk. (by the way the ob/gyn told me that I had some kind of fibroidal process in my breast that would most likely prevent me from breast feeding with my second)

my son is seein a nutritionist, and she says that formula is just fine.. it has all the same nutrients as breast mild..

btw, I am a formula baby... and I don't have any of the above issues....

Answer 5

I dont think it means necessarily that she is a "poor mother"...I think breastmilk is usually the best parental choice, but formula feeding does not make you a bad parent. For example, it is better for a baby to have a drug free birth, but it doesnt make you a bad mother if you get pain meds during labor. Or it is better for a child to be raised at home, but if you put your child in daycare it doesn't mean she is a poor mother. Every parent at some point HAS to make a choice that is not the absolute BEST thing for their child, whether it is because of money, other obligations, or sometimes just to give yourself a break and a relief so you CAN be a better parent. THere is not question that breastfeeding is best. But there are MANY bad mothers who breastfeed and MANY excellent mothers that formula feed. It's just one variable in a very large equation.

Answer 6

No not a poor mother, but breast milk contains complete nutrition, vitamins and immune systems your child need most for his first year of live compare to formula milk. If you having no problems with your breast milk, then give it to him. It is the best.

If you are ill, working woman or in any condition that giving the breast milk is risking your child, then formula milk can come as an alternatives. Not all formula milk is bad though....

But if the reason are not good enough, such as to keep your breast beautiful or else, then you are a poor mother...

Answer 7

Breastfeeding is tough. It requires more then just putting a newborn to breast. For human mothers its not instictive, its a learned behavior.

New first time moms need support and at least have the basics in how to breastfed. And then you have all the complications that can come with nursing; thrush, poor latch, colic, poor suckling, supply issues, "oversized" breasts, ect ect. It can become completely overwhelming for a new mom in just a few short hours. Any mother whose tried for hours to get a baby to stop screaming is likely to stress out and give up, espically if she is without support.

I don't think that a mother chooses to give her baby forumla over breastmilk is being a poor mom in many cases. She is doing what she needs to do in order to provide for that baby's needs. I think many mothers who end up with complications or end up with no support are the ones that feel the most guilt in not being able to breastfed. But they shouldn't, They did what they had to inorder to continue to provide.


My definition of a poor mother is one who gives forumla because she's more concerned over how her body looks rather then what is best for her baby. If she is that concerned about body image then she should adopt - why in the world did she get pregnant to begin with anyways? (Although adoptive mothers can theroritcally breastfed to a certain extent too, but it can be an extremely difficult thing to accomplish and not all newly adoptive parents have the ability or energy to try.) Those are also typical the mother types that are immature in thier views of life and are likely to run off and take a week long vacation and leave baby with a nanny or other sitter at 2 months old.

You can't compare formula to junk food. Its not the same. There are mothers out there who HAVE TO rely on the second best thing because of medical reasons (no milk, medications, ect).

I think the line needs to be drawn with how forumla is "promoted".

Answer 8

NO, you would NOT be a bad mother for choosing formula. don't let ANYONE tell you that and accept it as the truth!

there are a great number of PERSONAL reasons that women choose to bottle feed. there are health reasons for the mother, there are health reasons for the child. there are occupational reasons...

i am satisfied in the realization that ANYONE can make ANY study show the results that THEY want.

i have 4 children. 2 that i never attempted to breastfeed and 2 that i did TRY to breastfeed (for a very short period of time). my kids are really healthy, barely EVER sick, skinny little twigs, and NO SIGNS of mental issues! my kids are 16, 14, 10,& 7. if there was something wrong i would surely have noticed by now :)

my husband and i are trying to have another child... i don't think i will even try to breastfeed this one. between me getting mastitis and having one child that had colic based on being lactose intolerent... i just don't think trying would be worth it. AND I FEEL NO SHAME OR GUILT about my decision. i wish i could breastfeed for the cost factor... but it's really not worth my sanity :)

Answer 9

I think that formula IS a bit like giving junk food to an older child. I mean, you can grow and survive on McD's, but you won't be all that healthy. Breastmilk has living, changing enzymes that promote BRAIN development, and no formula has that. Period!
I think that if our society would encourage and support women more, more moms would breastfeed.
In Sweden, formula feeding is so rare that a prescription is needed from a physician. I think it would be wonderful if our country were supportive enough to make formula the rare exception.

Answer 10

Calling formula "junk food" is at the same time both accurate and misleading. Yes, it is full of refined sugar and chemicals. Compared to *real* baby food, it is *very* unhealthy. It puts a child at risk of all kinds of diseases--major and minor--throughout her/his life (including, I note you failed to mention, cancer).

On the other hand, it *is* as close to a perfect food as can be made by human beings with today's knowledge. It *will* (usually) keep a child alive, growing, and fairly healthy.

Parents who use formula instead of breastfeeding are usually misinformed. There are a lot of mothers who are told (and believe) that they "cannot" breastfeed, although almost without exception this is not true. And banked human milk is usually not an option--either they've never heard of it, it's unavailable, they don't have a prescription, or it's exorbitantly priced. Mothers who choose not to breastfeed are almost always either uninformed or don't believe that they will be harming their children. *No* mother (with the obvious exceptions) chooses to hurt her baby!!