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.
Lily bottle-nursing her 5.5-month-old son. :)
Having planned to breastfeed, I didn’t have much knowledge about bottle feeding, and a lot of what I did find didn’t seem helpful or a good fit for my parenting style. Ultimately, we acted on much of the advice given to breastfeeding moms together with a good dose of instinct.
I’ve been wanting to pass on some of what we’ve learned for awhile as a resource for those who may have found themselves surprised by a similar situation. I fully support and advocate breastfeeding, but as it’s not always an option, this post is for moms who – for whatever reason – are looking for ways to bottle feed with love.
If you are not able to breastfeed, or if you are feeding your baby EBM (expressed breast milk) from a bottle, you can still recreate some of the bonding experience of breastfeeding by bottle-nursing. Other people can use this method with your baby if they are watching them for you, but it’s best if you are your baby’s primary source of milk, just as if you were breastfeeding.
Love, trust, and cuddles.
I think back to the times when I was told that this bonding would not happen as long as he fed from a bottle. I remember the comments about how nothing could compare to the bond between a child & nursing mother & I wonder why I take that phrase so personally. How two years later, those thoughts still sting me because I love my baby, too & I think we’re pretty okay together. I worried I would never experience my child needing me physically & now he finally calms as his head rests against the breasts that never fed him, & I know that bonding flows deeper than milk in all mothers & babies.
There is no room or need for guilt here - the mother who has done all she can to [breastfeed] “normally” isn’t a failure - she is just doing the best she can in the situation she is in. Mothers who choose to exclusively pump are very dedicated mothers - determined to do the best they can for their precious babies, and they deserve respect and support.
Even before he is born, a baby knows his mother’s heart. To him, the sound of it beating is like sweet music. :)
(via beautyofbirth)
“Food With a Hint of Love.”
“Some Quality Time.”
“Baby Luvin’.”
