My poor starving boysRecently, a study found that formula-fed babies don't necessarily overeat, as had previously been thought -- many do know how to stop when they've had enough. It's good to know and I'm glad, but regardless of what this study or that study or a million other studies say, it wouldn't have changed the fact that my twin babies are formula-fed.

That's not to say that I didn't breastfeed at all. I did, for several months, but with my low milk supply, I needed to supplement with formula from the very beginning. Still, I kept at it -- I nursed and pumped like a madwoman, trying to squeeze out (no pun intended) whatever meager amount of breast milk I could. After three months though, I was barely getting four ounces a day, so I decided to move to formula only. And I don't feel one ounce of guilt about it.

Ladies, may I have your attention please? I know what you're thinking. Another formula article? But wait! Don't despair!

We have another entry in the baby feeding wars, and this one may be a game changer. Scientists studying formula think they have found a simple fix to bring bottle-fed babies more in line with their breastfed peers.

Ah formula feeding ... something many moms must do to give their baby the best start yet many make them feel absolutely and completely terrible about it. It's the second tier of new mommy judgement -- the first being how you birth.

I'm a huge advocate of breastfeeding and nursed my babies into that "you're still breastfeeding?!" stage. I even revealed the breastfeeding side effects no one tells you about, but I'm also a BIG supporter of moms who are doing the best they can. And that includes formula feeding moms. I was one, too. We love our babies just as much as the moms who make the liquid gold.

But what I'm about to tell you is what really happens if you formula feed. The stuff no one wants to talk about.

If getting your baby on a good feeding schedule is stressing you out, don't worry, because you definitely aren't alone. Plenty of moms (myself included) have caught themselves checking their watches over and over again to make sure that their babies don't go more than a certain number of hours between feedings. Doesn't it get kind of exhausting sometimes?

It can be so tough to judge how often you are supposed to feed them to make sure they're getting the nutrition they need, not to mention keeping their little bellies full so they are happy. Of course, some moms eventually give up on the whole feeding schedule thing and let their babies determine how frequently they eat. And they may be on to something with their go-with-the-flow attitude. New research suggests that babies who are fed on demand may have a higher IQ down the road.

The decision over whether or not to breastfeed your baby is something that is very personal and also very difficult for a lot of women. While most professionals agree that breast milk is the absolute best thing for babies to eat, not all women are capable of breastfeeding, and some of them just don't want to for their own reasons. And that's ok, because every mom needs to do what is best for her family without being judged by others for her choice. Period.

And even though the pressure put on women to breastfeed probably isn't ever going to completely go away, bottle-feeding moms may soon be less subjected to the guilt and stress that comes with their choice, because new research shows that when probiotics are added to infant formulas, they boost your baby's immunity, giving the formula many of the same beneifts as breast milk.

Hallelujah.

Like most mothers-to-be, I had all of these highfalutin ideas about what I was and was not going to do when my little bundle of joy was born. I swore I was going to have a natural birth (which I did, but not because I hadn’t changed my mind by the time I was being wheeled through the emergency room doors, trust me).

I contemplated the exclusive usage of cloth diapers until my grandmother, who had raised five kids on those bad boys, hipped me to the kind of commitment I was setting myself up for. And I was adamant that I was going to breastfeed my daughter the way Mother Nature intended because I had educated myself on all of the health benefits and all of the magical mother-baby bonding time that was supposed to go down. 

Moms who feed their babies organic formula are banking on the idea that "organic" means safer from toxins. That's the whole point, really. You're buying food that's supposed to be free of pesticides and other harmful chemicals. And it's food for a baby, so moms who choose organic have those tiny, sensitive bodies in mind when they make that choice.

That's why it's so discouraging to learn that arsenic has been found in some brands of organic baby formula! Dartmouth researchers studied organic powdered baby formulas and found "dangerous amounts of arsenic" in formulas that listed brown rice syrup as a top ingredient. Not every mom can nurse, so for those who are trying to do their best with formula, this is scary news.

If you’re not a parent, or you are a parent who happens to live under a rock, you may not know who Dr. William Sears is. But have no fear, because I am about to enlighten you.

Dr Sears is a crunchy-granola doctor who has 43 kids (my approximation) and writes a ton of books about parenting. Not being the sort of person who tends to buy books on parenting -- save for my coveted Dr. Spock book -- I only ran across him when I was highly pregnant with my son Alex and scouring the bookstore for a book on breastfeeding.

After my complete and abject failure at breastfeeding my first son, I decided that I must find the most militant book, written by the most militant author, and read it cover to cover in order to be a proper breastfeeder.

And Dr. Sears was just the sort of militant breastfeeding advocate I needed.