We’ve lost count of how many moms, while bottle feeding their babies, have said, “I wish I had breastfed my baby.” The good news is that it’s not too late. If your baby is still on the bottle, you can still breastfeed her.

Many young mothers have been misinformed when it comes to breastfeeding. They believe that once they have started bottle feeding, there is no going back to breast feed their babies. While it is true that breastfeeding is easiest if you start from the time baby is born and breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of baby’s life, it is NOT true that you can never breastfeed after you start bottle feeding.

All women lactate to one degree or another. Even women who have never been pregnant can often produce breast milk through induced lactation. Women produce more breast milk in response to increased stimulation of the breasts. Of course, it is easier for women who have recently had a baby, as the hormone levels in your body are already prepared for lactation. But it is possible for women with older babies, or even adoptive mothers, to breast feed their babies.

If your baby is less than a week old, you should be able to breastfeed him normally. Simply breastfeed him every two to three hours. If you are having trouble producing enough milk, use a breast pump regularly to increase your lactation.

If baby is older than a week old, you will want to use the breast pump every two to three hours until you are producing enough milk to feed your baby. This may take a while, but it is well worth your effort. Studies have repeatedly shown that breastfeeding provides tremendous benefits, both for moms and for their babies. The process of training your body to produce breast milk again like this is called relactation.

Of course, if your baby is used to bottle feeding, it may take some convincing to get her to try the breast. That’s OK. Don’t be afraid to keep trying, and don’t feel like you’ve failed if baby doesn’t take to it right away. Babies are sometimes hesitant about new things. She will eventually catch on if you consistently offer it to her.

Consider joining a breastfeeding support group or enlisting the help of a lactation coach. You will find that there are many people who are eager to help and encourage you in your efforts to breastfeed your baby.

If you listen to some breastfeeding advocates, you’d think that anyone who bottle feeds their baby is participating in some form of socially acceptable child abuse. Yes, it’s true that breastfeeding does have certain advantages. Some of those advantages aren’t nearly as prevalent as advocates might like you to believe, but no one will argue that breast milk is, on average, better for baby than formula.

Sometimes, however, a woman is either physically unable to breastfeed, or she may choose not to breastfeed for any number of reasons, which may be personal, cultural or social. If your baby is being bottle fed, it’s important to recognize some of the benefits:

Bottle feeding can be done by anyone, even dad. Yes, feeding time is a special time of bonding between mother and baby. But bottle feeding allows Dad to participate in that bonding time, as well. This also means that Dad can feed baby in the middle of the night sometimes, allowing Mom some much-deserved (and needed) rest

Formula has the addition of specific nutrients baby needs, such as iron and Vitamin D. Now, as long as a breastfeeding mom is getting enough of these nutrients, there’s no reason that breast milk won’t have them, too. However, formula insures that, no matter what your diet consists of, your baby is getting what he needs.

Babies also take longer to digest formula than they do breast milk. From a practical perspective, this means that your baby is going to feel more full and be more satisfied for longer between feedings. A breastfed baby might need to be fed every 2 hours or so, while a bottle fed baby may need to be fed every 3 or 4 hours. This is especially useful at night, allowing parents to get longer stretches of sleep.

These benefits don’t suggest that anyone should choose bottle feeding over breastfeeding. What we’re saying is that, if you’re unable to breast feed or choose not to, you don’t have to feel guilty, and that there may be a handful of advantages.

Breastfeeding can be a challenge for some moms. There are many different things that can interfere with breastfeeding, from a fluctuating milk supply to cracked nipples to engorgement. Fortunately, there is help for a woman who wants to breast feed in the form of herbs. There are a variety of herbal uses that can help a mom breastfeeding.

Some of these herbs help to increase the supply of breast milk that a mom supplies. Some of the most common of these are alfalfa, blessed thistle and fenugreek. These are a category of herbs known as “galactagogues,” which is a fancy way of saying that they help a woman to build her breast milk supply for breastfeeding.

Other herbs are designed to help when it’s time to wean your baby from breastfeeding. These herbs, such as sage and parsley, help to tell your body to decrease the supply of milk. This lets your baby know that it’s time to start moving to other types of food, because he can’t get as much milk from you.

