I will, thanks for the suggestion!

I was right there with my first. I could not produce enough and I tried so hard. I felt like such a crap mom pumping and nursing and pumping and nursing all the time just for him to not be fed. When I finally had to come to grips with my limitations and go to all formula all I could think about was how much I was failing him. I have two others that I also had to formula feed, but I knew that would be the case and after going through it the first time I was mentally prepared.

My oldest is 15 now. He's bright, healthy, hilarious, kind and we are genuinely close. Not in some weird way either, he is social and has plenty of friends. He tells me about his life, we hang out all the time, I mean we are bonded. I feel bad when other parents get so excited that their teen chose to hang out with them because that's my normal. All of my kids are the picture of health, and all of them are super close to me, which were my two biggest fears. They're more than just fine and yours will be too!

Also you aren't failing, you're doing everything you can and your baby is getting everything they need from you. In fact by seeing how much you care I know that you are killing the mom thing. Big hugs, I know how hard it is.

I'm sure that's part of it. But we're still not past the shortages caused by them having to shut everything down months and months ago. It's rough having to rely on formula right now.

I am so sorry. Basic formula is outrageous but the hypo allergenic is insanely expensive.

That sounds like such a rough time. I'm glad your ped was able to at least help here and there.

I appreciate that! We actually got a Sam's memberships and a Costco membership just to open them up as options. It's been hit and miss (definitely way more miss) in store, but mostly they'll have stock online. It just takes a week to get here so we have to scramble trying to find enough to last. I'm sure we could buy a ton at once when they have it but other people need it too.

It's just frustrating. I'm sure you know better than me since you had a baby when the shortage was at it's worst. I'm glad you're through it!

I knew I likely wouldn't produce with this baby since I hadn't with the other two and a lot of people kept either pushing me to stock up or started trying to hoard for me. I wish folks would realize we're all trying to feed our babies and to just buy what they need in the moment so the next parent can do the same. I know it's good intentions but it's making things so much worse.

The assholes out there buying out stocks of it to turn a profit make me wish I could believe in God because they deserve a special place in Hell.

I'm so tired of all of this shit around formula I could scream. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they're recalling this instead of letting children get sick. But I'm a mom who can't breastfeed with a four month old I'm ready to rip my hair out. We use the most general and I would think common formula and we can't find it on the shelves half the time, I can't imagine what the moms who have to use plant-based are dealing with right now because that was hardly stocked as it was.

It just seems so absurd that it's this hard to feed our babies in the year 2023.

That's what fed is best means though.

Fed is best is a response to breast is best.

Right? I personally found the health benefits of my children not starving to death from my lack of milk production to be better than breast feeding.

My three kids have all been formula fed and they're bright, happy, healthy children. That said, it bothers me a lot that formula is marketed with claims about medical benefits that have never been scientifically proven. I am very much team fed is best, but lying about the health aspects when it comes to food for babies to turn a profit is vile.