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Fed Is Best: Supporting Moms No Matter Their Feeding Choice

by Amanda Foust
written by Amanda Foust

**Sponsored post by Mirum. All opinions are my own.**

One of the common conflicts among mothers causing deep divides and wars is the breastfeeding versus formula feeding debate. I remember when I was in the infant phase two years ago with my son and was genuinely terrified to ever discuss my feeding decisions with a mom. I KNEW there were two very separate sides of the spectrum and I wasn’t going to be able to please them both. When you have a newborn, friends and family are quick to offer opinions on feeding methods, sleep schedules, and everything in between. We all appreciate the well-­intentioned advice, but sometimes a new mom simply needs the affirmation that her choice matters — even if that choice includes a bottle!

“Breast is best” is a popular mantra. But I’m an advocate for “fed is best.” There are two people involved in a mother/child relationship, and BOTH matter! My first child came through adoption. She was a year and a half, but she needed formula to counteract the malnourishment she had suffered. It was an easy choice in that regard. But my son was biological, and my body was given the high expectation of being able to feed my child. I nursed for ten months, but I was also in the process of getting my life coaching certification that required me to be away for a couple days each month. During this time, I unashamedly relied on formula. It was best for both me and the baby.

And the day that my son decided he was done nursing (not gradually but drastically just STOPPED), I grabbed for formula in desperation and didn’t turn back because fed is best!

Whether a mom breastfeeds, bottle feeds, or supplements with formula, let’s commend her for making the best choice for her baby. When it comes to feeding time, “Mother knows best!”

If you’re looking for a formula that easily fits all your baby’s nutritional needs, is a nationally trusted brand, and cares about mother’s everywhere, Parent’s Choice® makes the decision easy.

Parent’s Choice® is one of the best options on the market. If you’ve ever been to a Walmart store, the Parent’s Choice® brand has no doubt caught your eye. Their top of the line toddler and baby products are clinically proven to help support developmental advancement and growth within little ones.

Having been exclusively available at Walmart since 1988 and a leading choice for millions of parents across the Unites States, Parent’s Choice® fully understands a mothers’ need to ensure that her baby receives only the best. Which is why their line of infant formula is both easily digestible for babies and nutritionally comparable to the more expensive infant formulas on the market today. Their brand even extends beyond infant formula to include toddler formula, pediatric nutritional beverages, baby and toddler food, and pediatric electrolyte rehydration solution.

Just take a look at some of their awesome products:

Parent’s Choice® Premium Powder Infant Formula

  • Value Size 35oz- Makes 65, 4 oz. bottles
  • Clinically proven to support growth and development  

Parent’s Choice® Advantage Tub Powder Stage 2 Formula

  • Value Size 35oz
  • Suitable for babies 6-12 months

Parent’s Choice® Sensitivity Canned Powder Infant Formula

  • Available in Value Size 33.2oz – Makes 59, 4oz bottles
  •  For fussiness & gas

Parent’s Choice® Gentle Infant Formula with Iron

  • Available in Value Size 33.2oz – Makes 60, 4 oz. bottles
  •  For fussiness, gas and crying

No matter what you decide, trust your mama instincts and do what’s best for both you and the baby! And remember, “Fed is best!”

Enter for a chance to win over $800 in prizes!

The Parent’s Choice Formula Feeding Time Summer 2017 Sweepstakes

 

formula feeding

Amanda Foust

Amanda Foust

Amanda is a wife, mother, writer/editor, and certified life coach. Pen and paper make her spirit come alive. She spends her creative time reading, decorating, and handwriting fonts. Her world is better with an assortment of chocolate and a stack of books packed and ready for travel. She works each day to be a creative maker and a light bringer. You can find more of her writing at Downs, Ups & Teacups and TheDailyPositive.com.
Amanda Foust

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Woman Wishes The World Would Know That Just One Bottle Could Have Saved Her Son’s Life
BabyInspirational

Woman Wishes The World Would Know That Just One Bottle Could Have Saved Her Son’s Life

by Karly Wood
written by Karly Wood

Yesterday I celebrated my daughter’s 4th birthday, but the day she was born still feels like it just happened. While the day was overwhelmingly packed with beautiful memories, it was also rife with many first time fears. Among the top, was my passionate and almost obsessive desire to breastfeed. Like many moms, I wanted to do what was “best” for my daughter by nursing. I had attended the requisite breastfeeding courses at my hospital, read the popular nursing books and had all my supplies at the ready. I guarded the advice not to let anyone force formula on me in the hospital like a treasure.

