Disclaimer: I know plenty of people can not breastfeed and choose not to, they have a right to their decisions and should not be discriminated against. Now on to my opinion, because after all, this is my blog.
Bottle feeding totally sucks! Whew, I feel much better now. Seriously though, recently I took care of a very tiny newborn for just over 3 weeks who woke up every two hours all night long. Since I did not give birth to her, I could not breastfeed her like I did my three sons and it was torturous. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy to be taking care of the baby (really thrilled and excited was more like it). I just wasn’t used to the torture of baby bottles.
Ok, to be totally honest, I didn’t breastfeed my youngest nearly as long as I wanted to for various reasons. But if this experience didn’t cement how I feel about breastfeeding, it certainly convinced me that it is way easier. At least with newborns who eat frequently at night. I just was not used to having to stand up, turn on a light or two, go to the kitchen, warm up a bottle or make one from scratch to then feed the baby and repeat the process two hours later. I really began to appreciate how much nicer it was to be able to roll over, pull the baby out of the bedside bassinet, give ‘em the breast for a few minutes and then pop ‘em back into it. No lights, no walking, no standing. No really being completely awake I think!
Then taking the baby anywhere was a hassle. Plan the bottles for the time that was going to be spent out, find a way to warm them, get back in the house before running out. Pain in the ass. And then there was the cost. No wonder people need WIC or any help they can get, that formula is crazy expensive. Breast milk is free! Of course I will repeat that I feel for people who can not breastfeed. But I was super annoyed with the price of formula, especially when I believe that the better stuff is totally free, and ‘on tap’ anywhere you go. Buying bottles, washing and sterilizing them was a drag too. Maybe if I had nothing to compare it too, I wouldn’t have been so put off, but man I appreciated those milk machines of mine when they were no longer available!
After a couple of months, I was also an expert at the “football hold”, (pictured) a position of breastfeeding that allows you to hold the baby with one arm, freeing your other arm to grab other children, or walk around, answer the phone, other stuff, etc. Bottle feeding ended all that, you can do nothing but hold the baby in one arm and the bottle in the other. If you are a young mom undecided about breastfeeding and you can’t afford an ultra expensive lactation consultant, reach out to your older friends on social media or any way you can, and get some in-home support. The benefits of breastfeeding far outweigh any drawbacks, and I haven’t even talked about the health benefits for the baby.