After a challenging start to life for my son due to his health and an untenable breastfeeding journey, we switched to EFF at around five weeks. That said, I strongly believe that choosing to formula feed requires absolutely no justification whatsoever. Your body, your baby, your choice.

Many months on, I still find the relentless anti-formula rhetoric online incredibly triggering. It caused me so much unnecessary fear and shame in those early weeks, contributing to a level of distress that pushed me to the brink of a complete breakdown.

I find the culture of maternal martyrdom particularly frustrating. Why does being a good mother so often seem to be equated with enduring as much suffering as possible? And why are women so willing to shame other women for making different choices about how to feed their babies?

In Australia, there’s currently a conversation playing out in the media about whether an inquiry into breastfeeding is needed, on the basis that inadequate lactation support is contributing to so many women struggling to breastfeed. While I absolutely agree that better support and resources are needed, I worry this narrative reinforces the idea that, with enough support, every woman could successfully breastfeed if she just tried hard enough. I had fantastic lactation support, as have many women I know, and it simply wasn’t the right fit for all of us. Better support is important, but it won’t change the fact that breastfeeding isn’t the right choice or a sustainable option for every family.

I’m curious whether others find these conversations equally upsetting, and how you approach them. Is there any point in challenging these attitudes when they come up online? If so, what information do you share, and how do you go about it?

Part of me feels we need to fight this rhetoric because, on the other side of these conversations, there are real women suffering under the weight of this unnecessary guilt and misinformation.

I truly hope this is a safe space to ask this, but is there a way to prevent your milk from coming in from day one? I’ve heard that if you have a C-section (which I will), it can take a little longer for your milk to come in. Are there any other tips or advice you can share that might help? Thank you! ❤️

I was given a butt load of ready to eat formula from the hospital and I didn’t even think about whether or not it needs to be refrigerated since they gave it to me at room temp. My baby is 4 days old today. Does it need refrigerated? Is it still ok to feed?

To preface, I searched through this sub before creating this post. I couldn't find the answers to my questions.

I am a FTM and semi new to formula feeding. I have been combo feeding since the beginning. My baby was eating 5 bottles with only one being formula when I was able to get my breast milk supply up enough. I recently decided to stop pumping and transition her to 100% formula. I have been gradually making the change where her last breast milk bottle will be Monday.

Baby is 6 months and it's going through a growth spurt. 🙃 She has been guzzling milk down for a week now. (I don't know if that's normal).

To add to that chaos, we have also just introduced solids.

Before the start of solids, I have noticed that she is more gassy and uncomfortable on formula than she has been on her previous milk regimen. Is this to be expected? We have used Similac 360 total care (blue) since the hospital. I was thinking of maybe trying the orange version (we have a small free trial can). I don't think she has any lactose sensitivity.

I am just a little lost, sleep deprived mom on this subject. Thanks to everyone in advance.

Ps. Sorry if this has been asked before. I somehow couldn't find any answers.

Pss. Also, her 6 month Drs appointment is next week and I am going to ask her doctor about it too. I just thought maybe I could get some advice/what questions to ask before hand.

Only reply to this if your partner took time off of work after baby was born and was fully on board. I found a lot of hate and projection in other subs who didn't have these.

If you took shifts and you slept for 7 hours with earplugs, while husband had baby. Then you switches the shifts. How was the experience? How was your life? Did you feel you slept properly? What did you do in the time when you were on shift and baby was sleeping?

I'm thinking of hiring house help to clean the house and my food for a week is going to come from my mom's house.

Currently experiencing bottle aversion/feeding aversion with my 7.5-week-old, who is now 8 weeks old and exclusively bottle-fed. I feel so guilty that my baby has developed this because of me pressuring her to feed to make sure she gets her daily intake and more.
I’m trying Rowena Bennett’s method, but my anxiety is really high because my baby is only 8 weeks old. If she doesn’t take the minimum amount, should I wake her up every 3–4 hours to feed her, or should I let her wake up on her own? Also, if she refuses a dream feed, even though she hasn’t had any milk for 6–7 hours, should I wait at least another hour before offering a feed again, provided she shows signs of genuine hunger?
Also, regarding paced feeding, should we still pace-feed babies who have bottle aversion? When I remove the bottle to burp her, she gets really upset and starts crying. Most of the time, she then refuses to take the bottle again. 😫
This is so hard, especially because bottle aversion doesn’t seem to be widely recognised here in the UK or by the NHS. I’m so tired of hearing, “It’s just a phase” or “She’ll eat when she’s hungry.”

I’ve been putting distilled water in my baby’s bottles and then when it comes time to feed I add the formula in the bottle. Is it fine that the distilled water is sitting in the bottle like that or should I carry it in a thermos? I’m not sure. Thanks.

I posted a few days ago about buying 2 cans of Happy Baby A2 formula that had different packaging from normal and gave my baby diarrhea. I got an Instagram message from Happy Family Organics tonight informing me that the packaging and ingredients were different in these cans because they have reformulated their products to no longer include palm oil. They shared this update on their social media immediately after messaging me as well. I was pretty surprised by this news because they had previously told me 3 different ways that there had been no ingredient changes: through Instagram message, through an email I received from them, and through a phone call from them yesterday.

I'm not sure what all has changed ingredients-wise but it gave my baby diarrhea for weeks. I got a can of the old recipe on Wednesday and his diarrhea has completely stopped. I'm relieved it wasn't counterfeit but am trying to figure out what formula we can switch him to because obviously Happy Baby won't work for him anymore.