After my best efforts at breastfeeding, the required hospital visit by a lactation consultant, and my first meeting with our pediatrician, my worst fear came to fruition: my daughter was simply not getting enough milk and we needed to supplement with formula. I clearly remember as my heart broke and I couldn’t hold back my tears with my nurse. We hadn’t even left the hospital and I was failing. If it weren’t for the firm look my husband gave me, coupled with his words that our new baby just needed to eat, and the thirsty and frantic way my daughter demolished her first serving of formula, our story may have ended differently. It could have ended like little Landon’s.

In a wildly viral new post by FedIsBest.org, mom Jillian Johnson reflects on what would be her son’s fifth birthday. Born full term, and at a healthy 7 lbs. 7 oz., Landon appeared to have an excellent latch and would nurse often. It was on day two, when it appeared both his cluster feeding and crying became incessant that Jillian started to feel like something was wrong. A passing comment by a lactation consultant that she may have a supply issue was mummified by an immediate suggestion of beginning an herb regimen once she left the hospital.

Armed with Landon and some hopeful advice, JIllian and her husband headed home. Despite her constant putting of Landon to the breast, less than 12 hours after coming home from the hospital, he was found blue and unresponsive after falling asleep while cluster feeding. In the ambulance, paramedics performed CPR, but Landon was found to have a heart rate with no blood pressure, and was hypothermic with a temperature of only 93.1. At the hospital, doctors could not find a heartbeat via ultrasound, and he was put on a ventilator to keep him alive.

Source: FedIsBest.org

Sadly, Landon had suffered a major brain injury as a result of dehydration and hypovolemic shock (due to rapid fluid loss). Because of his low blood pressure, Landon was oxygen deprived which resulted in seizures due to the enormity of his brain injury. After 15 days on life support, the doctors could not give a positive prognosis and Landon passed away.

While Jillian assumed that Landon’s constant nursing meant he was hungry but still getting the nutrition he needed, it turned out that she could not produce enough milk. As a result of exclusively breastfeeding, Landon was not getting the proper fluids to sustain life. Jillian often questions what would have happened had she ignored the advice to avoid supplementing with formula, all in the name of observing the mantra that “breast is best.”

Jillian beautifully reflects on Landon’s short life: “I still have many, many days of guilt and questions – what if I would’ve just given him a bottle? And anger because how would I have known…I’ve learned forgiveness. And the true meaning of “life is short.” I love hard – to a fault. But I couldn’t live with myself knowing his death was in vain. I’ve learned so many lessons. I’ve learned the true meaning of compassion and unconditional love.”

It is both Jillian’s and the organization, Fed Is Best’s hope that “just one bottle can save a child from… tragedies as it is often a mother’s first clue that a child is in fact starving from exclusive breastfeeding.”

Like many moms, I adhere to the mantra that “fed is best.” No matter how you choose to feed your baby, the important part is that you are feeding them at all. Breastfeeding, formula feeding, donor milk, pumping or supplementing- we all just want our babies to be happy, healthy and fed. And as a mom, be the advocate your child needs. If something doesn’t feel right, say something. Ask questions and get second opinions- it’s your baby’s life.

You can read Jillian’s and Landon’s entire story over at FedIsBest.org.

 

Karly Wood

Karly Wood

Editor at Red Tricycle
I'm a born and bred Southern California native and currently the managing editor at Red Tri. I get to share my life with my husband of 13 years and our beautiful, 5-year old daughter. In my free time you'll catch me cheering for the Dodgers, cooking, baking, reading, crafting and probably watching a little HGTV!
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Here Is Everything You Need To Know About Formula Feeding
Baby

Here Is Everything You Need To Know About Formula Feeding

by Jordyn Smith
written by Jordyn Smith

 

This post is sponsored by Mirum Shopper. All opinions are my own. 

