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Is Fed Actually Best?
I am sure most reading this have heard the saying “Breast is Best” and maybe even heard it combated with “fed is best”. Which is accurate? Is breast best like we were originally told? Or is fed best like formula companies have worked so hard to have us believe?
This blog I will go over the benefits of breastfeeding and how they compare to the benefits of formula.
I have seen several women get enraged when another woman says “breast is best” combatting it with reasons why we should say fed is best instead. The most common reason I have noticed that is given is because not everyone can breastfeed. Now looking at this from a Christian perspective, God made women’s body’s to be able to create life, birth, and breastfeed. However, since the fall, there are problems that exist and make this impossible to be a reality for every woman. Now I am not here to talk about infertility, or reasons for a c-section, but am here to discuss breastfeeding.
Maybe the reason that so many women “can’t” breastfeed isn’t because their bodies don’t produce enough milk, but because their support system doesn’t provide enough support. One of the main reasons that women fail at breastfeeding is because of lack of support. While yes, there are some serious reasons a woman might not be able to produce enough milk for her baby, the number of women who have ailments vs choose to stop/are not supported are wildly different. An average of 1-5% of women have a physical ailment that prevents them from being able to breastfeed; however, only 84% of babies are ever breastfeed, with that number dropping to 59% by 6 months and 39% at one year. Why the disparity in numbers?
Yes, some women don’t ever want to breastfeed. But those that do and feel like they can’t, why aren’t we stepping up to help them? I met a woman a few weeks ago who said she struggled to produce enough milk for her daughter because her latch was shallow. So this woman made an appointment with a lactation consultant to get help. The lactation consultant confirmed the way her daughter was latching was preventing her from pulling enough milk out. The lactation consultant recommended formula for the baby to make sure she didn’t lose weight and was eating enough. The lactation consultant. I emphasize that because the lactation consultants whole job is to help with lactation. Why did the consultant not try to help fix the latch? Or recommend the mom pump and fed that to the baby while trying to fix the latch? The mom expressed to me how sad she was at this because she really wanted to breastfeed. Then she said “but fed is best I guess right?” sounding as if she was trying to convince herself that that was true more than to convince me.
As a society I think we have failed women like the one above by perpetrating “fed is best”. If she knew the benefits that breast is in fact best, then maybe she would have spoken up for herself and tried to breastfeed instead of giving into the lactation consultant who failed at giving lactation advice.
My goal of this blog is to get you to think. To share the ways that breastmilk is so beneficial to both mom and baby, and even on the wallet! Yes, feeding our babies is necessary, but shouldn’t we want to feed them what is best? So with this information I will leave it up to you to decide: is fed actually best, or is fed just necessary?
First I will start by saying I am not here to trash on formula, but to show the benefits of breastmilk. With that, I will start by sharing the benefits of formula. One huge pro of formula feeding is being able to have others feed the baby. The mother will not be the only one up at night to feed the baby, and it allows the mother to go somewhere without the baby if she needs or desires that. This could also be achieved by pumping breast milk as well though. You are also able to get a visual of how much baby is eating each time, albeit you are also able to get this if feeding baby pumped breastmilk. Another benefit is your baby never has to not like their food. Since formula is always the same, they should not reject the food.
While that is a short list, unfortunately that is all I was able to find in regards to the benefits of formula feeding. Since this blog is supposed to be about deciding if breast is best or if fed is best, I feel it is only fair to now list the cons of formula feeding. One of the biggest cons for a parent who formula feeds their child is the cost. Formula is expensive, and as we found out during the pandemic, it is at risk of selling out in stores. You also need to prepare bottles and make sure they are the right temperature. Unfortunately we cannot always have perfectly clean conditions, as evident with the hurricane cleanup that is still happening in the East Coast. Formula can also cause digestive issues if it is too harsh on the baby’s belly. This can result in constipation or added gas. If a baby has a cow milk sensitivity then it could be difficult to find a formula that is dairy free. If the problem is related to milk, and that is not known, the baby continuing to drink the milk could cause the baby to suffer from colic; however, an issue could also arise if the mom eats dairy while a baby is intolerant to it. Finally, formula does not provide the antibodies and vitamins that breastmilk provides.
Now that we have looked at the pros and cons of formula feeding, let’s dive into the pros and cons of breastfeeding. We will switch it up and start with the hardships of breasfeeding. An absolutely huge hardship is the social stigma against breastfeeding. Less than half the adults in the U.S. believe mothers should have the right to breastfeed in public spaces. No wonder women don’t want to breastfeed if they will be criticized and judged for doing so! (This isn’t a call to stop breastfeeding but a call on us as a society to do better by judging less). Another hardship is being the only one to feed your baby. Personally, I have not found this as a hardship because I absolutely love the bonding time with my baby, but I know not everyone feels the same. If you exclusively breastfeed then that means you HAVE to get up every night for the baby, at every wake window, which then means less sleep for the mom. Another hardship is latch problems causing pain or an ailment such as mastitis. Yes there will be pain and discomfort while breastfeeding, but there will be pain in drying out if not weaning as well. One hardship that hits home for me is leaking. The amount of times I changed my shirt the first week or so of my baby’s life was crazy, and it was a learning curve to get the milk stains out too! While I am sure others could think of more hardship of breastfeeding, I am going to move onto the pros as I am here to share the benefits of breastfeeding for those who feel like they want to quit, for those who don’t know if it’s worth it, and just to spread awareness on the beauty of the breast!
