What would women do...?

Question

if there was no such thing as baby formula? Yes, I am a nursing mom (nursing nazi if you like) and I have never used formula, so I am biased on this question. I am just curious to know what would happen if formula was not an option. I know I will get a lot of negative answers for asking this question, but I would really like to hear feed-back.

Great answers so far! For those of you that mentioned a baby being allergic to his/her mother's milk, you might find this article interesting;

http://www.babyandkidallergies.com/breastfeeding_allergic_baby.php

To Cindi P...nope, I don't think I am discouraging anyone. In fact, moms that I have talked to that weren't successful at nursing say that they wish they had someone with knowledge that could have encouraged them...sorry, I don't buy your theory!! Interesting thoughts coming from a fellow nursing mom...

To stormb55 -- thanks!! Having a supportive husband when nursing your child is SO important. Congrats to you and your wife!

To sassy_395...really? You have to eat totally correct...hmm, where did you get that info? I eat whatever I want to and both kids are very healthy!!!

Answer 1

99% of woman can physically breastfeed. The other 1% is mothers who have had a double mastectomy, or some other surgery, or perhaps a rare metabolic/hormonal disorder. Its just that mothers in the US get bad information and think they can't. If a mother's milk "doesn't come in" there is a reason for it (like if the baby isn't put to the breast soon enough or often enough, if the baby is given a bottle or paci, or sometimes it just takes up to a week for the milk to come in)
There is no such thing as being allergic to the mothers breastmilk. They can be allergic to something that the mother is eating and passing through in her milk, but that can be fixed by the mother not eating that particular food.
In cultures where there is no formula available, breastfeeding is 100% successful.
I mean, think about it your body GREW A BABY out of a few tiny cells. Making some milk to feed that baby is a minuscule task compared to that.
If the baby is tongue tied or has a cleft palate, there are ways to fix that so they can nurse. Once again, it just takes a little education.

But to answer the question, if formula wasn't available, the US would be so much healthier. Diabetes and obesity and food allergies would be much less, children would be a lot less sick.
Our country would save MILLIONS of dollers on healthcare costs alone. And then there is the WIC program. It would save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollers if we weren't paying for formula for moms who refused to breastfeed but didn't want to pay for the formula out of their own pocket.
Even in modern countries, Sweden for example, it is UNHEARD of to formula feed. Everyone breastfeeds. It is even considered unethical to use formula!
But with all the mothers in the US who claim that they "couldn't breastfeed" you would think there is something in the water here in america that makes american women unable to breastfeed when women all over the rest of the world have no problem at all.

Answer 2

I nursed exclusively for the first three months because I wasn't working often. When I started work eight hour days, it became harder to express enough milk to provide only breastmilk to my daughter. I'm not against formula use. In fact, I'm glad it's around. I've heard of babies who are allergic to their mother's milk so they have to have soy formula or sometimes goats' milk. What I find aggravating is when some hospital nurses try to push one way or the other. Usually it goes the way of formula. I understand if the baby is allergic or something. But I have a friend who told the nurse she wanted to breastfeed. When it came time for baby to eat, mom was asleep so the nurse gave her a bottle. They also did not call the lactation consultant like they were supposed to in order to help her get the baby latched.

In answer to your question, I don't know what we would do. I'm sure we would find another alternative (as some moms have with highly allergic babies). I think more moms would breastfeed though. I wish more moms would. Many moms are not educated on the benefits of breast over formula nor do they think of half and half (Which is what i had to do) Formula when mom isn't home and breast when she is. It's difficult to say.

Answer 3

There are legitimate reasons some women cannot breastfeed. My son was such a hard nurser that not only did he make my nipples bleed but he also made my areolas bleed! I did this for 2 weeks and tried pumping, but that didn't work. I couldn't take it anymore and put him on formula. I cried and had i have had the money, i would have gone to a lactation consultant and maybe things would have gone better, but at $100 an hour i couldn't afford it. While i was 5 months pregnant i also moved 1,600 miles away from any of my friends and family, and i have no car. Certainly my husband couldn't have taught me to breastfeed!

So in my case, my son would have probably died. Back in the days when there wasn't formula, if you weren't rich or didn't live near someone who was lactating, your child would have died.

Thank god we live in a world where there is such a thing as formula and our babies can survive! Some children in third world countries still aren't so fortunate.

