"Fed is Best"

After reading this article, it spurred another post for me:

http://www.scarymommy.com/new-study-shows-cognitive-benefits-of-breastfeeding-are-negligible-by-age-five/?utm_source=FBOnsite

I think most doctors and nurses would encourage mothers that nursing babies is best for them.  I remember the first container of formula I bought even mentioned that same idea in capital letters right on the package.  I have a lot of respect for those who do nurse and their commitment.

For me though, choosing to formula feed was something I decided even before I was pregnant.  Nursing did not really cross my radar as quite frankly it was not something I was comfortable with but more practically there seemed to be too many variables with babies latching on and producing enough supply and I wanted to be able to visually see how many ounces they were getting at each feeding.

I found myself surprised that during the entire prenatal care and even after delivery and the followup visits with a newborn none of the nurses or doctors ever questioned my motive of choosing formula.  For our kids, they thrived on formula, stayed on track with growth/development and took to it right away with no apparent adverse reactions.  (Although with Aliyah while still in the hospital right after she was born they thought she might have issues with the milk-based formula since she was spitting up a lot.  Then, she was switched to soy and that didn't seem to make much of a difference, so she was switched back to the milk based and did fine with that and the spitting up resolved once we were settled in back home.)  They both made a smooth transition to whole milk at 1 year. 

As babies, they both eventually began taking larger quantities at a time, ate less often and both started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks.  I'm not sure how much the formula had to do with that or if we just lucked out with good sleepers since they both still sleep about 12 hours per night, Eli sometimes more like 11 hours.  

Whether a baby's nutrition comes from the mother or formula, as the saying goes, "Fed is best."