"It's better for the baby..."

I just got home for a local bar where I ran into an old elementary school friend. I had heard that his brother just had a baby - his 1st - so naturally I wanted to say congratulations and hear how they were doing. We talked briefly and he didn't give many details because after all it was his sister-in-law who gave birth. He said they were elated and that all was well. So I asked, "is she breastfeeding?", and he said "No...they are formula/bottle-feeding" and I said, "Oh, really? Do you know why?" and he said "I don't really know...I think because it's better for the baby."

At that point I kind of just laughed. I didn't really know how to respond to that. After my momentary laughter, I said "Better for the baby?, how?" and he said "well I don't really know." I proceeded to throw a few questions at him to see why he thought or "learned" formula might be better than breast milk. After a few q&a's he finally confessed that he had no clue, and that he was just playing devil's advocate and that it did make sense that breast milk might be healthier for a newborn but that it wasn't "his place" to say anything to his brother or sister-in-law.

Is it ever our place? I don't know. All I know is that our job is to educate each other and if that means talking about why it is SO important to understand that breast milk is healthier for an infant than formula, than so be it. I feel it is my duty, whether it makes an immediate difference or not, to teach other what I have been so lucky to learn.

So finally, if we are talking about what is BEST for baby...I think we can all agree that breast milk wins.

See how it compares for yourself by clicking this link!



"(American Academy of Pediatrics, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, World Health Organization, American Dietetic Association) recommend breast milk as the best infant nutrition for the first year of life."