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Imperfections

Further defining the "right to choose".

By Jessica Carlson

I read this commentary with interest, and enjoyed it because you addressed some real idiocies within the system. I received (by accident) the hospital's obligatory gift of Enfamil. I say "by accident" because mothers committed to breasfeeding are not supposed to get the little yellow and blue bags. But we took it home with us, convinced we would never need it, since, as I was told by many, "babies don't get hungry for a few days." That night our newborn screamed for almost 6 hours. She tore my nipples to shreds, and finally, at 5 am, I looked at her father and said, "Get it." He didn't have to ask what "it" was, and I didn't know he could move so fast. She guzzled 4 ounces and slept for 4 hours. My milk took almost a week to come in. We used the gift of Enfamil, although I was scared it would ruin her for the real thing. My midwife told me not to worry, that people committed to breastfeeding will be successful. A week's worth of formula wasn't going to ruin anything. And it didn't. I only stopped nursing 3 months shy of her thrid birthday. Frankly, I am still grateful for those little bottles, and she keeps crayons in the gift bag. I wish people wouldn't get so worked up about what, in the long run, is just none of their business.

Posted by: leigh | Aug 28, 2006 11:56

I don't understand how taking away a FREE bag of formula will keep a woman from going to the store to BUY a can of formula... the choice isn't taken away, it's just the "freebie" (which drives the cost of formula up anyway.)

I get worked up over the formula bags because I did use the formula in the bags, and almost gave up on nursing because it was just so easy to use the formula in the bag rather than work to get my latch correct. My daughter had 2 bottles of formula while we were home, and guess what, she's lactose intolerant now at 21 months! Tell me that the formula didn't have something to do with it! (Lactose intolerance doesn't run in our families.)

Posted by: Rebecca | Nov 18, 2006 01:50

Rebecca, guess what? Breastmilk has lactose in it! If your baby was truly lactose intolerant, which is a genetic disease, she would not be able to breastfeed either. (So suffice it to say, no I don't think it was formula and doubt that your baby is truly lactose intolerant.)

Posted by: Jessica | Nov 18, 2006 08:48

Hi there, now I have to say Jessica, that I don't always agree with some of your views(Meg from the pit bull article) but this one was wonderfull. I thought you adressed all the right points. When you said "While one mother may find solutions to breastfeeding problems or breastfeeding initiation, another may feel the solutions are too great of a sacrifice for her personal situation and thus, affects her ability to be the mother she wants to be." ....that is me. I have had four kids, and although I breastfed for about two weeks each for the colostrum, I switched to the bottle after that. Two weeks was hard enough. I did not have the time to spend over an hour every four hours breast feeding. I had diapers to change, kids to chase and a house to keep clean. Although I think it's great if breastfeeding is your choice, the method you choose to feed your child is nobody's business but your own. As long as the baby is getting the necessary nutrients, does it really matter if it is from a bottle or a boob? If it's an issue of bonding to some of the mom's out there, I know that I talked, and sang, and cuddled my babies while I feed them their bottles. Thank you Jessica, for this article, I was starting to think I was the only one who noticed that slowly, but surely, people are trying to take this choice away from us too, not by law, but social stigma and enforced guilt.

Posted by: Meg | Nov 20, 2006 22:51

It's so easy to get carried away with your judgments, until you come across an article like this. Though I am pro-extended breastfeeding, I know firsthand the benefits of formula. I had difficulty with latch for a month and had no choice but to give my daughter formula. Ironically, it was formula that facilitated my ability to breastfeed. Even now, we keep a small canister for those times when I just don't feel like pumping. I will admit though, I feel the stigma, imagined or otherwise, at the checkout counter each time I buy another one. Had we not been given that enfamil at the hospital, it would have been an even rougher time for my daughter.

Posted by: shanika chapman | Apr 27, 2007 06:41

I'm sorry, but not distributing *free samples* doesn't remotely impede anyone's choice to artificially feed their babies. The unfortunate fact is that societal pressures and lack of adequate information cause too many women to give up and think they just "can't" nurse, or that it's "too hard," when in fact it's really just *too easy* to not bother doing it. How could not getting free stuff interfere with your right to feed your baby formula? It can't. This is indeed a free country. No one is stopping you from using chemical formulas. But it's about time we stopped kicking nursing mothers out of stores and placing every kind of social pressure on them to STOP nursing and start using the bottle. If the tide has turned since the days when I received nothing but scorn from most people for nursing, so much the better. Babies deserve the best, not the fourth best. (According to the AAP rankings, formula is fourth best as a means of feeding babies ;) )

Posted by: AnaBanana | Feb 12, 2008 03:15

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