Breastfeeding ~ The Lost Value

It's a shame that people assume that your child is formula fed and that you feed solids from Gerber's little jars. Where have the days gone when breastmilk and homemade baby food was considered the norm?

The other day we had the Verizon guy over and what else to talk about but babies. So of course his first question was what formula he eats. In my head I was thinking "You idiot, don't you know there's such a thing as breastmilk, which is actually what babies should be eating if possible." When I told him he eats breastmilk he looked at me as if I told him I feed my baby snakes. I have no problem with parents feeding their babies formula but todays society has evolved into thinking formula is THE way to feed babies. No matter what people say, breastmilk is the healthiest. I understand that some people have problems with latch, milk supply, support from family and friends, etc. But majority of people that feed formula don't have these reasons, instead they simply say "I don't want to. I'm not a cow."

When I was pregnant I was registering on random baby websites and soon after I kept receiving formula samples in the mail. Then when I was leaving the hospital with my baby they gave me a bunch a formula samples as well. Then when I was at the pediatrician's office I got formula samples to take home. I now have so much formula samples at my house. So of course people nowadays feed their babies formula rather than breastmilk. It's easy access!

Breastfeeding has been one of the hardest challenges for me, which I failed at so I turned to pumping. But since breastfeeding tends to be difficult it's easy to say "Screw it" and woop out one of the formula samples. Luckily, I had a lactation consultant at the pediatricians office who offered great advice, a cousin who went through the same situation as me, and a very supportive husband.

Now that I'm feeding solids in addition to breastmilk, I get questions such as "What brand of food are you feeding? What stage of food are you feeding?" I get so annoyed by these questions because all I want to say is, "I don't know fool. It's homemade. The brand is ZMama and the stage level is whatever the blender makes." People even think it's crazy to make baby food! There is no excuse not to be making your own baby food. You don't need to buy any fancy baby equipment. All you need is an oven and a blender. If you want it to be really easy then of course you can purchase specially designed baby blender/steamer/everything. No matter what the jar says, it's always healthier to make your own food. So what's the excuse? Oh, yea it's that you don't feel like it.

The value of breastmilk is even more so highlighted when you read this article. This story is unlike any other you might have heard because unfortunately people don't value breastmilk as they should.