FORMULA GUILT

I’ve seen and experienced so much anxiety, guilt, and shame around not breastfeeding that I knew I needed to do a post about it,

Breastfeeding is a beautiful, miraculous thing. Breastmilk is perfectly formulated to be exactly what your baby needs. However, breastfeeding is not the only way to feed your baby and still be a good mom.

Sometimes breastfeeding causes more stress than it’s worth. Latch problems, milk production problems, pain, mastitis, are all really stressful. I personally saw three different lactation consultants to try to correct all the above, and none of them were able to solve the problem. I then began exclusively pumping, which was so exhausting and left me little time to rest and connect with my child. It left me feeling worn out and depleted. It just wasn’t worth it for our family.

While breastmilk is obviously the best kind of milk for your baby, you also have to weight what is best for the entire family as a whole, including you. If pumping and breastfeeding is making you stressed, exhausted, and overwhelmed, you won’t be able to be as engaged and present with your child. This can hinder attachment.

It’s also important to note that supply decreases with stress and exhaustion, and then when our supply drops we get more stressed, leading to a never-ending cycle.

If you’ve given breastfeeding or pumping a good try, but dread it every time, and feel anxious or even depressed over it, it may not be the best thing for your family. And that’s ok. Do not let anyone, including yourself, make you feel like less of a mom for that.

Your worth and value is not in how many ounces of breastmilk you can produce for your child. There is so much more to motherhood than how you feed your child.

Share this with a friend struggling with breastfeeding, and let’s support one another, regardless of our feeding choices.