Boob or Bottle or Both?Whether you breastfeed, use formula, or do a combo,
one thing is for certain: You’ll have
questions about whether you’re doing it right. We’ve got
judgment-free answers from the experts.
by ELIZABETH PASSARELLA / photographs by PRISCILLA GRAGGI HAVE three children, all
of whom survived their first
year of life on a different
combination of breast milk
and formula. I know what
it feels like for breastfeeding
to go swimmingly; I’ve
confidently (but a little
precariously) nursed a
newborn while following a
swift 2-year-old around a
city playground. I’ve felt the
freedom of knowing that I
had everything I needed in
my body to feed or calm my
baby—on delayed f lights, in
the middle of church, or
on the f loor of a Gap dressing
room. And I’ve known the
opposite: a baby who never
got the hang of nursing,
dropped a lot of weight in
his first two weeks of life,
and drank mostly formula
from then on. (He’s totally
fine now!)
I have felt the good
hormones and the bad, have
relished nursing a kid at
three in the morning, and
have been relieved to let my
husband give a bottle while
I happily slept. I’ve nursed
my babies after two gin and
tonics. I’ve bought the
cheaper, nonorganic formula
(see page 111 for the verdict
on that choice) so that I
could splurge on artisanal
ice cream. In other words,
I’ve done my best. And you
are doing your best too.
That’s why we’re offering
solutions to real-life
problems and answering
questions about both
fabulous feeding choices. WARD
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PARENTS 108 SEPTEMBER 2019
MOMÑHealth