Much like breastfeeding, deciding to formula feed your child comes with its own source of hardships, triumphs, and guidelines for success. If you aren’t familiar with it, bottle feeding may seem like an incredibly easy task. And while the actual process of mixing up formula isn’t too difficult, finding the right products and understanding the do’s and dont’s of formula feeding can be stressful enough to keep new parents up at night.

Firstly, it is incredibly important to understand that neither breastfeeding nor bottle feeding has to be an all or nothing situation. Sure, many parents find something that works for their baby and stick with it, but you should always take into account the fact that what works for one family may not be ideal for another.

Formula can be used as your main source of feeding or as a supplement to be used along with breastfeeding. If you are choosing  to introduce formula to a breastfed baby to be used on a regular basis or to use the two interchangeably you should follow these simple, but important, rules:

  • You baby may refuse the bottle at first but it is important not to give up too right away.
  • Feed your baby held in an upright position for 10-20 minutes at a time. This will not only help mimic the breastfeeding experience but allow your baby to learn time cues for satiation as well. Ensuring that their systems learn to recognize the signs of fullness without overeating.
  • In the beginning, scheduled feedings won’t always work out the way you want them to. Instead of rigidly enforcing feeding times, go by your child’s hunger cues.
  • Be sure not to allow your child to guzzle from the bottle. Maintain a bottle feeding rhythm that is pretty close and consistent to breastfeeding. While bottle feeding, you should make pauses pretty frequently, these pauses resemble a mother’s let-down periods. This simple act keeps your baby from developing rigid preferences or experiencing nipple confusion.
  • Don’t force your baby to finish a bottle if they show signs of being finished. Releasing the nipple or falling asleep are both signs of satiation.
  • If you are interchanging breastfeeding and bottle feeding, avoid mixing the two in the same bottle. You can definitely follow one right after the other, even during the same feeding, but mixing the two can lead to a lot of needless waste.
  • Keep a close eye on your baby’s diapers after you introduce formula feeding. If you notice any blood in their vomit or stool, pause formula feeding and consult your doctor as this could be a sign of growing milk intolerance.

The rules are all pretty simple. All they really require is a close eye and lots of love, two things that you already give your baby anyway! The only thing left, is choosing the right formula to keep your little one satisfied. There are tons of options out there, which makes it super hard to make a decision. Naturally, you want only the best for your baby, and that is exactly why we recommend Parent’s Choice®. Filled with all of the nutrients available in other name brands, Parent’s Choice® offers the best possible formulas at a fraction of the cost.

Their amazing products include:

Parent’s Choice® Premium Powder Infant Formula

  • Value Size 35oz- Makes 65, 4 oz. bottles
  • Clinically proven to support growth and development  

Parent’s Choice® Advantage Tub Powder Stage 2 Formula

  • Value Size 35oz
  • Suitable for babies 6-12 months

Parent’s Choice® Sensitivity Canned Powder Infant Formula

  • Available in Value Size 33.2oz – Makes 59, 4oz bottles
  •  For fussiness & gas

Parent’s Choice® Gentle Infant Formula with Iron

  • Available in Value Size 33.2oz – Makes 60, 4 oz. bottles
  •  For fussiness, gas and crying

All of the Parent’s Choice® formulas are available exclusively at Walmart and have been since 1988. Their products, which range amazingly from a long line of baby formulas to toddler snacks, save savvy shoppers up to $600 a year in formula costs. All of their products are completely FDA compliant and are clinically proven to support growth and development. Parent’s Choice® is truly one of the best choices you can make for any formula feeding little one.

Jordyn Smith

Jordyn Smith

A city girl currently living it up in the south with my little family. I love baking, hoarding makeup, and daydreaming. If I'm not writing, I'm probably trying to think up weird pizza recipes or watching Property Brothers.
Jordyn Smith

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