“Fed is best” is a quote often used when it comes to how a newborn gets his or her nutrition. Sometimes breastfeeding isn’t an option for some moms.
And sometimes moms simply don’t want to breastfeed and make formula their first choice. As country singer and actress Jana Kramer revealed on her and her husband Mike Caussin‘s podcast, Whine Down, that she tried breastfeeding with her first child but it didn’t work out.
Jana Kramer Opens Up About Decision Not to Breastfeed
Kramer and Caussin have two children together, 4-year-old Jolie and 1-year-old Jace. The mom of two explained that when Jolie was born, she gave breastfeeding a shot but knew immediately it wasn’t for her.
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She admitted that she only tried it because it was important to Caussin. “But it was really important to Mike so I said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna try.'” However, not only was breastfeeding not her priority, but it wasn’t easy for her either.
“[But] my milk didn’t come in and then they wanted me to supplement and they wanted me to pump, and it was so stressful. I was just crying and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, my baby lost even more weight than she should’ve.'” Kramer continued:
“I had no desire. I wasn’t breastfed. I didn’t feel like I had to have that connection with my baby. Personally, I don’t like my nipples being touched. I don’t like it. I don’t want someone sucking on ’em.”
Kramer said despite her milk eventually coming in, they decided to stick with using formula. “I remember getting so much shame and so much hate.” She felt the shame once more when they welcomed their second child into world, Jace, and after starting him on formula, he contracted RSV.
“He got [Respiratory Syncytial Virus] when he was just a couple weeks old and everyone was just like, ‘Breast is best, this is how he’s not gonna get sick,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God, they’re right. If my kid ends up getting worse, it’s because of me, because I didn’t breastfeed.'”
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After being upset with herself and enlisting her girlfriends to help her try pumping, it was her husband who helped her realize Jace’s illness was not her fault. Caussin told her as long as Jace gets the nutrients he needs, he was “going to be healthy one way or the other.”
As Kramer said in the past, “Let’s not feel like we have to defend our decision. Let’s just be the best moms that we are.”
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