I recently happened to come across a statement on social media where basically, someone had said that breastfeeding gives you more of a bond with your baby than formula feeding does. This is something which has irritated me before so I thought that now was about the right time to blog about it. I shouldn’t need to state, but this is not at all a dig at breastfeeding as I actually managed a few weeks myself, it’s purely the statement and the derivation of it.
With little man J, we didn’t take to breastfeeding, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t bond whilst feeding. I still remember it like yesterday, the way he used to stare into my eyes, and he used to hold hands whilst he was having his milk. Exactly the same as breastfeeding, yes? The only difference is, that he wasn’t physically ‘connected’ to me whilst feeding, with not being on my boob. (And Daddy gets to bond too).
I do understand that there is a special connection whilst breastfeeding as I had it with N. It does make you feel amazed, that you are feeding this little person with great Mummy milk, but apart from that, I didn’t feel much different than I did with J. In fact, it took me a little longer to bond with N as a lot of the time I used to dread feeding because of the struggles we had. I know this isn’t relevant to everyone though.
The bonding with N whilst feeding was different, but I wouldn’t say any more of a bond than with feeding J. N mostly used to grab my boob whilst feeding, sometimes we would hold hands, I don’t think he ever really stared into my eyes as he was mostly concentrating on boob.
From my experience, I believe that however you feed your baby, you will bond. (I also understand in certain circumstances that you may not). Whether that be by breast, expressed breast milk, donor milk, or formula. Because purely, you are feeding your baby and making them happy & healthy.
The bond surely comes from within, not the source.
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J bonding with Daddy, I couldn’t find a photo with me. |
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N bonding with Mummy. |