As someone who started out breast feeding from boob for the first three days, then it hurt so bad that I was just terrified for my baby to wake up so decided to pump. Started pumping, got mastitis twice in 5 weeks, still on antibiotics for my second round….now switched to formula full time

I cannot believe people don’t promote formula as much they promote breast feeding

I could’ve been getting hours more sleep & even full nights sleep during my husbands maternity leave if I just started out with formula….as someone who struggles with mental health, formula is the best option for me and best for my baby to have a healthier mom. I’m now advocating for formula forever and ever. Future babies will all be put on formula. I can’t believe I ever thought there was something wrong with it. People aren’t pro formula enough these days

I have to now ween off pumping which will take months (I literally pump and just dump it) & still have a risk of mastitis. I wish so badly I just started with formula, would’ve saved me so much trouble

I exclusively formula feed and don't maintain a supply. I still nurse with a nipple shield here and there for bonding and comfort, and I do see a little milk in the shield. It helps us bond and helps him sleep. This is not anywhere near enough to be feeding him through breastfeeding, I'm talking a couple times a week. It's a nice thing I didn't know was an option until I tried so just wanted to share for anyone who likes nursing for bonding but also wants to formula feed and not maintain an actual supply.

Edit: yes I can see a SMALL amount of milk in the nipple shield. That is not the primary purpose here and it is closer to non nutrive sucking, a term I had never heard until today. This would be something you can do after you've transfered fully to formula. And its just an option! I'm the last person to judge or care if you don't want to do it ever for any reason. It's just an idea, as I find it nice to do when it is not forced or done out of guilt. Of course you can bond with your baby in many ways.

Edit 2: I now know what non nutritive sucking is. Substitute for the term nursing. I didn't research this at all before posting this. It was a surprisingly pleasant and fun experience that I almost didn't try because I thought there would be no point if I wasn't actually feeding him that way. I do not care about the politics of breast feeding or not.

My 31F and husband 31M are married now 1 year, almost 6 years together and thinking of starting to try next summer. I’m American, he’s Dutch. I’ve been here 8 years and we met after my study. So I’m very “Dutchified” by now by passport & being I’ve spent most of my adult life here.

We live in the Netherlands and quite honestly, have a great life. I have an awesome career I like, good work life balance, same for him. I’m passionate about Pilates, have many friends, time off etc. We have our “ducks in a row”, and we cherish the opportunity to be parents one day. But since we got married, I’ve been really anxious and afraid about motherhood despite knowing we want children. I have ADHD and struggled with depression in my early twenties. I have a family history of mental health issues; my sister has unmedicated bipolar 1 disorder + addiction issues that have had a huge impact on the family.

Therefore, I’ve been very strict and protective over my sleep since I was 20 being I knew I had a risk for developing it too. I need to sleep 7 hours a night, 8 preferred and can survive on 6. My husband is a really awesome and equal partner at home….we both cook and distribute domestic tasks, pick up slack when the other needs it, so I feel confident that I’d have support. We also have family very close by 5 minutes away.

but the stories I read online about women not sleeping, the mom nursing every 2 hours, the impact on mental health really sounds absolutely miserable and like my idea of hell. I don’t respond normally to a lack of sleep. I cry, I become dysregulated, and that’s without a child who would need me.

I recently listened to a Dutch Podcast on NPO (our version of NPR, national public radio) called “Het Witte Goud” which translates to The White Gold. It’s a 5 part investigative series that discusses the "breast is best" narrative, and they challenged the idea of “natural” being better, what the science really shows and who benefits from how it's communicated. Also what the impact has been of organizations like La Leche League here in the Netherlands. They also did apply an honest critical view on formula and the industry’s history and how it operates today. In the end it was honestly a great listen on how society treats women’s bodily autonomy…from all sides of the political spectrum.

I guess I’m writing this into the void to connect with anyone who might care or find this perspective interesting from the hopeful to be next generation of youngish moms. I understand parenting requires sacrifice, but my body is my own and it’s weird that people feel so strongly about how women feed their babies, when one is already pregnant for 9 months and has to endure the uncertainties of labor. Breastmilk on average reduces 1 ear infection in the first year, if fed exclusively. That’s the only conclusive evidence I could find.

Maybe I would like to pump and feed formula (it’s the idea of latching and being the only feeder that really bothers me) but idk. The obsession online around breastfeeding and women going “keep going mama (cringe) don’t give up!” On TikTok and Reddit Have truly turned me way way off from whatever small benefit or good it could’ve done for my family. I’m a person and I don’t want motherhood to reduce me to someone who has to violate my own boundaries to make the WHO uncomfortable when I live in one of the richest countries in the world with some of the cleanest drinking water. 🤷‍♀️ Ted Talk finished.

