My Bottle Feeding Decision Made Easy with Parent’s Choice™

 

For me, one of the first “change in  plans” moment to come was feeding my son. From the moment that I found out that I was expecting, I had planned to breast feed my baby. I went to all the classes, read all the books and knew all of the amazing health and bonding benefits that nursing offers to both baby and mother. I wanted with all of my heart to give what was best to both of us. 

 

My son, however, had a few different ideas about nursing. For almost a week I tried every position, tip, trick, expert advice and old wive’s tale to try and get my son to nurse, but he simply refused to even try. It was a frustrating time for us both, as he would either be asleep or be screaming from hunger and annoyance at my attempts to nurse him. I wanted to just cuddle and adore him, but his constant screaming made it difficult to do anything but hope he would fall asleep. I was also very worried about his health, and worried how long he would be able to survive with no nutrients, not to mention my own mental health struggling with breastfeeding battles, exhaustion and the constant screaming. 

 

After days of frustration and feeling like a complete failure as a mother, my sweet husband gently suggested that we try bottle feeding. At first I was completely shocked and dismayed, as the thought of bottle feeding had literally never even crossed my mind.  I resisted the idea at first, made a few more desperate attempts to nurse, cried a lot, and then looked at the sweet, hungry baby in my arms. I realized at that point that being a mother means that you do what is best for your own child’s unique situation. Sometimes that means following your best laid plans, and sometimes that means throwing those plans completely out the window. Sometimes it means following all of the advice you have been given, and sometimes it means going with your own gut-feeling, mother’s intuition. 

 

So, late that night I reluctantly sent my husband out to Walmart to get formula and bottle supplies. He returned and we put together my son’s first bottle. It was amazing! He reminded me of those little bottle-fed lambs that you see, who just guzzle down the milk so fast. He was so happy to have a bottle, and all of a sudden I knew I had made the right decision for him. For the first time in his little life he was awake without screaming and I could fully appreciate the little miracle that he was. And so we bottle fed. 

 

However, that quickly became another problem in and of itself. As I had never planned to bottle feed, I had not budgeted for the high cost of formula. We were going through cans of name-brand formula like crazy, and that is not cheap. It was a pricey and necessary expense, that I just wasn’t sure how we would maintain. 

 

Then one day while walking up and down the baby aisle at Walmart I noticed the Parent’s Choice™ Brand of formula. It was considerably cheaper then the brand I was using, but I wondered if it was as effective as the name brand products. After carefully looking I saw that the Parent’s Choice Formulas are clinically proven to be as well tolerated as the national brands. Comparing it with the brand I had already been using, I saw that it had all of the same key ingredients. This included being a milk-based formula, having added DHA and ARA (which may support brain and eye development) iron, calcium and prebiotics. It also is available in a variety of different options including “gentle” and “sensitive” formulas (which we did actually end up switching to a little later for some spit-up issues).  

 

Although I still firmly believe that breast milk is the best option, I now know that each situation is unique and should be treated with love, support and non-judgemental understanding. While making the decision to bottle feed was somewhat heartbreaking at first, I quickly realized that for us, it was a lifesaving one.

 

As much as the formula choice was a lifesaving one, Parent’s Choice­™ was a budget saving one! If Parent’s Choice™ could help you and your little one visit Walmart.com to compare prices of Parent’s Choice™ Formula with national brands, get advice and view different formula options.