CONTENTS :
- Breast or bottle, why is the subject so divisive?
- Breastfeeding or bottle-feeding: breaking the chains of guilt
- Making the best choice for baby and mother
- Choosing a nursing bottle for your child
When your child is born (and even before), you're faced with many choices. Choosing between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding is one of them, right from the start. A subject of intense debate, this question, however intimate, combines personal history, social pressure, contradictory injunctions and judgments, all too often forgetting what really counts: the happiness of both mother and child. In fact, feeding your baby is also about cultivating a solid, fulfilling family bond, whatever method you choose. So, breast-feeding or bottle-feeding? Above all, express your love without feeling guilty.
Breast or bottle, why is the subject so divisive?
The benefits of breast milk are real and undeniable. Easy to digest, rich in nutrients, adapted to the needs of babies of different ages... Breastfeeding is also the source of a unique intimacy and symbiosis between mother and infant. But breastfeeding is also described as painful and constraining, hard on the breasts, very tiring and not always sufficiently nourishing for the child.
Bottles, on the other hand, enable you to know exactly how much milk your baby is drinking, to enjoy a more regular feeding/sleeping rhythm, and to introduce shared breastfeeding between both parents. However, they are often criticized for being made from plastic, and for using powdered milk, which is still often criticized and expensive.
While there are advantages and disadvantages to both, after decades of praise for the bottle, the ball is now in the other court. For some years now, the glorification of the nurturing breast has been on the march again. Even before leaving the maternity ward, mothers are asked to make a choice. A decision that many of them report as not being all that free and respected.
Feeding with tenderness: a dance of shared emotions
Sharing a bottle means feeding your baby and nurturing his or her senses at the same time. A tender alternative to breastfeeding, the bottle combines infant milk or breast milk, maternal love and paternal love. It allows the whole family, from siblings to grandparents, to take part in the intimate, fusional moment that is baby's meal.
How many fathers discover their newborns and their little expressions when they give their first bottles? How many feel the power of the father-child relationship? These first exchanges give rise to the notions of sharing, support and responsibility that form the basis of family life for the three of us.
And yet, while the French Ministry of Health advocates - as does the WHO - exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, there are many who denounce bottle-feeding above all as a comfortable choice for mothers.
Symbiotic breastfeeding: a passionate love embrace
Breastfeeding is an incredible sensory journey, during which intimacy and connection are established as naturally and instinctively as possible. From the softness of skin-to-skin contact, to glances, smells, caresses and whispers, breastfeeding is an intimate and positive experience that goes far beyond the nutritional benefits for the newborn and the benefits for the mother.
At the same time, breastfeeding can be a real challenge. Lack of milk, baby's positioning, sleepless nights, mom's diet, breastfeeding in public... Some even call it antifeminist.
Breastfeeding or bottle-feeding: breaking the chains of guilt
"Whether at home or in the maternity ward, the question is on everyone's lips: "Are you going to breastfeed? "Breastfeeding is better for your baby" "You should breastfeed him instead, it's so convenient" "Babies prefer breast milk" "What do you mean you can't get him to the breast?" "Why, don't you like breastfeeding?"
It's true that breastfeeding can be practical and even economical, pleasant, easy or even magical, but above all it has to be your choice.
The baby bottle has been seen as an object of liberation for women, capable of giving them back the freedom of their bodies and their time, and then as a dangerous object, home to microplastics. Infant milk, too, has long been criticized for its poor quality.
Today, new mothers can speak out more freely on subjects such as birth, childbirth, the post-partum period and breastfeeding, making it easier for them to make their own choices and take responsibility for them. The quality of milk powders has improved, while Élhée has chosen to develop a healthy, sensory bottle, a unique combination of sensitivity and safety.
However, all these (op)questions led mothers and parents to doubt their own judgement, and many mothers saw their self-confidence eroded. Even today, this painful situation leads to sudden, often difficult breastfeeding, and to mothers feeling increasingly guilty about their babies.
What if kindness were the key? What if listening only to oneself and one's instincts could alleviate doubt and guilt? There's no doubt that every parent nurtures their child with their own love, and that they do so ever more freely and with greater peace of mind.
Society and maternity, the weight of shame
Society's view of mothers and motherhood can be demanding and overwhelming. Idealized expectations often surround the new mother, especially when it comes to breastfeeding, sometimes presented as the ultimate way to show love, attention and devotion.
