LLL is full woke at the top, just an FYI. For what it is worth, I was grown on the PET milk Karo syrup formula and I made it. Mothers who have a baby being recommended specialized formula should look into eliminating milk and soy from their diet and continue nursing first.
Love this. I nursed my first til 8 months, and unfortunately lost my milk (due to a lot of complications that would take a long time to explain haha) and had to switch fully to formula. I felt awful in the moment like I had failed as his mom, but in the end I learned that doing what’s best for him doesn’t always mean doing what I want.
In the end we did what was best and I felt validated that either outcome I had done my best for my baby. He was breast fed for 8 months and formula for at least another 8-10, so I’ve felt both ends of the spectrum and learned formula feeding doesn’t make you any less of a mom ❤️🥰
I'm an organic farm inspector, and I personally have issues with a lot of ingredient in formula (a lot of foods in general honestly) but I certainly recognize that it is needed for many people. I recently visited with an Amish family who has had good success with the home made formula recipe from 'Nourishing Traditions' by Sally Fallon, a book my family has used for other things through the years.
My sister freeze dries her extra milk, as it extends the longevity much more than just freezing. There are FB groups where people sell or donate that. As someone who is preparedness minded, if I had small children at this time I would certainly be looking into that, and/or ingredients for homemade formula on hand that we could make if something happened in our house or help others.
I breast fed my child and because of my hormone issues was told I’d likely have under supply. Because of this I was told to have formula on hand. I also have multiple chemical and food sensitivities and allergies, as such I felt hard pressed to bring my self to buy any of the store bought formula.
I have a dear friend who is an older generation than me, & she told me about the Nourishing Traditions formula recipe. I then bought all the ingredients because IF we needed it we’d have something on hand I want allergic to. And if we didn’t need it, at least the ingredients could be used in other ways. It just made more sense all over for me.
I wish women were more empowered to problem solve. Instead, you're told to trust in a product touched by hundreds of strangers, humanly flawed, without a care for the baby they are making and packing it for. I made my own formula at home after my breast milk dried up (getting pregnant again will do that). There are so many horrible ingredients in formula with a high rate of contamination. Women should be empowered to research, discern, and then encouraged to share positive information with others. I have three very healthy homemade formula babies.
Thanks for sharing this research! I'm pregnant and planning to breastfeed 100% but it is great to get this information regardless! I'm curious as to why mothers of premature infants can't pump? That's the only thing that confused me. Can't they produce milk? I'm not here to critique anyone so I hope my question doesn't come off as "judgy". I know not everyone has the same experience and sometimes situations warrant use of formula unfortunately. Best of luck to all the mommies out there! :)
Mothers of premies can pump, but there are several issues related to that. Some premies struggle to latch onto nipples or bottles, then if they do latch to a bottle, nipple confusion can come into play and the mom will struggle to breastfeed. Also hormones are released when mom is around baby that is key to the milk letdown, so it can be an uphill battle to pump away from baby. Plus pumping, and even milk supply in general, can be major hurdles for some. Some people also really hate pumping, sometimes don't have the patience for it, etc. Everyone's experience is different though!
You can find formula without soy and other less than desirable ingredients, it is out there. There are also groups on Facebook and such where women come together and provide each other breast milk for those in need. It can be frozen and stored for a surprising amount of time. With my youngest my partner was unable to produce the necessary amounts we needed to hit his weight targets but she was able to quickly fill a chest freezer with milk through her diligent efforts and the amazing people in our Idaho community.
The lack of empathy from fellow conservatives on this is disheartening. I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding and exclusively pumped milk for a total of 46 months - yep, almost 4 years - across my 4 kids until I had to sadly, unexpectedly stop short at just 4 months with my last kid. Despite my previous successes, my supply wasn't the same with #4 and I had huge challenges with infection, sores, etc., out of nowhere. It was a crushing realization to accept that I had to turn to formula, but thank God it was there for us. I say this to emphasize that formula is not a choice for many -- it's a necessity and often an only option for the baby (and for the mother's mental health).
Also, no one likes to talk about the fact that milk supply does not magically come in a rush the second the baby comes out. Sometimes it takes days, especially if you've had a c-section and pain medications. It's even harder if you are new to everything and don't know all the tricks to boost your supply. There are stories of babies literally starving in the first few weeks of life because the mom had no idea her milk supply could be inadequate.
People seriously need to stop the formula shaming. There are plenty of other things we can go after instead of FEEDING BABIES. How about we rally around preventing the extermination of babies?
