The decision on whether to breastfeed or bottle feed is surprisingly still a hot topic being debated today whenever the question arises. Whether or not we decide to breastfeed or bottle feed, there is no right or wrong as long as our babies are well fed and growing well.
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Breastfeeding can also be done in the form of bottle feeding nowadays thanks to manual and electronic pumps. This has greatly helped mums who wish to feed their babies breastmilk but for some reason their babies might not want to latch on directly or are not latching well. With breast pumps, more mothers are now able to provide their babies with the much desired precious breastmilk that contains the best nutrients and antibodies for their babies by exclusively pumping or using pump sessions to store excess milk or help stimulate and boost supply. The only downside of using a pump fully or often is that it requires much more determination and time to keep up with a schedule to maintain supply, washing of pumps, etc especially if you’re exclusively pumping because no pumps can effectively clear your breasts as good as a baby is able to.
If a mother chooses to feed her baby formula, it does not mean that she is not a good mother nor did she fail as a mother. There can be many reasons as to why a mother may choose to formula feed her baby such as low milk supply, uncomfortable to latch baby due to bad past, time constraints to maintain supply, convenience, not enough support from family members to breastfeed and etc. Whatever the reason may be, I feel that as long as your baby is well fed, whether with breastmilk or formula and is growing well, the choice is definitely YOURS, the mother to make.
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There should not be any pressure or criticisms hurled at mothers who choose not to breastfeed their babies. The baby is theirs, they are the mothers and the choice is for them to make. Although we all know that providing breastmilk is the best and is strongly encouraged. If you breastfeed, well done. If you don’t, there is no need to beat yourself up nor should anyone put you down.
I personally combine breastfeeding directly, bottle feeding expressed milk and formula. I latch my baby during the midnight feedings when he wakes for milk. I bottle feed during the day with expressed milk and I use formula when we go for outings as it is more convenient than warming up expressed milk and there are times my boy don’t latch well and fuss so hubby and I decided that we’ll feed formula to make sure he is fed well when we're out.
But do be careful and make sure you stick to a regular pumping schedule if you choose to pump out your milk as my supply dropped drastically after 1 week of not being able to pump on time due to being busy with housework and baby. I am currently still trying to build back my supply.
So in my opinion, whether you choose to breastfeed or bottle feed is solely your choice to make. Don’t be pressured by anyone who insists you must breastfeed or discourages you if you want to breastfeed. Ensuring that our babies are well fed and not being starved is of utmost importance in my opinion regardless of how and what we choose to feed our babies.