Breast or Bottle, Don’t Beat Yourself Up…
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010One of the biggest aspect of the first year of raising a baby that women agonize over is breastfeeding.
-
Do you supplement breast milk, or do you only give the baby milk from you?
-
When do you stop trying to nurse if the baby doesn’t seem to be taking to it?
-
When do you stop nursing if the baby takes to it just fine?
-
Do you pump your milk and present it in a bottle, or do you nurse from the breast regardless of where you are at the time?
-
What kind of formula do you buy?
Really, it is enough to make a person dizzy with all the various feeding scenarios. The truth is that the baby is probably a lot less anxious about all this than you are…as long as he or she is getting fed then there is probably no agonizing in your baby’s mind over whether liquid formula is preferable to powdered formula. If you tried to nurse and it just didn’t work out, then accept it and move on. If you nursed with great success but then found yourself too exhausted to keep going, then accept it and move on. If you adore nursing and plan on doing it until your baby eventually packs up and heads off to college, then so be it. This is between you and your baby, and you have enough to worry about without torturing yourself about whether you are doing the right thing. Is your baby fed? Yes. Is your baby happy? Yes. There is enough to fret about in the first year of your baby’s life without letting something like this consume your thoughts.
An Essential Guide for All New Mothers