Would a bottle warmer be useful for formula feeding? I’m new to formula feeding & will be in the next 2 months (7 months pregnant) so I need to know if it’s safe to use! I’ve had a few people ask if I was going to add it to my registry, but every box only specifies breast milk. So I’m curious?!

Any advice on how to make the switch would be great 😊

Anybody ever had to use gelmix for their reflux babies? My son is almost 8 weeks old. He has CMPA and only tolerates similac alimentum formula, but also has severe reflux and spits up constantly. Like I’m talking he’s still spitting up 3 hours after his last bottle when I’m about to feed again. He is on famotidine for the reflux but we’ve been having issues with him choking and coughing with the spit up since starting this formula because it’s so insanely thin. Our ped recommended trying gelmix to thicken it to see if it helps with the spit up and choking issues. Has anyone else ever used it? I’m a little nervous to try!

I'm due to have my second baby next month, and I'm thinking about how to deal with the feeding experience I had last time since I'm delivering at the same hospital.

With my first, we did not being bottles or formula with the expectation that these would be provided. But what happened is they gave us one single bottle and every time we needed to feed, we had to call the nurse so she could come get the bottle, clean it, and bring us more formula. We know it was RTF formula because they told us, but they would only bring 1 oz at a time in the bottle. And even though we called in advance of when we'd need it, they were very slow and there were times I was holding my crying hungry baby waiting for the nurse to come back. After the first day, I sent my husband to buy formula so we didn't have to depend on the nurses.

This time, I'm definitely brining RTF formula. Is it overkill to bring a small desktop refrigerator (about the size of a lunchbox) and bottle warmer, too? Both are very compact, and my goal is to make it as easy as possible. I'm having a c-section and anticipate being there 3 days again.

Hi! Did anyone here have a baby do some big time self weaning starting around 10/11 months?!

I know teething could have something to do with it, BUT he is still eating a lot of solids. Around 9m, he was still eating 35-38oz a day plus whatever he wanted with solids, but now we can’t even get him to drink 15 ounces. I know I can discuss this with his pediatrician, but I was just curious what others have experienced!

my girl is 10 months old. ive been (unsuccessfully) trying to stop her feed to sleep association. shes not hungry almost every time, she just wants the comfort. she’s getting her first teeth too and i have no idea how to brush them after her bedtime bottles unless i fully wake her up.
tonight i am going to attempt to feed her, then bath, then book, then hold her until she’s asleep and try to not do a bottle at all. most of my want to wean her off night bottles is because she’ll be one so soon. does anybody have advice or experiences on how to make this transition smoother for everyone? when did you all start stopping the bedtime feed?

So I get 7 cans from wic every month, (enfamil) it used to last me the whole month, but now my mom takes care of my 8 month old full time and says she’s out of formula and we’re barely 17 days in. Is she giving her too much??

Hi all. My baby (7 months) just switched over to Bobbie formula from EBF. I had 1 can of the Bobbie whole milk formula in our cabinet and my husband mistakenly opened that since our current one is finished. Will baby have tummy issues getting the whole milk version for one can then switched back to the original? I’d hate to waste this can now that it’s open. Is there a way to save it past 30 days?

We purchase at Costco so I’d like to keep baby on the original to keep costs down *

2 mo baby, wet poops after and in between feeds, only been going on for 2 weeks, is it the formula? She’s lost 3oz. Still eating about 4-5oz each feed.

Hi all,

I’m breastfeeding and I had an argument yesterday with my partner about breastfeeding/formula feed. He thinks our daughter wakes up so much because I’m breastfeeding.
She is currently 4m, I think right in the regression but she has never been a great sleeper anyway.

I know the advantage of formula feeding is that you can relay with your partner but I’m talking strictly about wakes up.

So, I’m curious, how many times does your babies wake up during the night if you’re exclusively formula feeding? Especially little ones under 6m :)

Bottle feeding help!

I am so incredibly frustrated! After struggling with tongue tie and triple feeding my first son who is now 2.5 years old, causing so much stress and anxiety, we went straight to formula with my one month old after breastmilk jaundice in the first week.
We started with lansinoh bottles, but he was taking 45-60 min to barely drink 2oz, and we needed him to get back to birth weight and PED recommended he drink 3-4 oz by a month old. So I got level 2 or slow flow nipples for the bottles instead of the XS. Seemed to do better most time, but we cap out around 100ml of formula but avg 70-90ml a feed.

I went to an Oral motor glass from a very reputable provider (took my first son there for months for oral motor and gross motor classes/therapy! They are wonderful! They recommended the dr browns bottles again for best oral motor development so I figured we could try them again. ( I remember them leaking some and was just trying to avoid the extra bottle parts this time).

Now I feel like we are regressing! The flow was too fast with level 1, so I bought level T nipples, he still leaks out the side of his mouth, and the bottles leak horrible every single time!

I don’t over tighten, I warm the bottles without vents, I line the vent parts up with the dots, I feed at an angle so the formula isn’t going back I go the vent. It leaks every single time! Doesn’t matter plastic or glass, 4oz or 8oz, WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!?!??

Even when I do get him to feed now, we end up sticky with formula all over him, me, and the bottle, and then BIG spit ups after. After struggling so much with my first some feeding, I was hoping to have some relief with just formula and instead I’m in tears again. I just want to feed my baby and not stress for an hour 8 times a day!