Why Breastfeeding Is Not Always Best — for Mother or Baby
New parents face intense moral pressure from every quarter to breastfeed their babies. But sometimes bottle is better.
By Laura Frances Callahan
I tend to avoid pictures of my daughter as a newborn. At the time, I was trying to breastfeed, but she wasn’t gaining weight. I remember flicking her with cold water to keep her awake to try to nurse, the twice-daily check-ins with the lactation consultant, the worry inscribed in the paediatrician’s face, the agony over a dry diaper, the guilt about resorting to half an ounce of formula in a syringe. Was it wrong to give her so much? Was it wrong not to give her more?
When the diagnosis finally came, after a two-hour drive to the specialist, it was an immense relief: ‘tongue-tie’, where the strip of tissue connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth is too short, making it hard to nurse effectively. An unanaesthetised snip and some rending screams later, the problem was solved. As a healthy 2.5-year-old, my daughter still nurses and loves it. I’ve also finally realised that the intense moral pressure in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom to breastfeed is completely nuts.
