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Although I am breastfeeding my baby (the ultimate money-saver and great for my baby too!), that is not always an option for every mom. There are several reasons why you may not be able to breastfeed your baby - and that is okay. There is so much said about how breastfeeding is best but when that is not an option for you due to medications you are taking or other reasons, you should not beat yourself up!
With that said, there are other avenues you can take to save money and not sacrifice your baby's health. The following is a video from Dr. Barbara Levine about how you can save money without jeopardizing your baby's well-being.
Video HERE
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12 Comments:
I am really glad you posted this. I tried SOOOO hard to breastfeed my daughter, for both the monetary and health benefits. My daughter would not gain weight and I was really upset about it. Sometime breastmilk really isnt the best thing, but everything you see conradicts that.
Great post!
I was unable to breastfeed my daughter, but I did pump exclusively for the first two months. We then switched to national brand formula. It was the brand my lactation consultant said we "must" use, and I felt so guilty for using formula that I did just as she said. But the national brand was running us into the poor house! Finally my daughter's pediatrician told us the same information that's in this video. We switched to Walmart's store brand (Parent's Choice) right away, and started to save nearly 50% on formula. Plus, I didn't have the hassle of trying to find coupons for the formula like I did with the store brand.
I think this is such important information to share with new parents. There's so much misinformation, marketing, and guilt associated with formula, that parents are needlessly spending the extra money on national brand. Thanks for getting the word out!
Is that your baby??! SO beautiful!!! Adorable:) Congrats! I was blessed and able to breastfeed my son for 13 months. I just stopped and I would have to say it was harder on me than him.:)
Also, if you plan to use Parent's Choice you can still get coupons. Just call 1-800- 485-9918 and request a coupon. You can do this every 30 days. It's a $3 coupon so it'll help a little bit. I really wish I could have nursed longer but that's just the way it goes sometimes.
Mommycia, I had the same thing happen to me. My baby looked starved and I was breastfeeding non-stop.
I am able to get formula through WIC so he gets Enfamil. Otherwise we would be using a store brand.
I'm nursing my 29 month old, and the fact is, there are so few women who are truly medically unable to nurse that it just makes me very sad. I'm also a milk donor to the Mother's Milk Bank of Ohio. I never thought I'd nurse my child this long. I wasn't even sure if I could do it at all. My milk took 5 days to come in and she got dehydrated. She was almost always attached to the boob. Had to have a boob in her mouth to sleep. Would scream if boob came out! I also had mastitis, multiple plugged ducts, food poisoning (twice) and surgery on my foot that required general anesthesia when she was 7 months old. Oh, and I work full time and pumped while at work. So no, I'm not one of those haughty holier than though women who sit at home and eat bonbons. I don't judge mothers though- I feel it's the formula companies who have spent 50 years convincing the medical community that their product is "just as good". It may be adequate, but it's not equal. No one wants to promote breastfeeding (as in marketing it) because there's no money to be made. Some countries do take into account breastmilk in their gross domestic product, but the USA does not. I have a Masters of Public Health degree, so I do have some good background in this area.
Everyone should read Milk, Money and Madness. It's enlightening and maddening.
He's beautiful!
Your son is so handsome! Thanks for sharing the picture!
Milk Donor Mama, it may be a regional thing, but where I live, there is lots of breastfeeding promotion. It's created a bit of a stigma for mothers who have to formula feed for whatever reason, but I know the opposite is true in other regions of the country. I commend you for going through so much to breastfeed your child and the mental fortitude you must have to endure all that you have.
Denise, thanks for posting this. I have a hard time convincing people who have to formula feed that the store brands are just as good as national brands, since there is already enough guilt associated with formula feeding to begin with, many feel they are "failing" their child if they don't buy the national brands. I myself have had to formula feed both my children because of multiple challenges associated with breastfeeding, and I have always chosen the store brand (after doing my research of course) to save money while still doing the best I could for my baby, because they are truly are just as good, just without all the marketing and special packaging that national brands spend extra money on. :)
I live in Columbus, OH, where Abbott Nutrition is headquartered (they make Similac)
I breastfed 4 out of 5 kids. Was SO happy to have done it.
Your baby is adorable. Congratulations.
Thanks for posting about the store vs. national brands! I breastfed my son until he was 8 months old but because I was pregnant with my daughter, my supply diminished and I had to switch over to formula. I used the Parents Choice brand with DHA. I did the label research and saw that the store brand was just as good as the name brand. I felt bad that I had to formula feed in the first place but once I discovered there was no difference in the brands, it just made sense to pay half the price! Fortunately, I was able to breastfeed my daughter past her first birthday so I never needed to purchase formula for her. I know several people who use Name brand formula and don't receive government assistance. I want to say something to them about how store brand is so much cheaper and just as good, but I'm not sure how they might take it.
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