P.S. Love your take on these family issues, Lyds, and it's clear you've done your homework on this stuff. You're going to be a great mom. <3
I appreciated reading this. I've heard the topic being discussed on the IRL show recently and I felt like it wasn't being fully addressed in a way that was beneficial to listeners. I have three children and I'm pregnant with my fourth. I have exclusively breastfed, except for about one week when my first had trouble latching on one side, so I pumped and bottle fed from that side and nursed her on the other side. So my perspective is "breast is best" and fact check, it is ... there is just no way to deny that. However I understand the frustration with people who preach breast is best without also acknowledging that sometimes breast is impossible.
As as a mom with some experience now, I feel like there are a few important things that are not being addressed in this current discussion.
1) breastfeeding can be really difficult. I was around women who exclusively breastfed when I was growing up (including my mom who did it with me and my 6 siblings), and that's what most of my friends did when they started getting married and having families of their own. I don't remember ever hearing anyone talk about the difficulties - the engorging, the latching trouble, cracked nipples, pain, yeast issues, etc. Even though I was familiar with LLL and read one of their books, I was thrown for a loop when I had my first and started having trouble. And even then, the advice I got was not useful. I was told by experienced moms to never use nipple shields because that can cause latching confusion. The reality was, I was in so much pain on one side, with a terribly cracked nipple, that I would be in tears every time I tried to nurse my baby. Finally my husband insisted that I use a shield on that side and what do you know, it reduced the pain and allowed my nipple to heal. I've never dealt with that issue again. Sometimes you do need to follow your own intuition and husband's advice rather than the advice of experienced moms! Know about the potential difficulties and don't be afraid to research, experiment and figure out what works best to get the results that you need.
2) so many of the issues with babies being unhealthy are directly related to maternal health, and especially pregnancy health. Many of the issues with moms being unable to produce enough milk, or their babies being unable to tolerate it, are directly related to their gut health. Anyone who is planning to be a mom should get serious about her gut health and prepare her body to be a welcoming and nurturing place for her child. In my experience, the medical system at large has no interest in helping women achieve this, and even many women who go the more natural route with midwives often seem clueless about pre-pregnancy and prenatal nutrition. A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Babies needing formulas is a result of all of these other health issues that compound. I feel like most people are focused on the short-term issue instead of helping educate women on how to not get to the point of being dependent on formula. I highly recommend moms and moms-planning-to-be educate themselves on traditional diets (think Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, cultured foods, etc) , both for themselves and their children. Honestly a friend of mine is a great resource along these lines - www.hippiehayden.com.
To sum up my thoughts - I like to observe results. The results that I see in the overall health of American children spell disaster. This leads me to believe that we should be very skeptical of the conventional medical advice, and instead figure out how to successfully raise healthy children, which unfortunately doesn't seem to be in the interest of most pediatricians.
The formula shortage angers me for a variety of reasons. I agree that breast is best and not enough women nurse. However, the culture doesn’t really support it with formula being pushed on moms by doctors, women being rushed back to work and people clutching pearls at public breastfeeding. Telling women whose milk has long dried up to breastfeed is insulting. I desperately wanted to breastfeed but no matter what I tried (and I tried it all), I never produced enough. I thank God for formula. It enabled me to feed my babies. I hope all the BS from the system about this crisis opens the eyes of women. I hope we all help out other moms who are struggling to feed their babes.
I haven’t seen it mentioned above, but a huge problem that lingers is the number of babies whose momma’s turn to bottle feeding because of lack of support with feeding difficulties. I mentioned above to one comment of my struggles with hormones, but another struggle was my daughter’s lip tie. It took me taking her to many different specialties before we got a dentist at 3.5 months to perform a lip tie release. Instantly most of my pain was relieved, supply shot up, and she started gaining normally. Her pediatrician was impressed and agreed it was needed, but wasn’t the one to do it because he wasn’t trained.
We have a culture where people think if a doctor says one thing than that’s the end of the road, they give up because they’re told it’s ok to if the pain is too much, but then that unresolved issue still causes problems for those kids later in life with things like throat and sinus issues, snoring, and digestive issues from improper swallowing. We have a generation of adults with weight and sleep apnea issues largely speculated to be related to the advent of mass marketing or formula replacing finding ways to persist in nursing.
My grandparents were nursed no matter what until around 4-5 year, my parents Gen were nursed far shorter, and myself only got a couple months before my mom gave up because of pain and wanted to move to formula. As an adult I have hypopnia (a shallow breathing similar to sleep apnea), dry mouth issues, and really bad TMJ. I’m hoping I’ve finally found a new family dentist to help with these things, but because I didn’t learn most of this until my late thirties I’m now over 40 and wondering just how much of my health might be different if I had my ties released as an infant.
For more about these connections Dr. GHAHERI in Oregon has a useful blog.
