I think breastfeeding has benefits, but not enough benefits to demonize formula useage. And those benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks for many people.
Breastfeeding has benefits but so does formula feeding! People always talk about the mild passive immunity effects of breastmilk but they ignore things like the shared burden of feeding between two parents reducing maternal sleep deprivation, increasing secondary parental bonding, and improving growth rates in underweight babies that formula feeding affords parents and babies.
This! The sleep is major. My wife and I each got 6 hour stretches because we did shifts when our girl was a newborn. And she started sleeping through the night at 2.5 months old. The fact that vitamin d supplements are not needed for formula fed babies and the presence of iron for anemic babies is so rarely even acknowledged as such a huge benefit of formula. But people will bend over backwards on immunity benefits that largely get digested and merely coat surfaces (as opposed to providing actual immune responses).
yes, seriously! at least with formula, we know baby is getting complete nutrition and not being underfed, either. I think it’s weird people just disregard that
I was feeling overwhelmed when my baby started solids with the need to feed iron rich foods. SO relieved when my pediatrician told me baby doesnt need any special iron focused foods!
I’m in Canada and so we do still need to add vit d lol but just one drop a day. Also my kids apparently hate sleep so it took my first until two to sleep through the night, and my now 9 month old is still up once😭 I’m sure it would have been more though if not for formula feeding! People do like to forget that babies will develop immunity in a bunch of other ways as well, breastmilk is just one potential way to do a little bit. It’s not needed though, there are no differences in outcomes!
Breastfed babies don't get anemia at all, or have nominal risk of it, until after 6 months of age (which is when they should be eating iron-rich meats, anthropologically). Just FYI!
I said anemic babies like babies that are born anemic. My preemie was born anemic and didn’t have good iron stores to begin with. She was born at 33 weeks. If I had believed the “breast is best” lie, she would’ve suffered. Since we did formula, she had guaranteed iron that was able to help her thrive.
And the general likelihood of iron deficiency is higher with breastfed babies because it’s significantly harder to get a 6 month old to get their daily iron intake in solids than it is when it’s guaranteed in their formula. I’ve seen numerous moms in my mom groups stressing about iron rich foods and how their baby won’t eat enough iron solids.
Over 15% of formula-fed infants still have low iron absorption. Comparatively, 3-4% of breastfed infants develop iron deficiency by 4 months of age (that's what the vitamin D drops are for!). Our babies don't get enough direct sunlight in modern society -- vitamin D is what's lacking, as it's the facilitator of iron absorption.
What you're describing is purely anecdotal, not research-based. Studies suggest that 14% to >36% of formula-fed infants may experience iron deficiency or anemia, often linked to early introduction of cow's milk, premature birth, or low birth weight.
I brought up my personal experience with my daughter because that’s the most important example for me since I actually went through it with her healthcare team, not a google article. My 33 weeker was literally diagnosed anemic in the NICU so breastmilk that lacks iron was not recommended. That’s per her neonatologist. I’m so glad I could give my baby what was best- formula.
I never said formula fed babies are immune to iron deficiency I said breastfed babies are a higher risk. Bringing up babies that are given cows milk early is comparing apples to oranges, I’m talking about EFF babies and EBF babies. EBF babies are higher risk point blank when looking at just the two feeding types. Our pediatrician told us breastfed babies at 1 year are more commonly iron deficient when we did our daughters 9 month iron blood test and she was no longer anemic. But here’s some research that backs the other two medical professionals I’ve mentioned.
https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(20)31493-1/fulltext31493-1/fulltext)
“Though these investigators also looked at the formula-fed infants in the FITS survey, they concluded, as did the American Academy of Pediatrics131493-1/fulltext#) and the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee,231493-1/fulltext#) that infants fed formula (iron content 10-12 mg/L) but no breast milk, are at much less risk for significant iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia.”
“Median iron intake in breastfed infants 6-12 months of age was only 3.3 mg per day, with 81.5 % of the infants having an intake of less than the EAR of 6.9 mg per day. “
I see you are active in breastfeeding subs so I’m not engaging further as clearly you have a huge bias to push the lactivist agenda. I’ll continue to take the advice of medical professionals that affirm reality- breastmilk lacks iron and leads to iron deficiency more than formula (common sense could’ve told you that though 😉)
Familiarize yourself with the National Institute of Health...it's concerning that you just called it some "google site".