Answer 4

I am 40 weeks along and plan on breastfeeding. Yes, I know it is going to be difficult to keep up with and all too easy to switch to formula. But I think in some way it is okay to let formula help feed your baby. I think the idea should just be to get as much breast milk into your baby as possible. At this point I'm trying not to set myself up for defeat by creating unrealistic expectations for myself, as I will be returning to work. I will try unrelentingly to breastfeed, though, to see my baby be as healthy as possible. Just wanted to add those thoughts ... it doesn't have to be one or the other ... women can do both simultaneously. If there is a medical reason why a woman cannot breastfeed (dried up or alergic reactions etc.) then nobody should judge that.

Answer 5

Wow you really are opening a whole can of worms.....I am a breastfeeder but I do believe it is a woman's choice. Also some woman cannot breastfeed for several different reasons.(I had to stop breastfeeding my youngest daughter at 1 month old because she is allergic to milk....I had no choice she weighed almost a pound less at 1 month than she did at birth and my second daughter was born tongue tied and guess what try as I might she couldn't properly latch and get anything) There are also several other options that ladies used back in the day that we are told not to use because it isn't safe(although the children from back then turned out just fine)

Just because YOU breastfeed does not make you any better than the ladies that choose to formula feed. Give it up you(and everyother breastfeeding nazi) are not going to convince everyone to breastfeed....have you ever thought that maybe you pushing for people to breastfeed only pushes people away from breastfeeding??? hmmm...something to think about.

Answer 6

I'm sure they would have to breastfeed, make their own formula, or get a wet nurse. However, today I believe it is the woman's choice, and it isn't right for anyone to judge anyone else. It's not like someone is a better mom because they breastfeed. It also doesn't guarantee a healthier baby. Women also have to remember that they must eat totally correct to be able to fully give their baby all the nutrients they need. Bonding and closeness are attained with the bottle as well as the breast.

Answer 7

I think some people out there need to realize that some women DO NOT CHOOSE to not breastfeed. Because they have no choice because of medical reasons,low milk supply,improper latching and so forth. I feel that most breastfeeding moms just think we are supposed to be super human and breastfeed with no problems. I am one of those people that DOES understand that problems CAN occur therefore we resort to formula. And I do think that we as women need to take into consideration that it is mentally disturbing if breastfeeding isn't sucessful. I really don't think this is a good question because it's hypothetical and formula has been around for a long time!

I really do not feel formula feeding is bad because there are plenty of sucessful,happy,healthy adults living in this world that were formula fed. And if it was soo bad it wouldn't be a alternative period.

I say kudo's to women who can breastfeed therefore I wouldn't feel right being judged because I formula feed.

Answer 8

We would probably do the same thing that non-breastfeeding mothers did back in the day before there was formula and give our children actual milk.
Back then you didn't have doctors telling you that babies can't have cow's milk until they were over a year old, and most of them survived.

I know that I probably sound a little snippy and don't mean to but there was a time when formula didn't exist and babies didn't starve if they weren't breast fed

Answer 9

Well, for myself, if formula wasn't an option I would have been forced to breastfeed longer despite the 4 months of sheer torture it already was. Or, for my girlfriend, if it wasn't an option her son would be malnourished as she couldn't produce enough(despite really trying hard) and was ordered to put him on formula because at 1.5 months he hadn't regained his birth weight. So you'll probably find an even split on women who needed to use formula for medical reasons and others who needed it for their own sanity and others who just wanted to use formula with no particular reason. The great thing about formula is that it gives us choices....when 200 years ago, for example, my girlfriends son probably would have died without the addition of formula. I don't think you should get a lot of negative feedback for asking this...unfortunately, you probably will! I don't know why the b/feeding vs. formula debate is such a loaded topic. We are all trying to make the right decisions for our own unique situations we've been put in.

Answer 10

There was a time when there was no formula or at least not widely available. My mom who is 75 remembers her sister used canned evaporated milk mixed with water to feed her children! I was really shocked, but apparently it was commonly used. I am sure people who did not want to breastfeed - or couldn't (and yes there are some women who really can't) would find some way to feed their babies.

BTW, I breastfeed my son, but am nowhere near a BF nazi-type. Since there IS formula now and there are plenty of healthy, well-balanced, emotionally stable, loving, well-bonded formula fed babies who are now adults, I think it is totally a personal choice.