Baby's Best Interest?

I saw an article the other day on a website I frequent. Basically, it was about a new mom who CHOSE to not breastfeed. Her reasons were because she wanted to return to a "normal" life as soon as possible. Her article went on saying that she shouldn't feel peer pressure to breastfed or feel guilty for making this choice.

I thought about this and thought that every woman has a choice to breastfeed or not. I know several women who are good close friends who have tried to breastfeed and just couldn't for one reason or another. A lot of times I think those situations could have been fixed so that she could continue to breastfeed, but they just switched to formula. While I don't agree with this, it is every woman's right to make that choice. The biggest problem I have with this article is that her reason for not breastfeeding is to return to a normal life.

First, I don't know what she considers a normal life, but now that she has a child, that is her life. It will NOT be the same as before. Guaranteed. I wouldn't trade my life now for the life I had before Noah, not for anything. I love my life now. But it's definitely different.

Second, and more importantly, why would she not be thinking of her child and what is best for him/her?

I've decided this second issue is the base for a lot of why I don't understand why other parents do what they do or don't do. Everything single thing since the second I got pregnant (probably even before then), I did with the intention of doing the best thing I could for my child. Of course, some things I had to weigh out the pros and cons of doing something, but in the end, my thought is "how will this affect my child". He is #1 in my world and everything I do revolves around him.

I'm not saying you should just let yourself go and never think of yourself. I think every mom needs some alone time and some time to refresh. I also think that every mom and dad needs their own time together to reconnect and keep the marriage alive.

Also, just because me and another mom are both thinking of our children equally as much when making decisions doesn't mean we will come to the same result. For example, I chose daycare for Noah while another mom who is trying to make the best decision for their child may choose an in home daycare or may choose to stay at home. All of these are good decisions as long as you are thinking of the child's best interests.

Back to the article, I don't think she considered breast milk or what that can do for her child at all when making her decision, which is why I think she is making a bad decision. So I will end this post with this: If you are making a decision about parenting your child and your child is not the center of your decision making process, then you are probably making the wrong decision.