ebster tells us: "MAMMAL: any of a class (Mammalia) of higher vertebrates comprising man and all other animals that nourish their young with milk secreted by mammary glands…". By definition then, humans are designed to breastfeed their children. To quote the title of one of our favorite books (by Janet Tamaro): "So That's What They're For!"

Baby bottles are less than 80 years old. Before they existed, ALL infants were suckled at their mother's breast (or at the breast of a wet nurse if mother was too "modern" to breastfeed, and could afford to hire a wet nurse). Some time before our lives all changed during the Second World War, women were sold on the idea that modern living meant that they no longer had to be an indentured person, relegated to the nursery. Their breasts were now theirs to do with as they so wished. Modern science will now take over the task of feeding their offspring while they may go back to society or to the workplace. "Better living through modern chemistry" I believe someone called it.

Sadly, even today, some of our larger suppliers of food for infants are being chastised for their heavy handedness in getting families in the third world countries to switch from breastfeeding to formula. Being told that it is the modern way, those families that are barely maintaining a living on their near non-existent wages are paying unnecessary funds for formula, bottles, sterilizing equipment, etc. They are spending time and using scarce fuels to sterilize (sort of) the equipment, when they already posses everything that they need to feed their child, from its birth to the age of 2, 3 and even 5 years in some cases.

Regardless of what advertisements in the magazines and on the television may tell us, most of us know that the formula is only second best. One company even tells us that "The breast is the best, but…". So, knowing that, why do we continue to make the decision to feed formula instead of our own breast milk?

Peri Escarda tells us about some of the reasons that we make the choice of the bottle over the breast. She describes how that decision may very well affect the infant's future inclination toward obesity. Read about Breastfeeding & Obesity.

Women are born with the natural instinct, but not the actual ability to breastfeed, and a baby is born with a natural rooting and nursing instinct, but not with automatic knowledge of how to properly receive nourishment from the breast. Mistakes are made, and mothers and babies will make adjustments along the way. However, without some prior information, many mothers are forced to yield to the pressures of their healthcare workers and family members that may not be very knowledgeable about breastfeeding either, and they may decide to discontinue their breastfeeding efforts before they really want to. Read about Breastfeeding - It's Not the Easier Choice.

We recommend a website that will answer all of your questions. They are current, accurate, and complete. Please let us know if you find the site to be different from that. It is www.breastfeeding.com. Check them out.

You and your baby should ultimately make the decision to breastfeed or to bottlefeed. Make sure you are knowledgeable enough to make the correct decision, and that that decision is yours, and not that of someone else. We wish you every success with your new family.

We want to encourage families to contribute stories about their breastfeeding experiences. Let us hear about both the good and the bad experiences. Experience is the best teacher 'they' tell us, so please feel free to teach others through your writings. Contact Ken at BreastCare@comcast.net.