I love bottle-feeding

It feels that there is a huge anti-bottle/pro-breast movement these days... and I get it.

I just don't think that breastfeeding is for everyone.

There may be physical reasons with either the mom or babe that doesn't allow it. There may be emotional reasons it doesn't work out. Some women just plain don't like to breastfeed and where is the mother/ child bonding then?

Besides, shouldn't it be a pro-breastmilk/ anti-formula movement?

I personally ended up pumping a lot more than I breastfed. I just couldn't handle the schedule of doing both all the time. In the beginning I was breastfeeding, then bottle-feeding and then pumping at each feeding time. That left me with approximately 30 seconds to rest before the next feeding.

I eventually ended up just pumping and then feeding him a bottle whenever I could produce enough to fill up a whole bottle. I've just found that when asked or asking if women are breastfeeding there seems to be a great amount of guilt linked to admitting they aren't.

Do I think that Peanut will become an axe murderer because he missed out on a lot of very special mommy breastfeeding and bonding? Eh, not likely.

I feel like we still spent a lot of time bonding regardless of whether or not it was with him on my breast.

I'm also pretty sure that if he grows up to have mommy issues that it will have to do with a myriad of other traumatic experiences I'll put him through and not for lack of breastfeeding.

I think.

Formula is not poison...it's formula.



I love bottle-feeding. I still love holding him and looking into his eyes as he slurps away.

I love that daddy and grandma and grandpa get to sit quietly and feed him as well.

Perhaps it's the way Peanut was introduced to the bottle (the poor child was starving) that caused him to take to it so wonderfully. He was less than a week old and I believe that the result was a child that floated easily between the bottle and the breast.

That kid will eat anything. He must have gotten that from his father. He switches easily back and forth between formula and breastmilk.

I will never understand this because formula is completely disgusting where as breastmilk is quite sweet.

Yes, I tasted my breastmilk...didn't you? Anyone?

Peanut has used 4 different kinds of bottles and could care less what it is as long as you feed him. We were lucky enough not to have any nipple confusion. He's a pretty easy baby.



Let's not overlook the obvious. Bottle-feeding = Freedom!

It means being able to sleep through the next feeding. It means more mommy time, showering for longer than 5 minutes and an extra moment to cling to any remaining sanity in those critical times.

That first day he took a bottle I was too relieved that he was no longer starving to be upset that my original plan was already unhinged. Besides, it allowed me the next hour or so to have a near nervous breakdown over going to the bathroom for the first time post-birth (or shall we say post-stitches). You know, "the bathroom". The experience was too traumatic to speak any more of but I sure am glad I didn't have to worry about feeding the baby during the trauma.

I'm pretty sure that if I have another babe I'll think hard on using a bottle occasionally from the get go with that one also. I don't think there is anything wrong with using a bottle occasionally or exclusively.

I do believe that breastmilk is the best start you can give your baby.

I understand and enjoyed the process of breastfeeding but I also love our bottle-feeding situation.

I've learned that "the norm" just doesn't exist when it comes to parenting. The norm changes with each person you speak to.

There are always arguments for and against every parenting decision to be made.

In the end you just have to do not only what you think is right but also what feels right for you.