As I just said, the breast is beautiful. Not in the way that men view it as beautiful, but in the way God created it. The breast and the baby speak to each other. When the baby cries women have a physical response to the baby (as Kevin tries to see with Pam in “The Office”). This reaction lets down milk for the baby to be able to eat. But not only do the breast and baby talk to each other this way, but they do when latched as well. If a baby gets sick, when they latch to the breast their saliva shares the sickness with the mom. But the sickness is not shared as in spread, but shared so the mom will produce antibodies for the baby and pass them back to the baby in breastmilk. Those are not the only antibodies that are in breastmilk. Breastmilk is shown to help reduce the risk of pneumonia, diarrhea, and infection. Children who do not exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months and up to 2 years are more suspepible to diarrhea and pneumonia, which is the leading cause of childhood death worldwide. As we learned about breastmilk producing antibodies for the baby, that is not the only way breastmilk changes. Breastmilk composition changes as baby changes in regards to protein, fat, and necessary vitamins. And it does all of this all in the necessary proportion that baby needs. In addtion, breastmilk even changes based on the time of day. During the night there is melatonin passed via the breastmilk to help the baby sleep, while during the day this is not passed.
Not only does breastmilk help fight infections as they come on, but it can also be a large contributor to helping fight diseases. The diseases breastfeeding can help fight against can be immediate or in the future. Breastfeeding can fight against ear infections, respiratory tract infections, gut infections, colds and general infections, intestinal tissue damage, reduce risk of SIDS, reduce risk of allergies, bowel diseases, both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and childhood leukemia. The reduction of risks does not guarantee your child will never suffer with any of these things, but it does help reduce the risk of said diseases or infections. Breastfeeding is also linked to lower rates of obesity later in life.
Another benefit for the child later in life is that breastfeeding can help raise IQ. This increase in smartness can be linked to physical intimacy/touch and eye contact while feeding, alongside the nutrition packed in breastmilk.
While these are all compelling facts on how breastfeeding can help the baby, there are also ways breastfeeding can help the mother. Breastfeeding can help reduce a mothers risk of breast and ovarian cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. It can also help a mother to lose weight, help the uterus contract back to pre pregnancy size, potentially pause periods, and lowers the risk of postpartum depression.
One last final way breastfeeding can be beneficial is by benefiting the whole family. Breastfeeding is a huge cost savings compared to formula. An average baby, meaning a baby who eats an average amount of formula and has an average diet not needing anything special, will consume $1,500+ a year on formula. That is on formula alone. That does not include the cost of bottles or bottling supplies, which parents are expected to spend $50 a year on bottles. But we will not assume breastfeeding is free. So we will calculate the addition to the grocery bill for breastfeeding moms as they need more calories. That would add up to about $900 per year. Moms may also see a lactation consultant and depending on insurance that may or may not be covered. Even if it is not covered and is an additional $100 then there is still about a $500 difference per year with formula versus breastfeeding. I don’t know about you but with a new baby, $500 goes a long way and can be very needed. Breastfeeding can also save you time as you are not having to clean, disinfect, or sterilize bottles. As well as the food being ready immediately when baby wants it!
Now knowing the benefits of breastfeeding for moms, babies, and families, and knowing a large reason for quitting is lack of support, we need to do better at supporting breastfeeding moms. If we do better at supporting breastfeeding we could help save the lives of 595,397 children, 98,243 mothers, and reduce childhood obesity by 974,956 cases per year. If we know there is so much benefit to breastfeeding, why the push to formula feed? Maybe because formula companies are who came up with the term fed is best to increase sales? Instead of letting ulterior motives win, lets take back control. Let us show moms the support they need. Instead of discouraging moms if their milk hasn’t come in yet, let’s help them to know that it can take 3-12 days for milk to come in and that’s ok. Make sure they are informed the best way to help is by continuing to have baby suck and that supplementing with formula can hurt even more in the long run and dry them up. We can help direct women who physically cannot breastfeed for medical reasons, or even reasons such as adoption, to those who are willing to donate their breastmilk so baby can still get benefits of it. We read about wet nurses in the bible and milk donors are like modern day wet nurses. This is something many women don't know about.
Not only that, but we can support women by encouraging them. Any time you see a woman breastfeeding in public, go tell her good job. Do not judge her. Show her support and encouragement. If she is thirsty then go get her a drink, offer to bring her food, see if she needs a nap during the day, bring food to her house so she doesn’t have to cook, entertain older children for her, or just be a listening ear. There are so many ways we can support and encourage women. Be the change and help support women who want to breastfeed but feel alone. Let’s raise the percentage above just 84% of babies ever getting breastmilk!
I personally think that fed is necessary but breast is still best!
In the end I do not want to shame anyone for a decision they made to formula feed. You did what you thought best for your family. I want to encourage new moms that breastfeeding is worth it and share the benefits of breastfeeding so they know all the effort they put in really does matter.
Thank you for your continued support in my new business and endeavors and I cannot wait to share more with you. If you would like to purchase any stickers, the store on my website with all my stickers I have designed is now up and running! Or if you would like a free consultation, have any questions, or just have something to say, feel free to reach out to me by my contacts page, email, or text. I look forward to where we will go together.
