So many times, formula is given as the solution to any breastfeeding bumps in the road...

• Baby wants to feed frequently

• Baby cries when put down

• Baby wakes at night

• Feeding parent is overwhelmed

• Baby seems unsettled

• Breastfeeding is uncomfortable

The list goes on...and you're told "just give them a bottle", "if we could feed the baby, you could have a break", "they're hungry. They need more. Give them a bottle"

Or the feeding parent themselves is panicking, worrying about supply or that responding to their baby with breastfeeding is creating bad habits and making their baby reliant...or other worries.

The reality?

• A very small proportion of breastfeeding mothers have a physiological problem limiting their supply.

• Babies are designed to feed little and often, day and night, with tiny tummies

• Babies don't just feed for hunger, but for thirst, comfort, regulation etc.

• Babies are carry mammals, designed to be carried close and upright, fed on demand and crying when put down (not wanting to be eaten by a lion)

• While breastfeeding is natural and is not meant to hurt when optimal, you are not failing if you and your baby need support to get to that optimal point!

• Breasts were designed to respond to a baby not a pump so if you pump to see how much you make, know it's probably not reflective of how much your baby gets

• Formula feeding doesn't guarantee more sleep or your baby needing you less

• Bottle/formula feeding also should be done optimally to avoid discomfort for your baby

• It's much easier to overfeed, and therefore create a vicious cycle of an uncomfortable and hungry baby via bottle-feeding

• Just because your baby accepts and downs a bottle....does not mean your milk isn't enough

• There are lots of other ways your support system can reduce overwhelm that do not involve feeding the baby

It is not your fault that society (advertising, social media, media etc.) Have sold the idea of a "good" baby sleeping all the time (in a bassinet/on their own) feeding on predictable schedules and needing to do it all yourself...

It's ok to ask for help.