I was fed formula. I have no allergies.
this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2026
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Fed is best.
If you can breastfeed, that's fantastic! But don't be ashamed if you're struggling to produce milk, it's quite common and you shouldn't avoid formula out of fear. It's far worse for a baby to go hungry!
I produced enough milk for the entire country but the midwife winced when she saw the cracks. Yes, nipples can crack, people.
It's like a baby tooth. Put it under your pillow and you'll have a suprise in the morning!
Following your logic, we should also only eat non processed meat and vegetables. Goodbye Kraft Mac and cheese, sodas, etc. Because compounds.
Breast is best except when it isn’t. (Supply issues come into play, some babies don’t latch, soreness, etc can all happen). Fed is always going to be best and you do what you can. We had three with all different experiences. No differences we can tell years later.
Following their logic we should just starve to death because chemicals and compounds...aka everything we eat, drink, and breathe.
Formula is a lot better than it was a few decades ago. While breast is best for a variety of reasons (immunity support and bonding foremost) if for any reason you can't, formula is perfectly fine, even if it's only formula, and there's not going to be any long-term problems because of it.
That’s because breastmilk has all the nutrients to strengthen immunity later in life for a child. There is a difference between breastmilk and powdered milk: since formula is composed of numerous chemicals (it’s made from compounds) while breastmilk is from the mother.
Nutrients are chemicals
Shit, water is a chemical
Imagine my shock when I found out companies were putting dihydrogen monoxide into all my beverages!
The answer to the question in your title is yes. The answer to the question in your last sentence is also yes. Have a nice day.
Breastmilk is also made up of numerous chemicals. Chemicals are not bad, we are made of chemicals.
Kid #1 was exclusively formula fed due to a milk protein allergy. Kid #2 was exclusively on the breast. They are in elementary school now, surrounded by germs. No noticable difference between how often they get sick.
In the end, a formula fed baby was far less stressful for us. No worries about feeding or pumping schedules. No worries about if they are getting enough. With infants, a calm and non-stressed parent is best.
That's a sample size of 2.
Study after study has shown that breast milk, if possible (so e.g. not in the case of kid #1), is better than formula.
Statistically it is better. The data is often decades old and shows more pronounced results in the developing world. But how much is it actually better in actual numbers? I did not find them in 5 minutes.
Okay I need to go to bed, I thought this was a response to "who is your favorite South African artist" and I got really confused
Oh, if that's the question, David Koloane.
At least I'll give myself the defense that the posts were back to back for me, haha
We had 3, and each time Mom was unable to produce milk. She tried every time, because free milk is better than paying for it, but it just wouldn't happen.
All three came out perfectly healthy. The first two were dubbed "gifted", the third probably would be if she gave a fuck about school.
There are differences in favor of breastfeeding. You can look them up if you care to. However encouraging breastfeeding has killed babies when mothers tried to force it despite the below making it impossible. Thus fed is best applies even though breast feeding is better - the difference is stastically there but not that much.
However breastfeeding is hard! Most don't appreciate how hard it is in the modern world. It was 'designed for a world where mom was never more than a few steps from babp. Women's work is historically (acoup.blog has a whole series on this) defined as the work mom can do while breastfeeding and thus mens work is anything that can't.
modern offices don't allow for mom to take the baby to work every day. Many have private spaces to pump which can work, but not well. Problem is you need to manage supply which is hard to do correctly. also when mom gets home they want to switch to breastfeeding but baby is used to the bottle and doesn't suck hard enough to get fed. It is too easy to give up on the whole thing because it is so hard.
on top of that formula makers are sending free formula samples those first hard months - use those a just a couple times in a row and mom dries up forever. (Or until next baby)
finally not all mothers have nutrious milk, some babies histrically died because mother was porducing 'water' not milk. Also some babies are allergic to milk. These are both rare cases overall but they happen.
We tried breast with our first, and it was very hard. With our second we didn’t try at all, formula all the way. It was a lot easier, especially emotionally
It's been a decade since I had to worry about such things. I remember reading that breast milk is - when available and plentiful - the preferred method. Formula is always second best. But this is a numbers game and I think the lab coats don't say formula child will suffer consequence A as a result. It's always there is a 5% higher chance of catching this or that (and I pulled that number out of thin air). But this is the margins I think I read about when it mattered.
Child #1 got supplemented with formula 60/40 at first; child #2 never had formula. Child #2 has spent more time in pediatricians' waiting rooms. It's a numbers game where you can do everything "right" and still not "win." Big air quotes on those terms.
If you are a new parent or are about to become one and you're reading this thread and you're freaking out: please take a deep breath. You'll figure this out.
There is a significant body of evidence that the sugars in breast milk help initialize the immune system of the child. So its probably more beneficial while being equally nourishing.
I have to wonder what your angle is here?
I'm sure you've googled this and seen that there's a lot of solid science indicating that kids raised exclusively on formula are at no disadvantage.
Breast milk isn't necessarily better just because it's natural. If mum has any nutritional deficits, or drinks coffee, takes medications, alcohol, et cetera.
I think breast is the better choice. The big risk of formula is watering it down so baby isn't getting enough calories/nutrients.