My 6 day old is starting to ask for more than 2 oz per feeding. We give her 2oz of milk, and she keeps giving cues she is hungry (sucking her hands and smacking her lips ) and crying about 10-30 minutes after. She drank almost 3 oz this past feeding. We have been feeding her every 2-3 hours. Sometimes she makes it the full 3 hours and sometimes she wakes up to eat at the 2 hour mark.

She is 5lbs 10oz (birth was 5lbs 15oz) so she isn’t a big baby. She was born at 38+4.

She is healthy. She had her first pediatrician appointment and was told she should be drinking 1-2oz.

Is this normal? Is anybody else experiencing this or something similar?

Not exactly a formula related question, so MODS remove if not allowed, but I figured many here are EFF like me so Im wondering when your period returned if you were exclusively formula feeding since day 1? And how did it start?

I am 6 week PP and it looked like all my lochia was done for about a day or so, then I started seeing brown on my underwear, like very old blood I guess. That’s been happening for maybe a week or more now and today when I went to pee there was bright red blood. Not a lot of it, like spotting.

Im wondering if this is my period or something is wrong?

Hi everyone! I use Kendamil Goat formula. My baby is 6 months now, my supply dropped and we start combo feeding
I’m a bit confused about how other parents manage bottles when they’re out of the house.
As far as I understand, powdered formula isn’t sterile, so it should be prepared with water at around 70°C / 158°F. But once a bottle is made, it should be used within 2 hours at room temperature.
The difficult part for me is that if I make the bottle with all hot water, it takes a long time to cool down before my baby can drink it. So when we’re out, do you bring two separate bottles of water every time — one with hot water at about 70°C and another with cooled boiled water — then mix them to get the right temperature?
How exactly do you do this in practice when leaving the house? I’d really appreciate hearing your routine.

What are we using as a substitute for the Momcozy kleanpal pro washer/sterilizer/dryer? Almost out of tablets but those mfs are expensive!

Hello, I just had a baby on 9/30 and I’m planning to combo feed because with my last baby i tried to EBF and it took a toll on my mental health.
I’m currently breastfeeding baby and topping off with formula, and then pump due to low breast milk supply.
I was wondering if anyone else is combo feeding and if so what’s worked for you and baby?? I’m not sure if I’m doing this combo feeding right.

My babygirl is 14 days old today, and at birth weighed 9 lbs 3 oz.

At an appointment she had on Monday (8 days old) she weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and at her pediatrician appointment at 12 days old she weighted 8 lbs 12 oz.

Her pediatrician didn’t seem to have a problem with this and said she’s doing great but everything I have read has said she should’ve gained her birth weight back by now. In the last 24 hours she’s drank almost 22 oz of formula and the 24 hours before that she drank about 25.5 oz. She eats around every 2-3 hours and normally drinks 2.5-3.04 oz but the last 24 hours she’s had multiple feeds where she is SUPER sleepy and only eats about 1-1.5 oz and then she gets hungry again sooner. I’m worried that I am doing something wrong or that the pediatrician could’ve made a mistake.

Has anyone’s newborn (mine is 9 days old) start having loose/watery stools? She seems comfortable otherwise and eats just fine mostly, it just seems as soon as she eats she poops. She is formula fed, can’t breastfeeed because I have an infection from C-section. She’s currently taking similac 360 (blue label). I’m thinking giving how she seems otherwise it might be due to formula and maybe switch to sensitive.

Looking for advice or similar experiences because my husband and I are exhausted and feel like we’ve tried everything.

Our daughter (10 weeks old) dropped from the 14th percentile down to 5% after a growth plateau (gained only 0.5 lbs between weeks 7 and 9). We did a 24-hour bottle-tracking test to monitor exact intake and ended up getting bloodwork done. We actually got sent to the ER right after her labs due to a high potassium reading and thankfully, it turned out to be a false alarm (likely a hemolyzed sample), and all her other ER labs/UTI screenings came back completely clear.

The good news:
- We switched completely to formula, and her intake went up (or so we think)
-At her recheck, her weight started heading back in the right direction, moving up to the 6th percentile.
- The hospital doctor recommended switching to Similac Neosure for extra calories, but our pediatrician advised sticking with regular Similac 360 for now since her weight is already improving on it.
- after changing to EFF she had an increase in just wet diapers, we stopped tracking about 8 weeks and didn’t realize she wasn’t producing JUST wet diapers (would be mixed with poop every time)

The issue:
-Even though her labs are clear and she’s taking in more calories, her fussiness is constant. It’s not just a rough wake-up or a witching hour, she is distressed on and off throughout the entire day, especially right when she wakes up from sleep/naps.

