Breast vs. Formula

So I think the whole breastfeeding vs. Formula feeding debate is absolutely ridiculous but something that I see in my cyber-travels is how the possible benefits of breastfeeding have been over hyped and oversold. I found this article written by a woman, a retired OB/GYN who I love to cyber-stalk (lol) and while I quite often disagree with her views, she has made me think about things from a different perspective even though she patently refuses to see any perspective but her own.

What I enjoy the most about this article however, are the comments. The actual conversation about the article that the Doctor presented. One of the comments that I found extremely apt;

"Breastfeeding is the biological norm for humans. Why should breastfeeding have to prove its self as being healthier/better?"

I have to say, to me this has hit the nail right on the head.

Why SHOULD breastfeeding have to prove itself better than formula?

Another quote from the same commenter;

"We do not need to over sell the benefits of breastfeeding at all. Breastfeeding is normal for our species however we are doing mothers a disservice by letting them believe that artificial feeding is safe (there are NO studies to show formula is safe), that there are no health risks associated. Why do we have no qualms about telling mothers that drinking alcohol in pregnancy can cause birth defects and damage their babies but we cannot tell these same mothers that formula feeding has health risks for fear of “making them feel guilty”?????"

Now this isn't me trying to attack any formula feeding parents out there who happen to read this blog, this is merely me agreeing with this commenter asking why should breastfeeding have to prove itself BETTER than formula.

As a friend of mine has said, you cant tell who was breastfed or formula fed just by looking at a child/teen/adult. In the long term it is not obvious.

One thing that puzzles me about the whole debate, more from an American perspective than anything else, is how formula seems to be the standard and how breastfeeding has to prove itself "better". This is why I like the commentary of this article, there is true discussion about it and it's from a scientifically based standpoint.

Setting the bar at formula, in my eyes, is silly. Formula hasn't been around for anywhere near as long as breast milk, it's (generally) based on cows milk, something designed to feed baby cows and it's definitely not infallible, the recent melamine issues with it in China has proved that. Things may not have been proved one way or the other as to whether formula has definite risks associated with it but breastfeeding most certainly has benefits, however small they may seem individually they can add up to a fair amount.

Ok, I'm getting a bit repetitive now lol, time for me to take a breather.

As I've said before, to me it only matters that the child is adequately fed and is loved, not the method of feeding.