What are your thoughts on this interesting question?

[NorthernPixie]

I was at the Florida La Leche League Parenting Conference last weekend, and Diane Weissinger was there and spoke at several sessions (author of 'Watch Your Language' and her website www.normalfed.com). At a session entitled Watch Your Language (excellent!) she started out with this question:

If you had to choose one or the other, would you choose to give your baby your breastmilk out of a bottle, or feed your baby formula from your breasts?

She said that absolutely she would choose to feed formula from her breasts.

It kind of threw me. I was expecting her to choose breastmilk from a bottle. What would you do? And what an interesting question.

[ramama]

Just wanted to pop in and say, what an interesting question. I'm not ready to answer it, though. I need to think on that one for a while. I guess it all boils down to what's important to you, the immunities and stuff offered in BM, or the physical closeness associated with BFing. Hmmm... I may be leaning towards formula from my breasts. DD2 is still going strong at nearly 3yo, and I know it's for the closeness rather than nutrition, so I wouldn't want to miss out on that.

[mleclark]

Breastmilk from the bottle! That is surprising to me too. There is no replacement for breastmilk for so many many health reasons, but I think you can do other things to have that special closeness with your baby, skin-to-skin contact, baby wearing & co-sleeping among other things.

[Momily]

No question for me -- breastmilk from a bottle.

I ff DS, first by bottle and later by feeding tube. I had some darn good reasons for doing so, but I really worried, and still worry, about the longterm effects of him not getting breastmilk.

On the other hand, we were able to find many other ways to get the closeness we needed -- from him only being fed in my arms with me focused on him (eye contact, talking, touching his face), to co-sleeping, bathing together, holding him all the time etc . . . I didn't have, and still don't have any concerns about our early attachment.

So, if I could go back and change either what he was fed, or how he was fed (well, I'd change the feeding tube if I could, but that wasn't asked) I'd get the breastmilk without hesitation.

[ramama]

If I had been asked this question when DDs were under 12 months, I would have definitely chosen BM in a bottle, but now that DD2 is nearly 3, the moments of BFing are a rare moment of focused closeness in a toddler's get-up-and-go world. And really, my breast is my ONLY parenting tool. Hurt yourself? Nurse. Mad at someone? Nurse. Tired? Nurse.

So yeah, younger babes I'd go with BM in a bottle, but for toddlers and preschoolers I'd go formula in the breast.

[grniys]

Breast milk out of a bottle. Dad's manage to bond just fine with their babies and not breastfeed them. I don't see why that wouldn't be any different for me. The nutrition for my baby is so, so much more important to me than any warm fuzzy feelings I may get from nursing my son. Not to say I don't enjoy nursing, but if it came down to a choice of the two I'd absolutely choose the health benefits.

[PatioGardener]

I saw her speak at a different conference and it really got me thinking too.

Some moms can't feed at the breast (baby can't transfer, etc), and end up pumping and bottle feeding. This means that baby gets all the great nutrition and immune boosting properties of milk.

Some moms can't provide all baby's nutrition from the breast, and end up supplementing at the breast, and as milk banks are not available in many places, this is often with formula. This baby receives all the brain growing and emotional and oral development that comes with breastfeeding.

The decision is not something I wouldn't wish on any mom - but Diane Weissinger's answer made me realise that breastfeeding is so much more than mother's milk. Intellectually I already knew this - but her answer helped me to realise it emotionally, and to grow in the way that I support both moms who exclusively pump, and moms with low supply.

[readytobedone]

Originally Posted by NorthernPixie

I was at the Florida La Leche League Parenting Conference last weekend, and Diane Weissinger was there and spoke at several sessions (author of 'Watch Your Language' and her website www.normalfed.com). At a session entitled Watch Your Language (excellent!) she started out with this question:

If you had to choose one or the other, would you choose to give your baby your breastmilk out of a bottle, or feed your baby formula from your breasts?

She said that absolutely she would choose to feed formula from her breasts.

It kind of threw me. I was expecting her to choose breastmilk from a bottle. What would you do? And what an interesting question.

i would choose formula from my breasts. i love, love, love nursing

of course, luckily, that's not really a choice i have to make, since my breasts don't make formula

low supply moms who use an SNS to supplement at the breast DO actually do this, though!

[readytobedone]

Originally Posted by ramama

If I had been asked this question when DDs were under 12 months, I would have definitely chosen BM in a bottle, but now that DD2 is nearly 3, the moments of BFing are a rare moment of focused closeness in a toddler's get-up-and-go world. And really, my breast is my ONLY parenting tool. Hurt yourself? Nurse. Mad at someone? Nurse. Tired? Nurse.

So yeah, younger babes I'd go with BM in a bottle, but for toddlers and preschoolers I'd go formula in the breast.

yeah, i actually agree with this, i think. for a little baby, i'd choose the benefits of the breastmilk. with a toddler, i would HAVE to go with the nursing. i love it, and it's such a great tool to have in my tantrum-calming toolbox!