I would recommend human milk for Human babies. I was a LLL leader and that is who we directed inquiries to.
https://m.facebook.com/180419095335971/
LLL is full woke at the top, just an FYI. For what it is worth, I was grown on the PET milk Karo syrup formula and I made it. Mothers who have a baby being recommended specialized formula should look into eliminating milk and soy from their diet and continue nursing first.
Human milk for human babies is also the group I used to donate my extra milk.
Love this. I nursed my first til 8 months, and unfortunately lost my milk (due to a lot of complications that would take a long time to explain haha) and had to switch fully to formula. I felt awful in the moment like I had failed as his mom, but in the end I learned that doing what’s best for him doesn’t always mean doing what I want.
In the end we did what was best and I felt validated that either outcome I had done my best for my baby. He was breast fed for 8 months and formula for at least another 8-10, so I’ve felt both ends of the spectrum and learned formula feeding doesn’t make you any less of a mom ❤️🥰
A very well done effort!
I'm an organic farm inspector, and I personally have issues with a lot of ingredient in formula (a lot of foods in general honestly) but I certainly recognize that it is needed for many people. I recently visited with an Amish family who has had good success with the home made formula recipe from 'Nourishing Traditions' by Sally Fallon, a book my family has used for other things through the years.
My sister freeze dries her extra milk, as it extends the longevity much more than just freezing. There are FB groups where people sell or donate that. As someone who is preparedness minded, if I had small children at this time I would certainly be looking into that, and/or ingredients for homemade formula on hand that we could make if something happened in our house or help others.
I breast fed my child and because of my hormone issues was told I’d likely have under supply. Because of this I was told to have formula on hand. I also have multiple chemical and food sensitivities and allergies, as such I felt hard pressed to bring my self to buy any of the store bought formula.
I have a dear friend who is an older generation than me, & she told me about the Nourishing Traditions formula recipe. I then bought all the ingredients because IF we needed it we’d have something on hand I want allergic to. And if we didn’t need it, at least the ingredients could be used in other ways. It just made more sense all over for me.
I wish women were more empowered to problem solve. Instead, you're told to trust in a product touched by hundreds of strangers, humanly flawed, without a care for the baby they are making and packing it for. I made my own formula at home after my breast milk dried up (getting pregnant again will do that). There are so many horrible ingredients in formula with a high rate of contamination. Women should be empowered to research, discern, and then encouraged to share positive information with others. I have three very healthy homemade formula babies.
Thanks for sharing this research! I'm pregnant and planning to breastfeed 100% but it is great to get this information regardless! I'm curious as to why mothers of premature infants can't pump? That's the only thing that confused me. Can't they produce milk? I'm not here to critique anyone so I hope my question doesn't come off as "judgy". I know not everyone has the same experience and sometimes situations warrant use of formula unfortunately. Best of luck to all the mommies out there! :)
Mothers of premies can pump, but there are several issues related to that. Some premies struggle to latch onto nipples or bottles, then if they do latch to a bottle, nipple confusion can come into play and the mom will struggle to breastfeed. Also hormones are released when mom is around baby that is key to the milk letdown, so it can be an uphill battle to pump away from baby. Plus pumping, and even milk supply in general, can be major hurdles for some. Some people also really hate pumping, sometimes don't have the patience for it, etc. Everyone's experience is different though!
Thanks so much!
You can find formula without soy and other less than desirable ingredients, it is out there. There are also groups on Facebook and such where women come together and provide each other breast milk for those in need. It can be frozen and stored for a surprising amount of time. With my youngest my partner was unable to produce the necessary amounts we needed to hit his weight targets but she was able to quickly fill a chest freezer with milk through her diligent efforts and the amazing people in our Idaho community.
The lack of empathy from fellow conservatives on this is disheartening. I'm a huge supporter of breastfeeding and exclusively pumped milk for a total of 46 months - yep, almost 4 years - across my 4 kids until I had to sadly, unexpectedly stop short at just 4 months with my last kid. Despite my previous successes, my supply wasn't the same with #4 and I had huge challenges with infection, sores, etc., out of nowhere. It was a crushing realization to accept that I had to turn to formula, but thank God it was there for us. I say this to emphasize that formula is not a choice for many -- it's a necessity and often an only option for the baby (and for the mother's mental health).
Also, no one likes to talk about the fact that milk supply does not magically come in a rush the second the baby comes out. Sometimes it takes days, especially if you've had a c-section and pain medications. It's even harder if you are new to everything and don't know all the tricks to boost your supply. There are stories of babies literally starving in the first few weeks of life because the mom had no idea her milk supply could be inadequate.
People seriously need to stop the formula shaming. There are plenty of other things we can go after instead of FEEDING BABIES. How about we rally around preventing the extermination of babies?
