Exclusive Breastfeeding to Baby Being Well-fed! A Journey From Breastfeeding to Formula Feeding
On 26th August 2020, my baby girl was born! As planned, I intended to start feeding within one hour and well we did it! It wasn’t easy though! They say it comes naturally. What came naturally were tears when I didn’t understand whether it was working or not. The whole two days of labour, then the pain, the whole experience, COVID, the tests for COVID (which were negative), and the overall experience of no visitors allowed, was overwhelming! But the nurses comforted me saying that yes it was working and I was feeding my baby correctly! From learning how to hold the baby in the correct position during feeding to slowly pumping milk for her, it felt like it was getting smoother day by day! As the months passed, my baby’s requirement for milk increased and so did cluster feeding! My idea of exclusive breastfeeding was somewhere not matching the milk supply I had, and slowly by the fourth month, we started giving one formula feed a day and slowly increased it to alternate or combination feeding! My viewpoint was simple – if it suits my baby and my baby is well-fed, it is all that matters! As long as my baby wasn’t hungry I am okay!
By the fifth month, I didn’t have much milk supply so we shifted to formula feeding completely along with semi-solids for the baby! Yes, I did plan to feed my baby exclusively for six months, but I could only do so for the first three and a half months! I realised it is okay. What matters is my baby is healthy and well-fed! So here’s to all the moms who
know what’s best for their baby and choose that over any of the pressures or statements passed by anyone in the community. To all the new moms out there, all I would tell you is you know what’s best for your baby! Breastfed, formula-fed, bottle-fed, donor-fed, tube-fed, or combination, choose what suits you both. You might feel mom’s guilt or people might try mom-shaming you, but stay strong. They don’t know your journey. So don’t let their opinions affect you!
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