I’ve been pumping milk for Baby E from the beginning (due to him being a preemie and could not breastfeed). After he came home, I tried to put him to the boob occasionally, but he would get so frustrated that I decided it was more important that he get my milk somehow than the actual method.

Anywhoo, since coming home from the NICU at around two weeks old, he’s had a little problem with having some blood in his poops. It’s been on and off, and the usual culprit is an intolerance to dairy from my diet. I’ve been trying to cut dairy out, but there have been a couple of times where the effort got screwed up (like the pizza at our belated shower at work and the salad that had shaved parmesan that my husband brought home the other night). So in six or so weeks, as much as I’ve worked to cut out dairy from m diet, something messes it up and I basically have to start over. It’s frustrating, obviously.

I’ve been pondering switching over to formula to alleviate this problem (if it is, in fact, a dairy intolerance). I keep mentioning it to my husband, and he keeps fighting me on it. I understand the financial impact of breast milk versus formula. The stuff is not cheap, especially what I would get (organic), whereas breast milk is practically free. The only cost was the breast pump. I need to ask him if this is the only reason he’s so against formula; I find it hard to believe that he believes in breast is best. Unless, of course, he’s secretly read up on all things breast milk. (Unlikely.)

While I do agree that breast is best, there’s just so much that goes into providing it for Baby E. One, I pump, so it’s not as convenient as flipping down my shirt and feeding my son. I have to prepare bottles, clean bottles, pump at all hours during the day (for 20 minutes each) … not to mention watching my diet due to the possible dairy intolerance. We’re talking taking milk, cheese, butter, and other hidden dairy ingredients in many foods out of my diet. I’m OK with taking out milk; I’ve never been a milk drinker, only using it for cooking. Butter and cheese have been hard; thankfully there are dairy-free “butter” spreads, but I’ve noticed that even soy cheeses contain casein, which is a no-no.

I’ve just been walking the line between milk and formula, and I get irritated when people push breast milk exclusively. It’s like as if millions of infants who grew up with formula are all deranged because formula is so evil. The more people do this, the more they’re pushing me toward the side of formula. Go figure, it’s the anti-authority side of me.

Filed by Maria in baby