Here in the United States on the other hand…
I do believe parents are well informed of sanitary bottle feeding and all the pros of breastfeeding. At least in my area. I was pressured in the begining by my own family to feed my first baby formula. I was formula fed. So was my mother. I had my first child at 20, and am now a mother to 3. I exclusivley breastfed my babies for the first 7 months before introducing organic baby food. I continued breastfeeding until 13-18 months each. My family believes that breastfeeding should be a thing of the past because we have enough money to buy formula. Oh, and seeing a woman wearing a squirming blanket and tiny baby feet beneath it is somehow offensive. I didn’t realize it was still the 1970′s…

Whatever reason mothers decide to breast or formula feed is a very personal decision that shouldn’t be judged by anyone.

I was just last weekend having a discussion with three of my close friends about infant feeding. They have one child each, and I have twins. Due to LOW SUPPLY and other issues (not a choice really), I had to supplement my twins with formula and then I was pretty much out of milk by 2 weeks. My twins are almost three. Neither child has ever had an ear infection or any other infection. One daughter had a fever once for an hour. The other daughter never had a fever but vomited one time only. No colds, coughs, runny noses. Height in the 99th percentile for both children, weight in the 50-60th%. Superior intelligence (documented). No allergies, asthma, autism, weird behaviour, etc.
My friends were absolutely astounded at my children’s health as their children have had numerous illnesses. My one friend who breast fed exclusively until a year – her son was hospitalized twice for serious infections during his first six months of life. My other friend’s son is always sick and was during the 8 months that she breastfed as well. Data point is, out of 5 kids, the 2 kids who were barely breastfed were the healthiest by far. So…what do you say to this? Oh yes, my niece had about 7 ear infections by age 2, and my coworker’s son was hospitalized with pneumonia during his first year – both exclusively breast fed!

Given these personal experiences, it’s hard for me to agree with Cassaundra that formula feeding is “dangerous” and “lethal”. Honestly, how about worrying about yourself and not being so outwardly nasty about others’ situations and choices? You don’t know and you don’t understand everyone’s individual circumstances.

I have also read that breastmilk “quality” goes down as a child grows and is finding nutrition in food as well as breastmilk, but that does not mean that there is still not huge benefits! It is still nutritious, just not as much as it was for a newborn, as nature has designed it. Toddlers benefit from breastmilk though, and it helps them from getting sick by passing on your immunities.