Question: I heard somewhere that formula is considered more hygienic because it doesn’t contain toxins. However, our bodies constantly consume toxins which pass into the breast milk and could poison the baby–is that true? Is it better to formula feed your baby to avoid the toxins?
Yep, It’s True
This is an example of faulty conclusions based on accurate data. It is absolutely 100% true that:
a) formula is technically more hygienic than breast milk
b) that any toxins we consume pass through to our breast milk
c) those toxins could harm our babies
What’s not true is the idea that because you could in theory pass toxins through your breast milk that you should stop breastfeeding and switch to formula. In fact the notion is ludicrous and I’ll use the rest of this blog to tell you why.
Toxins, Toxins, and More Toxins
Toxins are everywhere. If you think you’re doing your baby a favor by formula feeding him to avoid toxins. . .think again. The plastic used in plastic baby bottles contains BPA, a potent chemical that has been shown to affect cognitive development. For that matter, the water you use to wash baby’s bottle, or pacifier probably has toxins that you are passing on to your baby. There’s no way around toxins.
However, you can give your baby a powerful immune system boost by breastfeeding. Furthermore, research says that if there were just a moderate increase in breastfeeding, the infant mortality rate all over the world would decrease significantly. So while there might be toxins in your milk and you may pass them on, it is far more likely that you’ll harm your baby by feeding him formula.
So don’t buy into the lie that there are toxins in your breast milk that make formula feeding better for your baby. The bottom line is that there is nothing you can do to avoid all toxins but breastfeeding your baby provides numerous healthy benefits.