I was breast fed for two and a half years. My siblings were also breast fed. Breastfeeding is no one's decision but the mother's. I applaud you for standing up to your doctor and doing what is best for you and your baby and not caving into what others thought was best.

This was what one of my (many) Lactation Consultants told me, as my preemie son and I were trying to learn the breastfeeding-thing together. I had a strict schedule of pumping (my son was born without a sucking reflex, so had to feed him my pumped breastmilk through a syringe), and then trying to feed him breastmilk through the bottle..oh, after trying to nurse so he could learn, then after all of that, I had to supplement with---gasp!---formula, to make sure this tiny, tiny being was receiving enough nutrients. I felt nothing but guilt that I couldn't "supply my baby with the best nutrients" with my own body, worried that he wasn't going to thrive. I was feeding him THREE TIMES at EACH FEEDING (and feedings were about every two hours; the three feedings lasted about 1 hour with pumping included...not much time for sleep or anything else). This was the schedule I was put on, and not realistic for a human being trying to recover from delivering a baby! So, after seeing my 5th Lactation Consultant, I showed her my progress on my schedule, and I was slowing down on the number of times I was pumping AND bottle feeding w/ breast milk AND nursing AND bottle feeding w/ formula. She said, "If you want to be a PART-TIME MOM, then you can FEED YOUR BABY PART-TIME." (as looked down at my schedule). I was devastated. And extremely p.o.ed. I told her I was doing my best, and then went home, and did what was best for me (since I obviously wasn't pleasing anyone; her snide comment helped in an awful-kind-of-way): I picked TWO of the FOUR methods to feed my baby, each day was a little different to try it out. I never did make enough milk to keep up with my son, and gave him formula full-time. It was the best decision for us; I have a happy, healthy boy and he has a happy, healthy mom. The guilt put on moms, including the fact that yes, sometimes it is a special bond to breastfeed your child, but we can't talk about the other side: that yes, sometimes it is a burden to have a child hanging off of your body! It is emotionally and physically exhausting. It is helpful to be able to have another member of the household feed your baby. The strangest part of this entire thing?! The babies grow up! They start drinking WHOLE milk! It happens so quickly, that it's funny thinking back on how I was reading every book in the world, trying to figure out how to successfully breast and formula feed my child. His immune system is working fine, he's healthy. And now, I'm on to how to get him to say words...and it just ancient history what kind of milk he was fed the first 12 months of his life.

I just read that some hospitals are looking at not giving moms the free samples of formula, for fear that it would “sway” moms into not breastfeeding? I can't believe it! So, their theory is: if a mom SEES or is GIVEN a free formula sample, that will make her THINK about not breastfeeding (as if it were the first time she thought about the choice), therefore she will DECIDE to not breastfeed, and suddenly choose to formula feed? Sounds a lot like the condom-theory as well: If a student (at whatever age; high school, college...you name it) SEES or is GIVEN a free condom, that will make them THINK about sex (as if it were the first time s/he thought about having sex), therefore, s/he will DECIDE to have sex, and suddenly choose not remain abstinent?! It's absurd! If SEEING something leads to a THOUGHT, then directly into an ACTION…there would be a lot more people exercising and eating healthier. It’s just that simple: seeing an elliptical machine makes you think about exercise, and then equates to exercising. All the other extraneous “stuff” doesn’t matter, like time, resources, financial situation, emotional health. Oh? You say this phenomenon only occurs with the forbidden or negative behaviors, particularly those having to do with women’s bodies and their choices? Get real. People are not “romanced” or swayed into a different behavior than the one they intended by seeing a workout machine, condom or a can of formula.

Advertising methodology is to compel you to action once you have seen something that (hopefully) generated a thought. Observe how certain items are placed at eye level - especially in the cereal aisle. However, when it comes down to a mother's right to choose whether to breastfeed or not, the physician's responsibility is to inform her of any possible adverse affects or issues of concern, not to try to purposefully sway her for no good reason other than personal preference. Of course, we're making the assumption that mothers in this situation are educated; there are uneducated mothers who wouldn't have a clue what's best, only a natural instinct (one would hope). People ARE "romanced and swayed" - how effective is advertising? Infomercials? It's a mega-billion dollar industry. So, advertise making good choices. Otherwise, give that man a blow up doll.

I left the hospital every time with free formula and I was a dedicated breastfeeder. Even though I never considered formula feeding, I actually was glad I had the freebie formula in case something happened to me and I couldn't feed the baby. I wasn't a pumper so had nothing stored. For my kids - breast was best (I did use formula/cow's milk much later, my youngest actually self-weaned from the breast at 12 months old and preferred cow's milk! the nerve!) The science doesn't lie - breastmilk is better for the babe than formula. But women need to stop putting other women down for their choices. Formula is nutritious food, not poison! So the breastfeeding advocates and breastfeeding mothers like me need to respect the choices that other women make. A few don't even actually have a choice. Same way - formula feeding mothers need to respect breastfeeding mothers - we're not all "boob nazi's" - we do as we feel is best, just like everyone else. We don't all judge formula-feeding mothers harshly. And breastfeeding isn't 'gross' or sexual (yep, some people think that). Google "Anti-breastfeeding campaign" sometime. They call nursing mothers pedophiles. We're all doing what's best for our babies. I'm sorry someone told Alison she was being a part-time mom for part-time nursing. A hurtful and beyond ridiculous thing to say.