Again, formula fed babies get iron deficiency anemia at extremely high rates. This is more about lack of vitamin D in modern society than anything. Vitamin D is what facilitates iron absorption. Babies are (I know not in your case) born with all the iron stores they need for 4-6 months, which is when meat is anthropologically introduced.
And not that it's any of your business, but I had to formula feed because my baby was in the NICU.
breastfeeding mothers actually get more sleep on average, and the immunity effects are definitely not mild. my baby never got sick till we started formula, and lost weight when we started formula. i agree formula feeding is great in other aspects like u mentioned but so does breastfeeding tbh
Breastfeeding mothers can’t get more sleep than if they share feeding with their partner. That doesn’t make any sense. And the immunity effects are statistically mild. There is very little difference in how often a child gets sick when they’re breastfeed vs formula fed vs combo fed, nor in how severely they get sick. My first didn’t get sick much at all but my second does, probably because she has more interaction with germs.
Breastfeeding does have pros, I didn’t say it doesn’t. I said the breastfeeding pros are always highlighted and formula feeding isn’t, so I highlighted some formula feeding pros.
breastfeeding mothers do get more sleep actually. u dont have to get up and make bottles and fully wake urself up, even if your partner takes a feed u still wake up because thats ur biological response as a mom, to wake up when babys in distress.
Two of those sources you linked are neither reputable, unbiased, nor a study. The study you did link was of a total study size of less than 150 participants, only showed a marked increase in in sleep in EBF mothers in the first month postpartum, and acknowledged that the results may be skewed because they tracked sleep through a wrist monitor, which would show more sleep to the person moving less.
Edit: also the study corrects for shared feeding, meaning they’re only accounting for moms who do all the night time feedings, which completely ignores my entire point that formula feeding gets parents more sleep because feeding can be shared.
I don’t get out of bed to make bottles. I have a system on my night stand lol and as someone in the trenches I wish breastfeeding was as simple as just bringing baby to the breast but as many people in this sub can attest it sometimes requires a whole production like getting the proper position, a nursing pillow, nipple shields, many attempts at latching, etc. Anecdotally, it takes me less time to prepare a bottle and pop it in my babies mouth than if I tried breastfeeding at night. Not everyone can just magically pop their baby on their boob and “dream feed”
It’s a lot easier to get out of bed and make a bottle when you do it once a night vs a dozen times taking your boob out. You also still have to get out of bed to feed (unless you’re co sleeping). I’m not here to argue about which is better. Fed is best. I wanted to highlight some positives of formula feeding because breastfeeding often gets all the highlights.
Formula feeding allows both partners and even other relatives to share the task of feeding. My wife and I each got 6 hour stretches of sleep for the newborn phase. My mom even fed her overnight a couple times to let us sleep in. If it was breastfeeding it would’ve fallen all on me. My daughter has slept through the night since 2-3 months because she has had a full volume feed in her bottles versus many breasted babies more so snack and require frequent feedings (plus they start associating with comfort and require feeds just to sleep). And you mention how easy it is to “whip out a boob”- it’s even easier to let family members help out or sleep through the night at 2-3 months without worrying about a baby in your bed at all. Totally anecdotal but all the moms in my mom groups who are still struggling with sleep 10 months in are breastfeeding co sleeping moms.
My 10 month old EFF has never been sick. I was formula fed and never got sick as a kid (except a couple cases of strep in elementary). Most failure to thrive babies are actually breastfed, the occasions where it’s formula fed babies is often due to underlying issues. A lot of babies with growth issues NEED formula for fortification or to monitor intake. I was a NICU mom where growth was a huge topic of discussion.
It sounds like you’re just repeating talking points out of thin air with some wack sources. That’s all🤷♀️ I think the other commenter handled everything else debunking you. I see you’re active in breastfeeding sub so it makes sense you would be so defensive and incorrect. The propaganda is strong!
46
u/Ripe-Tomat0 Apr 30 '26
I blame the mass disinformation of formula on the “breast is best” myth and lactivists that shove the nonexistent benefits down everyone’s throat.
Like we’ve departed so far from reality, it’s just blatant bullshit anyone with 2 brain cells could identify as such.