Yeah, please don’t try and guilt new moms into feeling bad if they have a hard time breast feeding, or can’t, or even don’t want to. Formula is perfectly fine and really makes the whole first year of child rearing way way way more manageable.

I have no stake in this, and I'm not trying to guilt anyone. Do what you need to.

The overall outcome is more important than any one factor. This applies to any activity, opportunity cost is always looming over us.

It looks like that applies to the studies too based on the parent's link - looking at just one factor finds some differences but then there's no overall difference by age 5. So that's definitely something I'll pay more attention to when the next headline rolls around.

A very small number of women genuinely don't produce enough milk. Most will produce enough but struggle to keep up for the first 10 or so days. Using formula in that period means they will never increase production enough.

Breastfeeding after that is way way easier than pissing around with powders and bottles.

>Breastfeeding after that is way way easier than pissing around with powders and bottles.

*Provided the mother isn't employed

The US really needs to have better maternity leave!

Breastfeeding is optimal for a baby. We are not responsible for hiding facts from mothers in order to manage their feelings of guilt.