Breastfeeding or Formula ?

'Breast is Best' vs 'Well I grew up on formula and I'm just fine'

The big debate that will go on as long as mother's give birth to babies. Both sides of the argument are sound, breast is the most natural way to feed your baby. It's on tap, its loaded with nutrients (provided you are eating well !! ) and it doesn't requiring mixing, heating, storing or working out how much to take with you when you are out and about. The downside for me what that I never really knew how much my baby was feeding and if it was enough.

Equally however formula contains all the nutrients a baby needs and even when you consider the antibodies it lacks that breast milk does have, there is no evidence of stronger or weaker immune systems in adults that were formula fed versus breast fed. It also means you know how much your baby is having and when and typically as it can be richer, formula feb babies sleep through the night sooner. It also means someone else can help with the night feeds !! Enter daddy.

One thing is for sure though, neither method comes without it's own set of issues. Some mother's simply can't breastfeed. For a variety of reasons from being unable to get a good latch, to simply not producing enough milk. Why can't some mother's produce milk if it's the most natural way to feed their newborn? sometimes it's the mother's nutrition, sometimes psychological issues, and other times there IS no reason. I really struggled with breastfeeding Isabelle. To me it felt like the most UNNATURAL thing. I couldn't get her to latch on properly so as a result instead of my nipple being far back on her soft palate, it would rest of her hard palate leaving me sore and bleeding and once that starts, so starts a viscous cycle that makes it harder and harder. I also wasn't producing enough milk as I wasn't really eating that well as I had big time baby blues in the 1st few weeks; and as you know the more you make, the more your baby feeds the more it stimulates the breasts to make more. I was the opposite and the more time passed the less milk I made. And not even good milky milk; it started to look very clear and grey, and eventually the doctors told me I had to supplement with formula as Isabelle wasn't gaining enough weight. With Sebastien it was a totally different story, he latched on well, he drank well, I made good milk and all was well. But then I had to go back to work and I wanted to transition him to formula before my start date.

Formula has it's own set of issues. Isabelle took to the 1st one we tried. Sebastien had VERY bad colic with almost every type of milk we tried. He had colic on breast milk too but the formula made it worse. We tried 3 different milk brands and nothing helped, eventually I switched back to the 1st brand as I felt perhaps I hadn't given it as much of a chance as the others and had moved on from it in my haste to find something better. It was the one that Isabelle had used too and a part of me wanted Sebastien to use that one as well. Surprisingly it DID work well. I don't know if it was because I hadn't given it enough of a chance to settle with him the 1st time or whether it had taken so long to wok our way back around to it again that he had actually grown out of his colic Was he dealing better with formula in general or was he dealing better with this brand?

So a little on the science: what do they contain and lack ??

BREAST MILK

FAT: if you take the water out, 50% of breast milk is FAT, and in there a fair bit of cholesterol. Some research shows that this early exposure to cholesterol results in adults with lower cholesterol as they are able to regulate their levels better. The fast cells in breast milk are also smaller (broken down by an enzyme in breast milk called Lipase) than the fat cells in formula (which comes from cow's milk) and therefore easier for babies to digest.

CARBOHYDRATE: makes up 37% of breast milk. The carb in breast milk is lactose (made up of two sugars galactose and glucose). Lactose provides the energy that will allow babies function (breath, eat, cry, grow, and develop).Lactose is also converted to lactic acid which makes the baby’s stomach acidic. This in turn prevents the growth of harmful bacteria.

PROTEIN: There are high levels of protein in colostrum. The sticky thick part of milk that comes in the 1st few days after birth. 60 to 80% of the protein in breast milk is Whey. It's a smooth, liquidly-type of protein that is said to be easier to digest and it is absorbed well in baby’s stomach. This is also why their stool is runny, and they feel hungry more often.. The other important proteins in breast milk are the antibodies (helps fight against bacterial and viral infections), lactoferrin (binds to iron and helps iron absorption. It also prevents the growth of harmful microorganisms that use iron), bifidus factor (encourages the growth of lactobacillus which helps prevents the growth of other harmful stomach bacteria), lipase, amylase, lysozyme, and other enzymes (helps in digestion and creates a healthy environment in the intestines).

VITAMINS & MINERALS: Breast milk advocates say that it is considered to have the perfect combination of nutrients: Vit A, D, C, E, B1, B2, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Niocin, Folic Acid, B12, B6. These are just some of the 100 different components. Don't forget CALCIUM !

FORMULA

Infant formula is designed to match the ingredients of breast milk, but an exact replica is not yet possible. The FDA requires all infant formula to comply with strict nutritional requirements. The FDA requires all iron fortified formulas to have at least 12 milligrams of iron per liter and 2 milligrams of iron per liter for low iron formulas. DHA and ARA are also added to formulas to increase proper brain and eye development. A large difference between breast milk and baby formula is that formula contain saturated fats, such as oils and corn syrup. You will also notice that babies fed on infant formula are often fatter than babies fed with breast milk. The other issue is that most infant formulas are cow milk based which in some cases can result in lactose intolerance. For a full breakdown of the components you can go to www.fda.gov

SUMMARY

The MOST IMPORTANT issue I think is to believe in the choice you make and not let anyone tell you that one is better or worse than the other. You can make your choice on convenience, preference, cost, because you are going back to work, or because one is simply easier on you than the other; whatever your reason is, IT'S YOUR REASON, and you should stick to it.