Formula-Less

after exactly 6 years of living with formula milk and many, many avent, i am so relieved to finally put an end to the bottle phase. our journey with formula milk was full of ups and downs - some easy, some difficult, some frustrating, some full of sigh moments.

when i was pregnant with amir, i read up on breastfeeding. i think majority of mothers strive to breastfeed their children, whether they succeed or fail is another matter altogether. i tried with amir but, unfortunately, i couldnt. amir was born with a tooth - it was painful. he could latch properly making it double painful. i remember i was down with a terrible fever due to engorgement because i couldnt feed and couldnt express. after 2 weeks i gave up.

choosing a formula for amir wasnt an easy process either. because i was determined to breastfeed, i didnt even research on formula. during the first week, hubby and i were like madmen looking for formula for amir. we bought a few and it gave amir rashes, diarrhoea and he threw up a lot. we went to see his peadiatrician who found out amir regurgitates and recommended enfalac AR. good news as amir took on to the formula with absolutely no problem. not only we found a formula that's ok for amir, we were also introduced to the enfa range that stayed with us throughout.

when asyraf came, it was breastfeeding 101 all over again. this time it was easier. asyraf was easy to feed but he was not an easy baby. i had a terrible time, mentally and physically, during my confinement and after a month, i just could not continue breast feeding. asyraf was needy and clingy and moody and colic and cries a lot. i could not go through sleepless nights and the constant cuddle. i apologised to him and started him on formula. we gave him the same formula as amir, enfalac AR. but this time enfalac's cost doubled. they had started a new range of this ++ business.

i was cheesed off, i mean fine if you want to have a new range, i'm all for research and development but there was no reason to stop the 'normal' range. we had no problem with it. i stayed with enfa during asyraf's first year because asyraf was sensitive but once he turned a year old (and when ariff was born) i threw out everything with the name enfa and settled for dugro instead - cheaper and no problem for the boys.

for ariff, i just gave up on breastfeeding totally. the same goes for akmal. i just couldnt go through it anymore. while ariff was 'easy' and would go along with anything, akmal spits his milk. so no dugro for him and back to enfalac AR. luckily it only lasted only 6 months then it was dugro for him as well.

stopping formula was another matter. for amir, it was an overnight success. i remember bringing bottles and cans to gold coast when amir was around 19-20 months and he absolutely refused to drink. that was the beginning of the end of formula for amir. for asyraf, he was attached. extremely attached and loved his bottles. he could drink 2-3 times a night and 4-5 times a day. he was still on formula when akmal was born, at that time asyraf was 28 months. i remember he stopped a bit after akmal was born, before he turned 2 & half years old. ariff's goodbye to formula was like amir's, it wasnt a big deal and it was like he just stopped one fine day and didnt look back.

now its akmal. other than his spitting phase, akmal's feeding wasnt difficult. he was always on the clock - once every 4 hours. then he started drinking less and and maintained 3-4 feed a day with no night feed once he was a year old. a few months after that he was on 2 bottles a day and can do without a bottle before going to sleep. travelling is much easier and we only need to bring the milk container and 1 bottle. not only he drinks only 2 bottles a day, each feed only contains 2 scoops of formula.

when we were in langkawi, i brought akmal's bottle & formula, but he didnt once drink. it was a concious decision to stop and we would distract him everytime he looked like he wanted a bottle. once he went back to school, i stopped putting his bottles in his bag and that was it, no more formula for him.

i know a lot of people keep going 'kesian...kesian' but its ok. akmal eats a lot, he can finish a whole plate of an adult's portion of nasi goreng, he munches on biscuits and eats a gardenia bun every morning before breakfast and another in the evening. to me, formula is a supplement. if akmal is well-fed, why would be need formula to supplement his food intake. he also drinks a lot of fresh milk, so he's got his daily calcium. now instead of avent in his school bag, akmal's got a box of dutch lady fresh milk.

for those worriwarts, calm down - my boys are growing healthily without formula. they still have their daily milk intake. i think its better giving fresh milk and plain water on a daily basis, than giving formula and cordial and fizzy drinks and vitagen and tea. i think those kids should be 'kesian'ed more than my boys. funny - asal no formula je kesian but giving formula to cover the fact that the child is given every other drinks in the world, ok pulak.

so...goodbye formula and bottles...hello fresh milk boxes...