Everyone's different

We've had relatives in town for the last 10 days.  Two out of the three of families stayed with us.  Each has a baby.  I was struck by all their different feeding choices and how each one works for them.

One of the famlies has a little girl who just turned one last month.  She is still nursing but also supplementing with formula and water, and solid food of course.  In fact her mom had to go home for a week to work.  She pumped and fed ex'ed her milk up twice during the time she was gone.  When she came back she said she didn't like having to pump so much but would also miss nursing.  I asked her how long she'll nurse for.  She told me she's in it for two years but will take the cue from her little one.  If her little girl decides to wean herself earlier, that's fine, she said.

Family # 2: They have a four-month old.  They tried beastfeeding but pretty fast had to supplement with formula, and now are formula only.  They are fine about it.  It works for them and has made their lives alot less stressful.

The last family has a six-month old.  The mom breastfed for a while, but they too moved to formula.  Their little girl may be lactose intolerant and has digestive problems (nothing serious thankfully).  They moved to soy formula but she even struggled with that.  So now they're on a specialized formula and very grateful that there is such a thing.  Their little girl is doing great.

Three famlies, three little girls, three different feeding choices.  All three girls are thriving and have those very delicious chubby-looking thighs that you just want to eat!