P.S. Love your take on these family issues, Lyds, and it's clear you've done your homework on this stuff. You're going to be a great mom. <3
I appreciated reading this. I've heard the topic being discussed on the IRL show recently and I felt like it wasn't being fully addressed in a way that was beneficial to listeners. I have three children and I'm pregnant with my fourth. I have exclusively breastfed, except for about one week when my first had trouble latching on one side, so I pumped and bottle fed from that side and nursed her on the other side. So my perspective is "breast is best" and fact check, it is ... there is just no way to deny that. However I understand the frustration with people who preach breast is best without also acknowledging that sometimes breast is impossible.
As as a mom with some experience now, I feel like there are a few important things that are not being addressed in this current discussion.
1) breastfeeding can be really difficult. I was around women who exclusively breastfed when I was growing up (including my mom who did it with me and my 6 siblings), and that's what most of my friends did when they started getting married and having families of their own. I don't remember ever hearing anyone talk about the difficulties - the engorging, the latching trouble, cracked nipples, pain, yeast issues, etc. Even though I was familiar with LLL and read one of their books, I was thrown for a loop when I had my first and started having trouble. And even then, the advice I got was not useful. I was told by experienced moms to never use nipple shields because that can cause latching confusion. The reality was, I was in so much pain on one side, with a terribly cracked nipple, that I would be in tears every time I tried to nurse my baby. Finally my husband insisted that I use a shield on that side and what do you know, it reduced the pain and allowed my nipple to heal. I've never dealt with that issue again. Sometimes you do need to follow your own intuition and husband's advice rather than the advice of experienced moms! Know about the potential difficulties and don't be afraid to research, experiment and figure out what works best to get the results that you need.
2) so many of the issues with babies being unhealthy are directly related to maternal health, and especially pregnancy health. Many of the issues with moms being unable to produce enough milk, or their babies being unable to tolerate it, are directly related to their gut health. Anyone who is planning to be a mom should get serious about her gut health and prepare her body to be a welcoming and nurturing place for her child. In my experience, the medical system at large has no interest in helping women achieve this, and even many women who go the more natural route with midwives often seem clueless about pre-pregnancy and prenatal nutrition. A ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Babies needing formulas is a result of all of these other health issues that compound. I feel like most people are focused on the short-term issue instead of helping educate women on how to not get to the point of being dependent on formula. I highly recommend moms and moms-planning-to-be educate themselves on traditional diets (think Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, cultured foods, etc) , both for themselves and their children. Honestly a friend of mine is a great resource along these lines - www.hippiehayden.com.
To sum up my thoughts - I like to observe results. The results that I see in the overall health of American children spell disaster. This leads me to believe that we should be very skeptical of the conventional medical advice, and instead figure out how to successfully raise healthy children, which unfortunately doesn't seem to be in the interest of most pediatricians.
The formula shortage angers me for a variety of reasons. I agree that breast is best and not enough women nurse. However, the culture doesn’t really support it with formula being pushed on moms by doctors, women being rushed back to work and people clutching pearls at public breastfeeding. Telling women whose milk has long dried up to breastfeed is insulting. I desperately wanted to breastfeed but no matter what I tried (and I tried it all), I never produced enough. I thank God for formula. It enabled me to feed my babies. I hope all the BS from the system about this crisis opens the eyes of women. I hope we all help out other moms who are struggling to feed their babes.
I haven’t seen it mentioned above, but a huge problem that lingers is the number of babies whose momma’s turn to bottle feeding because of lack of support with feeding difficulties. I mentioned above to one comment of my struggles with hormones, but another struggle was my daughter’s lip tie. It took me taking her to many different specialties before we got a dentist at 3.5 months to perform a lip tie release. Instantly most of my pain was relieved, supply shot up, and she started gaining normally. Her pediatrician was impressed and agreed it was needed, but wasn’t the one to do it because he wasn’t trained.
We have a culture where people think if a doctor says one thing than that’s the end of the road, they give up because they’re told it’s ok to if the pain is too much, but then that unresolved issue still causes problems for those kids later in life with things like throat and sinus issues, snoring, and digestive issues from improper swallowing. We have a generation of adults with weight and sleep apnea issues largely speculated to be related to the advent of mass marketing or formula replacing finding ways to persist in nursing.
My grandparents were nursed no matter what until around 4-5 year, my parents Gen were nursed far shorter, and myself only got a couple months before my mom gave up because of pain and wanted to move to formula. As an adult I have hypopnia (a shallow breathing similar to sleep apnea), dry mouth issues, and really bad TMJ. I’m hoping I’ve finally found a new family dentist to help with these things, but because I didn’t learn most of this until my late thirties I’m now over 40 and wondering just how much of my health might be different if I had my ties released as an infant.
For more about these connections Dr. GHAHERI in Oregon has a useful blog.