My son just hit the 7 months mark and up to this point I have exclusively breast fed. But now, that he is teething I find it hard to continue breast feeding. At times he would chop down and boy did that hurt! So for some reason I can’t help but feel the mom guilt for stopping. If you are able to breast feed and you commit to it you, if you are anything like me you feel like you are giving up. I guess in my mind I would stop when he turns one and now I’m at the point where I’m throwing in the towel and giving up to formula.
The What If’s
I kept thinking what if the formula upsets his stomach, what if he doesn’t drink out of his bottle, what if he cries and cries because he wants to be breast fed. I just kept running these thoughts through my head which had me feeling some serious mom guilt. But trust me when I say I’m extremely happy we have transitioned to formula. Luckily, he responded very well drinking formula out of his bottle and it had NO effects on his digestive system.
Formula… My new Best Friend
Don’t get me wrong, breast feeding is very beneficial for your baby, if you can produce enough milk. But when it is time to transition off you will know! In my situation my baby started getting his teeth earlier and he seemed to increase his appetite. Even with introducing solid foods babies still get most their nutrients through breast milk or formula. So let me tell you, ever since we switched to formula my baby has slept in later. Which has been AWESOME, instead of waking up at 4:30 AM he is now sleeping in till 7:00 AM, which is AMAZING. Also when we are out in public, it is a lot easier pulling out a bottle then popping out your breast and breast cover. So lets just say I have grown to love love love formula. Its provided me with more freedom as a mom and has divvy up responsibility, so now my husband can really help and take on the feeding role (which he loves to do).
Hope my blog can help any mom’s out there thinking about switching to formula. Just know its okay to do so, and you will realize and see all the benefits afterwards. Also no need to go cold turkey either. I still breast feed occasionally when I’m home and after he has his main meal and bottle. Usually its only for 15 mins, and its more like a comfort feed till he is off to dreamland. But when it comes time to stop completely, I will be ready to do so.
