by Josie Borg

Created on: July 03, 2008

Should I breast feed or not?

I believe that if you are asking yourself that question, then you are not 100% definite about not breast-feeding. If you are not 100% adamant about chucking the idea of breast-feeding, then I think that from a mothers point of view, you should definitely try it if you can with every baby you have. It does not matter if you try it for a month or for 2 years, but you should try it. With my son, who is fourteen years old now, I used a breast pump because he was a preemie. He was born at twenty-four weeks gestation. He was incubated for 3 months. I was able to breast feed by tube while he was in the incubator for 2 months. There are many benefits to both baby and mom when breast-feeding. He was then put on formula. With my daughter, I breast-fed her for one year until I had to go back to work. Although, with my daughter she was losing too much weight in the first week, so we supplemented with formula for the first couple of weeks until my milk started to come in stronger. Therefore, my daughter had both for the first two weeks of life.

It can be very emotional for mom when just starting to breast feed and it can be very painful. If you stick with it and know that it is okay to supplement until your milk comes in and your breasts are not so tender, you will feel a sense of accomplishment and a strong bond that cannot be replaced by anything. Supplementing with formula even throughout your babies first year is okay. As long as your baby is getting enough milk, regardless if it is formula based or breast milk or a mixture of the two, your baby will get what he needs.

I know some woman that have went exclusively with formula and have a wonderful bond with their child. When asked if they would choose formula over breast, they are totally comfortable with giving their next child formula. I know of a couple that gave both formula and breast for the first year. The baby would get breast at home, and formula when the family would go out.

There is a cream that is safe for baby to ingest. It is a linoliec cream. It helps relieve the pain on your nipples; as well, it will help heal any scabs that are formed from skin breakage when starting to breast feed. Some women get this and it is okay to breast feed when you have a tear or scab on your breast. The tears and scabs hurt, but they will heal. You will not even remember the pain. Put it on after breast-feeding. You will not get this for the whole time that you breast-feed your baby. Once your breast' are used to your baby sucking milk, the tears will go away and it will not be painful anymore. This usually takes a few weeks.

With everything in life, there is a learning curve. With a little bit of pain in the beginning this experience with benefit you and your baby for a lifetime. There are diseases that are known to be prevented due to breast-feeding for both you and baby. In addition, there is thought that your babies I.Q will be higher. Try itif you like it stick with it, if you don't like it and maybe it hurts too much, try supplementing with formula or scrap it all together, you can at least say that you tried it. Your baby will love you no matter what choice you make.

There is great supporting evidence out there that shows breast milk is the way to go. Although, nothing says that formula will harm a baby. A lot of us were given formula and for the most part, we turned out healthy. It all comes down to preference. In the end the baby will be just fine with either or.

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