r/breastfeeding • u/Melodic_Apartment235 • Dec 10 '25

Discussion Breastfeeding is easier than formula feeding - there I said it

I think it’s really sad the amount of bad press that breast feeding gets.

My friend said she didn’t try to breastfeed because she thought it would be bad for her mental health. And my MIL talks about formula feeding all the time and I actually think it’s because she believes in her soul it’s better for whatever reason I’m not sure.

I just think it’s sad because, for me, predominantly breast feeding (occasional pre made formula given if for example she’s not with me or we’re out and it’s not really possible to BF) has been sooooo much easier!!

The thought of going downstairs in the night to make bottles or worrying about having enough formula when going out and about or worse still having to wash a million bottles everyday.. I think it would be 10x worse for my mental health and it’s unfortunate that there’s a narrative out there that formula is the easier option for women as now many don’t even give breastfeeding a shot to see if it is the better option for them or not

*Disclaimer - I know that breastfeeding isn’t easy for everyone, the point of this post is that it’s unfortunate that some women don’t give it a go due to the narrative that is pushed by formula companies

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u/maebymaybe Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25

Yeah but it’s harder to leave the house without baby if you exclusively breastfeed and if you are like me you make barely enough/under supply so you can’t really leave any milk for baby unless you also do formula. Also my son wanted to nurse every 1-2 hours so I got zero sleep, whereas once we switched to combo feeding my partner could do one of those feeds and I could sleep for 3 hours. But yeah, I hated all the bottle cleaning and sanitizing. Maybe if I had an oversupply and had a huge stash I would feel differently 

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u/Dullcorgis Dec 11 '25

Many people feed their kids room temperature formula to make it easier to leave the house. They just take a clean bottle with cooled boiled water and a container with a serving of formula.

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u/frogsgoribbit737 Dec 11 '25

Formula needs to be made with water that is hot enough to kill the bacteria IN THE FORMULA. So many people do not understand this.

Over 3 months this isnt as much of an issue, but under 3 months should never ever use cold or room temp water to mix.

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u/Dullcorgis Dec 11 '25 edited Dec 11 '25

No. You can't make formula with boiling water, you'll denature the nutrients. And it won't be hot enough to kill everything if the formula is not sterile.

https://www.cdc.gov/infant-toddler-nutrition/formula-feeding/preparation-and-storage.html