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Sorry, opinionated strangers: Breast isn’t always best. Siobhan Rennie, a blogger from Australia, shared a photo of herself formula-feeding her 13-month-old daughter after a judgmental woman gave her the evil eye in the park for pulling out a bottle.
“I feel guilty every day that I’m not breastfeeding Aoife anymore. Because mum guilt is a HUGE B——H,” the mother of Aoife and son, Harry, 2, wrote in her November 15 Instagram post.
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Rennie went on to explain that she tried to breastfeed but had to stop because of postpartum depression and latching problems. “At 4 months we called it quits and it was such a painful decision,” she revealed. “Life definitely got easier, we were all a lot happier. But I still, 8 months on, think I gave up too easily. I didn’t, I know that, but I still can’t help being really hard on myself.”
The writer, who chronicles the highs and lows of parenting at her Me Oh My Mum blog, signed off with an empowering message. “The thing is, FED is best. Aofie was (and still is) more satisfied on the bottle,” she wrote. “It doesn’t matter how we feed our babies as long as it’s safe and they’re nourished and happy.”
Meanwhile, Rennie is in good company. In August, Haylie Duff opened up to Us Weekly about how she was forced to stop nursing after a bout with food poisoning wiped out her milk supply. “That was awful. It was really hard for me,” the mom of Ryan, 18 months, said. “I finally gave her a bottle of formula … and there was no turning back. You shouldn’t be ashamed to formula feed.”