Followup thoughts on Formula
Jun. 19th, 2007 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aelfieOkay, that rant over I should make some remarks on Formula feeding.
In some cases, I think some women give up breastfeeding too damn easily. I think most aren't given enough support by family, friends, society at large (remember that modesty statement?) I think some women aren't given enough support from Doctors who with hold drugs that can help increase milk supply.
Some women (like the lady in the "My Turn" essay in this weeks Newsweek) deserve all the damn kudos in the world 'cause she went through hell for that first month trying and it just didn't work. (Although, there's that small nipple nazi in me that says she should have supplemented for a couple of weeks and then tried again, but hey, not my decision) And she is right. Formula is Fine.
But its not Best.
My twins were exclusively Breastfed for their first 12 weeks. But not all of it came from me. One of my other Mom friends D, gave me her entire frozen supply of breastmilk from when her son spent the first 8 weeks of his life in the NICU. She breastfed him afterwards and she never used the frozen stuff. So she gave it to me, rather than let it go to waste. And I was (still am!) grateful. It broke my heart to realize that I just couldn't keep up with 2 babies demands for milk. So I gave them formula, as well as breastmilk .
Do I feel guilty about it? You better believe it. I still do. I'm convinced its why Gwen has digestive problems. And I'm sure its why the girls get every single virus that goes around. Ike never gets sick. And he breastfed until recently. Elli weaned herself at around 11 months and Gwen by 14 months (although I encouraged it 'cause that's when I started taking amino acid supplements that she didn't need) I wish I had found the drugs before I gave up and gave them formula.
But at least for next time, I know.
In some cases, I think some women give up breastfeeding too damn easily. I think most aren't given enough support by family, friends, society at large (remember that modesty statement?) I think some women aren't given enough support from Doctors who with hold drugs that can help increase milk supply.
Some women (like the lady in the "My Turn" essay in this weeks Newsweek) deserve all the damn kudos in the world 'cause she went through hell for that first month trying and it just didn't work. (Although, there's that small nipple nazi in me that says she should have supplemented for a couple of weeks and then tried again, but hey, not my decision) And she is right. Formula is Fine.
But its not Best.
My twins were exclusively Breastfed for their first 12 weeks. But not all of it came from me. One of my other Mom friends D, gave me her entire frozen supply of breastmilk from when her son spent the first 8 weeks of his life in the NICU. She breastfed him afterwards and she never used the frozen stuff. So she gave it to me, rather than let it go to waste. And I was (still am!) grateful. It broke my heart to realize that I just couldn't keep up with 2 babies demands for milk. So I gave them formula, as well as breastmilk .
Do I feel guilty about it? You better believe it. I still do. I'm convinced its why Gwen has digestive problems. And I'm sure its why the girls get every single virus that goes around. Ike never gets sick. And he breastfed until recently. Elli weaned herself at around 11 months and Gwen by 14 months (although I encouraged it 'cause that's when I started taking amino acid supplements that she didn't need) I wish I had found the drugs before I gave up and gave them formula.
But at least for next time, I know.
Don't feel guilty! Sheesh!
Date: 2007-09-14 06:19 pm (UTC)I'm fine with the bottle. Mel's fine with the bottle. For all the crap they spew about formula kids getting sicker, there's actually only about a 5% difference, and that's not controlling other factors, like the fact that there's a correlation between a family's race and income and whether or not the children are breastfed. Mel is pretty frickin' healthy. She gets sick at the beginning of the semester, right after childcare starts up again (like what's going on now), but rarely any other time. She's only been sick a couple of times in her life, and she hasn't been for the last 6 months or so. Really.
Also, if you really wanted to emulate people in third world countries who exclusively breastfeed and carry their babies in wraps at their hips all day, you would have buried your smallest twin at their birth. Yeah, so, uh, don't sweat it, ok?
You're a great mom with great kids. Ok??
moll.
Re: Don't feel guilty! Sheesh!
Date: 2007-09-14 08:49 pm (UTC)Drugs. Its a pediatric anti-emetic. Or in plain english. Its a drug for kids to take to control nausea or keep them from throwing up. It was found in sufficient quantities (starting at the clinical dose for the kids) a large number of women will either spontaneously start leaking milk or their supply will dramatically increase (if they are already breastfeeding) Its the drug they hand out to adopting mom's who want to try breastfeeding their new infant. Its used widely in Canada and Europe. US Dr's just don't offer it much less prescribe it. But they do know about it.