There's been alot of posts lately about BF and the guilt that can come with it, and I feel compelled to post about this. I have never felt one morsel of guilt over not BFing. I did try w/ #1 for 5 days, it was horrible, he would not latch on even w/ the lactation ladies help (I called her the barracuda for how rough she was trying to get him to latch on, poor baby too, he was in the ICU w/ IV's in his tiny arm and she was shoving his face into my huge boob). It just didn't work and I dind't have it in me to continue the stress over it. So we went to the bottle and never looked back. Does this mean I'm a bad mom? No, not at all. He went on to be a healthy huge kid, he read at 4, had a high IQ and was just fine. I was happy too, I didn't have th stress of feeding him and I was able to comfortably go places and others could even share in the joy of feeding a baby, many love to do that (grandparents, friends and dads).

#2 came along and I didn't even try, again a happy healthy girl, read before kindergarten and is very well adjusted...no adverse effects of being fed /w a bottle or formula.

#3 is here and so far, at 1 month is doing great.

Why is it that we train new mom's that are undergoign a huge life change as it is that they should feel guilty about not BFing? If it works, great, if not, it's not a big deal. My sis in law is an ob/gyn and BF all of hers, pumped in between seeing patients in her office even. 2 out of the 3 have horrible allergies and are sick alot, so BFing didn't keep them any healthier than not.

My other sis in law BF all of hers too, and I keep getting these passive agressive comments from her about how I bottle feed and I have it SO much easier. I don't need that junk from her, I might have it easier, but she likes to play the BF martyr...annoying! SHe keeps commenting the fact that Jill is chunking up is b/c I formula feed. But, there are plenty of chunky babies that are BF. Basically, I don't need her comments!

Bottom line is that we all love our babies, no matter how we end up feeding them. Don't beat yourself up over it if it doesn't work, it's not the end of the world!

Just my opinion! THought I"d share!