[famousmockngbrd]

Breastmilk from a bottle, no question. In fact, that's what I DID choose with my oldest (for a while at least). Breastmilk is far superior to formula, but there are plenty of other ways to bond with and comfort a child that are just as good as popping a nipple in their mouth. Granted, they do require more work.

[transylvania_mom]

interesting question. I think I would choose formula from my breasts too. I've given my ds a bottle of formula on occasion when he was a baby and I don't think formula is evil. But nursing is so much more than feeding and I think it helps with the child's psychological and emotional well-being, not to mention the special bond mom/child.

[Sandstress]

Originally Posted by NorthernPixie

I was at the Florida La Leche League Parenting Conference last weekend, and Diane Weissinger was there and spoke at several sessions (author of 'Watch Your Language' and her website www.normalfed.com). At a session entitled Watch Your Language (excellent!) she started out with this question:

If you had to choose one or the other, would you choose to give your baby your breastmilk out of a bottle, or feed your baby formula from your breasts?

She said that absolutely she would choose to feed formula from her breasts.

It kind of threw me. I was expecting her to choose breastmilk from a bottle. What would you do? And what an interesting question.

I'm failing to see how this is even a question in people's minds. How can you continually tout the superiority of breast milk and then say something like that? It seem a little hypocritical to me. Formula is formula no matter where it comes from. Breastmilk does lose some immune elements with handlinig and storage but if you pump and feed mindfully there is little difference.

This gets a big fat from me.

respectfully,
Sandstress

[BugMacGee]

I love nursing, but for me, it is essentially a means to give my child breastmilk.

I even tried to reintroduce it to my long weaned older DD. To which she replied "Ick, that's boobie milk!" Oh well.

[limabean]

Breastmilk from a bottle, hands down. I do realize the importance of bonding through breastfeeding (as well as jaw development and some other important factors), but I hear over and over on this board about formula damaging the virgin gut, leading to a greater incidence of illness over time, etc., so I'm with Sandstress in being quite surprised at some of the answers I'm reading.

As someone else said, I feel fortunate to not have to make this decision.

[motherearthdancer]

Wow...what a great question! Im so torn. It really points out how breastmilk from the breasts is more than just for nutrition...but thats not to say that moms who had to pump and bottle feed, their kids didn't get that love and attention that fed at teh breast babies get!

I'm still geeking out over this in my head! I think I'd have to go with breast milk in a bottle, but I LOVE mothering my kids at the breast! It really makes me appreciate how lucky I am to be able to. I am totally telling all my friends to come and answer this one! ha!

[Swan3]

Hmmm....as a little baby, BM from a bottle...but I sooooo love nursing my toddler!

[star*mora]

pumped milk from a bottle, no question. i exclusively pumped before my son latched, and although i don't really pump anymore, if i know he and i are going to be away from each other for a night or two like we've had to with family emergencies over the past year, i feel so much better knowing he is still getting mama's milk.

i only had to pump for 2.5mths exclusively while he learned to latch since my son was born without a developed sucking reflex, but i think that women who exclusively pump for the long term are amazing. it's a huge commitment. and a question like that somehow rubs me the wrong way - like somehow pumped milk could even be put in the same league as formula.

[gingerbane]

Originally Posted by Sandstress

I'm failing to see how this is even a question in people's minds. How can you continually tout the superiority of breast milk and then say something like that? It seem a little hypocritical to me. Formula is formula no matter where it comes from. Breastmilk does lose some immune elements with handlinig and storage but if you pump and feed mindfully there is little difference.

This gets a big fat from me.

respectfully,
Sandstress

:

I'm just not understanding how a lactivist could choose formula and still be a lactivist. Giving a child/baby breast milk is about giving them the best most optimal nutrition that is available.

This is taken from the "breastfeeding boards: what are we about" sticky:

"It must be clear that although we certainly do not encourage formula use we do support mothers who are doing the best they can for their children."

P.S. I have a feeling this thread is going to get locked.

[ElaynesMom]

I would so choose the breastmilk in a bottle. I really kind of resented nursing my dd the first 6 months of her life. Breastfeeding really bothered me and didn't help me bond with her much at all back then. I continued to breastfeed because I wanted her to have breastmilk. Obviously breastfeeding is about more than just breastmilk but while there are many ways to bond with a baby, no formula is like breastmilk.

I do however think it's great when moms who need to supplement choose to do so at the breast when possible.

[amitymama]

I'm really, really surprised that anyone would choose formula from their breasts over breastmilk from a bottle. To me, this reinforces two stereotypes -- that bf'ing moms don't think bottlefeeding moms can possibly bond with their babies as well as if they nursed (which I don't think is true), and that some women breastfeed toddlers only for their own satisfaction, not any health benefits to the child. Now, I know that this is not true in the majority of cases but answers like these help to perpetuate those stereotypes, IMO.