Breastmilk or Infant Formula

Posted by Brenda Lane Jul 11, 2007

One of the things that continually surprises me over the years is that there is still a debate over how we should be feeding our babies. While previous generations of mothers may have been misinformed about the benefits of breastfeeding, mothers today are clearly in the information age.

If you are expecting a baby or planning to become pregnant and are deciding how best to feed your baby, thousands of articles on the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and baby are at your fingertips. Even health experts and international organizations today agree that all mothers should feed their babies breastmilk for as long as possible. See my complete series on breastfeeding just to wet your appetite.

One idea that appears to be pervasive among mothers who decide to formula-feed their babies is that they do not want to be made to feel "guilty" about their choice. They see it as a viable option and a choice they are making for personal reasons. The problem is that formula is not truly an equal feeding choice. In many ways, it can be compared to feeding your older child a diet of fast food. Is there nutrition in this food choice? Yes, some. Has it been shown to be harmful? The answer is unequivocally yes.

The correlation between both fast food and infant formula in terms of the risk of obesity is also very interesting. Yet I doubt that there are many parents who try to defend their position to feed their children a diet of completely fast food. We all know that as a society, it is lkely contributing to a whole host of health-related problems. Why is it that we are still hanging on to the option of feeding our babies infant formula when we know the choice is not a safe one?

Should you have any doubt about the safety or nutrition of infant formula, please read my article on the Hazards of Infant Formula. Here I have touched on the known and suspected risks of infant formula, yet there are countless others you can find elsewhere on the internet.

What are your thoughts about infant formula in relation to breastmilk? Let's get a discussion going.

Brenda