Some herbs will help with breastfeeding discomforts. Ask any mother who has breastfed, and she can tell you that it can be truly painful. Whether you’re talking about the pain that comes from the pressure of engorgement or whether you’re talking about sore and cracked nipples, it can be pretty severe. Black tea leaves as well as cabbage leaves can help with sore nipples. Some herbs that can help include calendula blossoms, marshmallow root, and plantain. These herbs are available in cream format, or you can use them in a hot breast compress.

While not all of these herbal remedies will work the same for every woman, the fact is that many women have experienced significant relief from the struggles and pains of breastfeeding just by using some of these few simple herbs.

When it comes to baby issues, few can inspire such passion and excitement from both sides of the discussion than breastfeeding. Women who advocate for breast feeding cite the many possible benefits of breastfeeding, from increased immunity to disease to overall better nutrition and growth. There are some women who are tremendously zealous in this regard, who believe that if you don’t breast feed you’re doing terrible harm to your baby.

Because of this vocal advocacy, women who are physically unable or who do not wish to breast feed may feel a certain degree of pressure from those that think they should breast feed. In some cases, that pressure can lead to feelings of guilt or inadequacy.

You need to understand something, however. Breastfeeding is a decision that only you can make. It’s not up to someone in the La Leche League to decide whether or not you should breast feed. It’s not up to your doctor, even. it’s a decision that you should make. The only other person that might have some say about the issue is your partner, but in the end the decision is really up to you.

You also need to understand something else. Babies who are breastfed can, and usually do, grow to be normal, healthy, happy babies. There are a thousand other risk factors that can cause harm to your baby that are more significant and, quite frankly, much more dangerous than not breastfeeding.

You also need to realize that formula provides many different options to families. If your baby is lactose intolerant, there are of course soy-based formula products that you can use. If your baby has other allergies, there are formulas that are more sensitive for those sensitive bellies. You have plenty of options, options that you don’t actually have if you’re breast feeding.

Don’t let someone with an agenda make you feel bad about something you don’t want to do as a parent. Make your decisions, and make informed decisions, but know that they’re your decisions to make.

The benefits of breastfeeding your baby exclusively for the first six months of her life have been highly publicized. Most of us know that it is the healthiest thing for babies to eat, and that it helps their immune systems, among other things. However, what you might not know is that breast feeding also has a number of significant health benefits for moms. Here are some of the main ones:

• Breastfeeding your baby reduces your chances of postpartum hemorrhaging.
• Beast feeding mothers do not resume their typical menstrual cycle again as quickly as mothers who don’t breastfeed. Breastfeeding mothers often don’t have a menstrual period for several months, whereas bottle feeding moms typically start menstruating again in 6 to 8 weeks. The natural benefit for breast feeding mothers is a form of natural birth control, helping to space pregnancies.
• Mothers who breast feed are less likely to be anemic. This is in part due to the delayed return of menstruation.
• The metabolic processes involved in breastfeeding are, frankly, good exercise. You will burn between 200 and 500 calories per day lactating. Alternately, you could swim 30 laps in a swimming pool, which offers about the same calorie burn.
• Breastfeeding has been shown to have benefits for mothers with diabetic conditions.
• Breastfeeding now can stave off osteoporosis later. Studies have shown that women who breast fed their children have stronger, denser bones than women who did not breast feed children.
• Certain cancers, notably ovarian and breast cancer, seem to be less prevalent in women who have breast fed their children.

Of course, all of this says nothing of the emotional benefits of breastfeeding your baby. Studies have also shown that women are less likely to suffer from postpartum depression while breastfeeding their babies. Mothers also benefit from the unique closeness that breastfeeding offers moms and their babies. This often results in lower anxiety levels and enhanced feelings of connectedness between mother and child.

This also says nothing of the financial benefits of breast feeding. Not only do breast feeding mothers save the expense of formula, but studies show that they may also save their families a good deal of money in medical bills, as babies who are breast fed tend to become sick considerably less often.