article: stupid reasons not to breastfeed @@

Here's an article that outlines the "disadvantages" of breastfeeding. It's a bunch of crock. I just had to address each reason personally.

If you can't breast feed here are some reasons not to feel guilty

People who tell you that breastfeeding helps you 'bond' with your child have been watching too much daytime TV. You will love that baby whether it is fed by breast, bottle or naso-gastric tube, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Well I can't really comment on this one since I never bottle fed...but I can say, when I am nursing, I can not imagine anyone getting the same experience with a bottle.

Allergies such as asthma and excema are on the increase in all young children. Breast milk may reduce the incidence of some allergic reactions, but plenty of breast-fed babies go on to develop allergies, and plenty of formula-fed babies don't.

Yes. And plenty of smokers don't develope lung cancer. It doesn't make smoking less dangerous.

Breastfeeding establishes an exclusive and mutually dependent relationship between mother and child. This can be enormously rewarding for both, but it certainly excludes the dads. It also establishes a pattern where the mother has the vast majority of responsibility for the baby, and this pattern can be very difficult to break as the child grows up.

This one is especially irritating to me. Jason is in no way excluded from a relationship with Brooke. He bonds with her in other ways. He gives her her dinner solids, and he also gives her her baths. He also has daddy-daughter play time every night. He doesn't feel left out at all. Also, we share equal responsibility in raising Brooke, as shown with him giving baths, etc. He also gets up with her at night and changes the same if not more amount of diapers that I do. I have witnessed many bottle fed babies whose fathers have no relationship with them and they leave the raising up to the mother. It has to do with the family choice in raising the child, not in how the child is fed.@@

Dad may not be the only one who feels left out. Many of us have our second baby a year or two after number one, and cuddling a potentially jealous toddler while trying to keep the new arrival latched on is a tricky business both physically and emotionally.

Does this mean that a toddler with a bottle fed sibling is never jealous and challenging to the mother? How is the mother to feed the bottle fed infant in this situation? Bottle propping? @@ It's the same challenges for both bf'ing and bottle feeding situations.

This seems an obvious point, but it is worth remembering that if you breastfeed, it will be you that gets up for all the night-time feeds.

I co sleep. I don't get up at all. Jason gets her and brings her to the bed, she latches on, and we all go back to sleep. Meanwhile, the mother of the bottle fed infant has to get up, prepare a bottle, feed the infant while up, and in the morning have to clean up the mess. If a bf'ing mother doesn't co sleep, she can always pump milk for the father to feed at night to share the responsibility. So, in actuality, the bf'ing mother gets more sleep.

Expressing milk works well for some women but, while a baby at the breast feels natural, warm and loving, a breast pump feels cold, uncomfortable and downright silly.

Nothing is silly when it comes to providing the best for your infant's health.

It may sound frivolous, but it is worth considering that the longer you breastfeed, the longer you need maternity bras, and for some of us breastfeeding also means wearing a bra at night - not very romantic!

I stopped wearing maternity bras a while back. And yes, I wear a bra to bed, like a lot of other women, whether they are bf'ing or not. And besides, the benefits are worth it.

As for the romantic part....my husband has no qualms about removing my bra....he's not lazy enough where me wearing a bra at night is going to deter him from romance, how ridiculous is that @@

Moving a baby on from breast to bottle can be very hard work. If you hope to start bottle feeding once you go back to work, make sure you plan ahead and do it gradually, or you may have a very angry baby to deal with!

With proper preparation, its not hard at all.

After nine months of eating healthily and depriving yourself of treats you may feel you deserve a stiff drink. Choosing to breastfeed means having to be restrained that bit longer, which can seem a bit unfair if your partner is out 'wetting the baby's head'.

Bf'ing mothers candrink. Alcohol leaves the breast milk as soon as it leaves the blood system.  If you are ok to drive, then bf'ing shouldn't be a problem. However, if you really are concerned, and still want to drink yourself silly, you can always feed your baby pumped milk. Or better yet, don't drink...it's not good for you anyways.

Of course, lets not mention the other benefits of bf'ing....lower risk of breast and ovarian cancer, lower risk of illness for the infant, etc. This article is ridiculous! @@