Yeah I was gonna try to ignore that. We are thankful to be breastfeeding currently, but formula vs breastfeeding isn't a choice for everyone. Some babies can't latch properly, some women don't produce enough, painful breastfeeding, women develop mastitis during breastfeeding that can cause them to have to stop or supplement, some babies have allergies to what mother is eating and the arduous process of figuring out what's causing the problem is enough to force the switch.
Adoptions, mother lost during childbirth, foster care, orphans, breast cancer, medications mom has to take that can be transferred to the baby through milk.... there's an infinite list of scenarios where breastfeeding isn't an option and formula is needed. I don't like the idea of shaming (intentionally or unintentionally) women/families that have decided to use formula or HAVE to use formula.
And it's not free. Not at all. The bottles, the pump, the cooler bag and ice packs to keep breastmilk cold when you pump at work or traveling. Some need to buy a new freezer to store extra breastmilk (we don't have that problem because my wild-game-eating self has 2). The opportunity cost of having to spend the time pumping. The loss of sleep to get up and pump multiple times during the night. The extra calories and vitamins mom has to consume to make sure she's producing enough and not starving her bones of calcium to cause early-onset osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. The mental and emotional toll it has on women. It's not easy and its not free.
-signed a brand new dad who watches his young wife in awe every single day fight through this exhaustion and fatigue and complications to avoid this shortage and feed our 2 week old daughter.
No hard feelings toward anyone, I was totally ignorant to all of this before now and used to believe the same thing about "just do the natural thing and breastfeed." It's just not that simple, and we went through hell the first week.
