Love Can Come in Bottles, Too.
How can we be all those things?
Well, we believe that breastfeeding our babies is an incredible gift, but that sometimes it simply doesn't happen the way we planned.
We are not here to encourage or discourage any particular choice parents make on how to nourish their babies. We are here to support the ones who struggled or are struggling to breastfeed and are facing the guilt that often comes along with deciding to stop breastfeeding.
We have both experienced this personally, and have gone through all the guilt alone, so we wanted to start this tumblr to post encouragement and to answer your questions and concerns as you make this sometimes difficult and traumatic transition.
We want you to bottle-feed without fear of judgement, and without guilt. You are doing the best that you can do for your baby given your particular circumstances. Be assured that the love and care you take in making this sometimes agonizing decision shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that love can come in bottles, too.
I would love to see breastfeeding advocacy (and birth advocacy, and educational advocacy, and others) fit into the context of what I hope is the larger goal: healthier children and strong familial bonds. In that context, lactation professionals and peer counselors can be trained in the benefits of breastfeeding and provide breastfeeding support, but also be watchful for the signs that breastfeeding isn’t an appropriate course of action (severe PPD, medical contra-indications, true insufficient supply) and provide support and guidance (how to combo-feed, information about milk-sharing, and reassurance that formula-feeding a baby is not a “failure”).
Until that is in place, we run the risk of our advocacy having a conflict of interest with compassion, which will always be a detriment to our cause.
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