The Sewing Mom

Okay, this isn’t about sewing, but it is about family and family finances which affect all of us. I’ve had an extremely stress filled week and so, while sitting down doing some reading in an effort to relax, I ran across a press release discussing the benefits of breast feeding an infant. Please keep in mind, what I write here are my own words and opinions, but the press release just got me thinking and I thought I would share.

I believe that most people would agree that breast feeding is the most nutritional and most economical way for new mothers to feed their infant children. Of course, it does require the mother to be healthy, eat healthy foods and stay hydrated so that the breast milk she produces is in fact nutritional for the baby. It is economical because there is no baby formula to buy, or very little as some moms do choose to supplement breast feeding with baby formula. In fact, the press release I read stated that there is a potential annual savings of $2,000 simply by not purchasing baby formula! Now, all that said and done, there are certainly women who, for one reason or another, are unable to breast feed and must use baby formula in order to provide their infant a healthy, nutritious meal.

The press release also went on to provide information on WIC, a federal agency that provides food, nutrition counseling, and access to health services to low-income women, infants, and children. You see, WIC has come out with a new package it is offering which encourages breast feeding. How does it do this? Well, the new WIC package apparently is offering less money for the purchase of baby formula than it has in the past, %13 less in fact to those who either do both breast feeding and formula feeding or to those who do only formula feeding. I understand if they are trying to encourage breast feeding, but I’m a bit nervous about how this could impact those low income mothers who may be, for whatever reason, unable to breast feed. If they have less money to purchase baby formula, how will they feed their children? I’m hoping that WIC decides to look at these women on a case by case basis and not leave them with their children going hungry.

The good news, besides possibly seeing an increase in breast feeding among new moms, is that if a parent does need to purchase baby formula, all formulas have to meet the exact same FDA standards, so purchasing the generic brand will get you the same quality baby formula that paying a higher price will get you. So, anyone, whether or not they receive anything from the WIC agency, can feel confident that they are giving their infant the best, most nutritional formula on the market, no matter which brand they buy.

Well, these are just my thoughts, what do you think?

I can’t believe it, but our granddaughter turned 2 this past week! She is the cutest little girl ever and I am looking forward to getting to see her again soon. Her parents had a huge birthday party for her, over 40 people! My step-daughter was even asking me questions about party etiquette and I told her that we have never had that size of a party for our own daughter who is now 13. When our daughter turned 2, it was just the 3 of us celebrating together with a cake I had made for the day!

It’s funny the choices we all make, how they can be so very different. I do believe though, that as parents, no matter what decisions we make for our children, we have their best interests at heart. I recall a very difficult decision I had to make when our daughter was little and that involved what to feed her. My husband had been laid off from his job and so we were on a very tight budget and I was always having to find ways to save money, but I didn’t want money to be a deciding factor in what to feed our baby. I know my daughter-in-law went through the same difficult decision just 2 years ago.

There are so many baby formula choices. Thankfully, Consumer Reports recommends buying store-brand formulas because they are nutritionally comparable to Enfamil® LIPIL® and other name-brand formulas. They’ve also said that the store brand of formula at a local Wal-Mart (Parent’s Choice) cost 50 percent less per ounce than a leading national brand. So, not only can choosing a store brand formula over a national brand save you money, it’s still a healthy choice for the baby. There is a baby formula savings calculator available at the Parent’s Choice website that helps anyone see just how much money they can save.

I know that I always purchased powdered formula. It may take a little extra work, but it’s definitely more economical. The money I saved allowed me to purchase other things for our baby!