This pressure, exerted in the form of recommendations, advice, opinions and sometimes criticism, creates a gulf between the imaginary and the actual practice of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is presented as simple and natural? Yet it's normal and common to experience difficulties with suckling, fatigue or expressing milk. A situation that can lead to shame and guilt at any time, especially for mothers for whom breastfeeding is not an easy task.
Because every family is unique, the choice to breastfeed or bottle-feed is an intimate, personal decision that should never be influenced.
The breast war
Society still too often pits the image of the mother devoted to her children against that of the liberated woman who lives selfishly from her mother's womb to her carnal womb. This conflict is particularly evident when it comes to choosing whether or not to breastfeed. Those who opt for bottle-feeding may be reproached for putting their image (breast-feeding can damage the breasts), their attractiveness and their freedom before their child's well-being.
Maternal well-being and child well-being, all too often pitted against each other
While breastfeeding has many physiological benefits for both mother and child, on a psychological level it can also be a source of stress. Fear of doing it wrong, fear that the baby won't get enough milk or gain enough weight, lack of time...
Breastfeeding should always be a moment of gentleness and sharing between mother and baby. If it causes anguish or suffering, then bottle-feeding may be more appropriate. Particularly since breast pumps enable you to continue giving breast milk even if you've chosen to bottle-feed.
Too often, women are asked to become mothers as soon as their child is born. But motherhood is a learning process, and anyone who expresses an opinion on a young mother's choice to breastfeed or bottle-feed is intruding on her privacy, without always being authorized to do so.
Follow your instincts and aim for harmony
Beyond outside opinions, it's essential to take the time to think, to feel, to listen and to recognize your own needs. When it comes to feeding your baby, the emotional connection between parent and baby is essential, and just as strong with a bottle as it is with breastfeeding.
Respecting women and listening to mothers
At the heart of the debate between breastfeeding and bottle-feeding, and the choice of the best option for newborns, it's vital not to forget mothers. The decision to breastfeed should never be taken under influence, while the choice of bottle-feeding should never be seen as an easy solution or a way of detaching oneself from one's child.
On the contrary, respecting your own choice means showing kindness to yourself and to your baby. Because the most important thing is the love and care a mother shows her child, whatever feeding method she chooses.
Making the best choice for baby and mother
In 2016, the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool carried out a survey of 845 mothers of children up to 26 weeks old, looking at maternal feelings about breastfeeding and mixed breast and bottle feeding: 15% of respondents said they felt guilty about their choice, 38% felt stigmatized by it and 54.5% felt the need to justify it.
It's a complex situation, which just goes to show how important it is for mothers to enjoy a free and respected choice. It's the only choice likely to be a good one.
Do you want to start breastfeeding and then see what happens? Are you dreaming of prolonged breastfeeding? Does mixed breastfeeding appeal to you? Do you want to bottle-feed from birth, or just after the welcome feed?
Your choice is and will remain the right one. If you live it well, your child will live it well too. Remember that babies are sponges. A radiant, calm mother is far more beneficial to them than a stressed one, whether she's breast-feeding or bottle-feeding.
Choosing a nursing bottle for your child
At Élhée, we've made the choice to promote motherhood and, more broadly, free and uninhibited parenthood.
At a time when bottle-feeding is still not a trivial act, we have imagined and developed a bottle that every parent can use without fear and with pride, whether or not they are breast-feeding their child.
Healthy, BibRond is made from medical-grade silicone, free from chemical compounds and microplastics. Almost as soft and supple as mom's breast, BibRond offers a unique peach-skin feel. Equipped with physiological and anti-colic teats with slow, medium or fast flow rates, BibRond adapts to the palate and the baby's appetite.adapts to babies' palates and appetites. Iconic, our breastfeeding bottle accompanies your family in its daily life and in its choices.
As a breastfeeding relay, to soften the weaning period, to practice mixed breastfeeding for two, because you're pumping your milk or simply to bottle-feed your newborn, BibRond Élhée is by nature an ode to the parent-child relationship.
Les biberons Élhée accompagneront votre bébé de la naissance jusqu'à 24 mois et plus, pour lui permettre une parfaite autonomie, sans risque de casse.
Découvrir notre gamme
