Three Cheers for Breastmilk (aka Mom on Soapbox)

OK, I know you know I'm a big fan of the breastmilk (you may recall the "too much information" blog post regarding pumping...). This post is not meant to offend any formula users; I realize that formula has its merits, and that many moms cannot breastfeed. Today, though, whilst running, I was thinking about how glad I am that I was able to breastfeed, and all the reasons why it's been good:

• Washing and drying bottles is VERY irritating. Especially when one is avoiding BPA leaching by not using the dishwasher.
• Dan reported that James would get very frustrated when waiting on Dan to get a bottle ready. So add preparing bottles is frustrating.
• Breastmilk is very healthy; as we were told, James's RSV may have been MUCH worse if he was formula fed.
• It is free, and let's be honest, in this economy, and with just one salary, free is darn good.
• It makes for easy portability. When I had to run errands, no worries-- the milk was there, in no danger of spoilage.

Now, all of this comes to mind because now that James is eating "solids" (and that is an appropriate use of quotation marks; babyfood is hardly solid) there is more to consider: timing, bibs, food, spoons, chair, etc. For instance, yesterday we had a very lovely baby playdate at 10:00. I threw a spoon & a new (and therefore not in need of cooling) container of pear puree in James's bag, just in case. Well, good thing I did, because we were still there at 12:30, and James was hungry.

So were his baby friends who also had lunches packed. As they're older than James, they've already moved on to yogurt, and thus had insulated cooler bags for their lunch. Man. Such planning ahead needed!

It is very exciting to see James growing up. And I'm glad that he's eating foods (today he had applesauce for the first time) and enjoying it. I'm just saying that I now truly appreciate just how easy and convenient breastfeeding is!

Oh- and one more thing about milk. I've heard an interesting argument from more than one mom: they use formula because they cannot bear to see breastmilk being "wasted" when mixed with cereal (because it gets on bib, face, etc. and/or goes uneaten). Ok, I get the fact that breastmilk is priceless, but folks, it's PRICELESS... as in FREE. I'd rather let that go to "waste" than pay big bucks for formula to go down the drain...

Again, I don't mean to offend anyone. I'm just glad things worked out like they did for me. That's all.