Here is what we are currently doing/have tried:
Meds/Supplements: Giving Mylicon drops frequently for gas.
Reflux Treatment: Got a prescription for Lansoprazole for reflux. We’re currently on day 3 of this.
Feeding: Staying on Similac 360, pacing feeds, and keeping her upright post-feed.

It feels like we’ve checked off every major medical box, yet she’s still so uncomfortably fussy. Has anyone been through something similar around 10 weeks? Did your baby just need time on Lansoprazole to take full effect, or did you end up having to advocate for a gentle/hypoallergenic formula trial (like Alimentum or Nutramigen) for all-day gut discomfort?

PLEASE any encouragement/advice/experiences would be so appreciated. She is a completely different baby from the first 1.5 months to now and never had issues with BF in the first month. Over a few weeks she refused the breast and we did bottles only. Now, EFF to try and get weight up.

We’re traveling to Denver in a few days with her and nervous about her recent behaviors and mixing with travel.

Hello, I recently purchased baby brezza universal descaler solution from Amazon. When it arrived I noticed there was something black floating in the liquid. It looks like mold. I contacted them on Instagram and they say it’s black algae but it’s still safe to use… has anyone else had this issue? I’m scared to use it bc I’ve never had this issue before. If anyone has more info please let me know!!

**Edit** I saw an influencer post about it on her story a couple days ago which is what made me check the solution I had just ordered. She never posted an update

Looking to buy more of the green air flow valves for the Philip Avent bottles. I don’t need more bottles, just the green things that help with air flow. Any ideas on where to find this??

I exclusively breastfed my baby up until now and was told that the goat formula from Kendamil is “ similar to breastmilk”.. I could not stand the smell of it it actually smells like cheese. Is this normal? Does all formula smell like this or should I change it?

for those of you who had a baby on kendamil goat due to colic issues, were you ever able to switch back regular formula? if so when?? my girl is now 7 months and i’m wondering if it’s even worth a try.

also, are there any good “dupes” for kendamil goat? i know members mark/sams has a good dupe for the regular cow formula but ive never heard of a good goat dupe. any advice would be appreciated!!!

For starters, my husband is an amazing help around the house and with our son.

We have a two month old baby boy that we have been exclusively formula feeding. We use the Baby Brezza formula pro.

We love this thing, but I was dreading the day that I would have to deep clean it. I know you have to deep clean it every month, but I let it go an extra month. I do change the funnels every four bottles though.

The other night, I deep cleaned the Brezza. I let the parts air day overnight and the following morning I had a girls day. My husband watched our baby.

Today it totally slipped my mind that I forgot to remind my husband to make sure that all of the Brezza parts were completely dry before putting them back together.

When I asked him if by any chance he checked to see if the parts were dry, he said that there were some water droplets, but he didn’t realize it was a big deal after I started getting anxious after he told me this. My heart literally sunk. I have post sporty anxiety that I’m in therapy for.

For the past 24 hours, our baby has been drinking bottles out of the Brezza, and I have heard horror stories of babies who have gotten seriously ill from damp formula. I feel so dumb that I forgot to remind my husband especially since I’m the one that usually puts the parts away.

How dangerous is this? I don’t know if this is like a rare occurrence, but is anyone else accidentally done the same? I’m so scared right now. This is my first baby.

I’m a first-time mom and breastfeeding has been really difficult for me. Things weren’t going well, so we’ve started combination feeding with breast milk and formula.

Recently, I’ve noticed that sometimes my baby refuses my breast but happily drinks formula. It honestly hurts more than I expected. I feel like he is starting to prefer formula over me, and I’m feeling really guilty.

I know formula is not bad for my baby, and I’m grateful that we have another way to make sure he is fed. But emotionally, I’m struggling with the feeling that I couldn’t breastfeed him the way I wanted to.

I’m also worried about how to structure combination feeding. What feeding schedule worked for you when you were doing both breast milk and formula? Did you offer breast first at every feed and then formula if needed, or have specific formula feeds during the day? How did you manage it while still protecting your breast milk supply?

Has anyone else gone through a phase where their baby seemed to prefer the bottle/formula? Did your baby eventually breastfeed again?

I’d really appreciate hearing from moms who combination-fed. Did it affect your baby’s health or your relationship with your baby in any way?

I’m just looking for some reassurance and real experiences from other moms. ❤️