August of 2019, I bought my first set of bottles. In October 2025, I tossed my last bottle. Feeding 3 kids over 6 years…man what a journey. I never gave much thought to what it would feel like to toss that very last bottle, but it hit harder than I expected. When I had decided that my motherhood journey was going to start as a foster parent, I admittedly grieved that I would probably never get to breastfeed a baby. I’m not sure why it was such a huge deal to me, but it was. Enter in my first placement and I did everything in my power to grow a connection around feeding time with him and spent an insane amount of money to buy European formula that I could feel good about, and that now 6-year-old literally eats EVERYTHING and is the snuggliest kid ever.

Enter my second placement, who basically spit up everything he would eat until we switched him to goat's milk formula, hello hefty price tag, and due to feeding issues was basically formula fed until he was 2. He is still my most selective eater, but I really do believe getting him on the right formula was a game-changer.

It took me the better part of 4 years to truly come to terms that the saying “fed is best” is true. I remember making a bottle in public once with my oldest, wondering if someone was judging me for formula feeding my baby. A baby I couldn’t breastfeed because he wasn’t biologically mine. The weird shame and guilt in that is unbelievable. I was acutely aware of it, and eventually the logical part of my brain became more comfortable with it.

Needless to say, though, I was overjoyed that my breastfeeding journey was so successful once I gave birth to our youngest son. I was an overproducer from the start, and not only was I able to give some breast milk to my older two that hadn’t had any, but I was also able to supply 2 other moms. When I started breastfeeding, my goal was to make it to six months. Those first 6 months were the hardest, but then the 6 months turned into a year, which I was incredibly proud of. I never had any plans to go past a year. I even joked with my husband that I would never breastfeed a toddler and that once he had a word for it and could ask for it, I was done. In case any of you are wondering how that actually played out: I just weaned my son last week, a month and a half shy of his 3rd birthday…so yeah... “Mommy milk” was a common phrase uttered by my toddler.

I’m so beyond thankful that I had the whole gamut of experience from formula feeding to nursing. I’m thankful that I was able to afford European formula for my kiddos, thankful for what my body was able to do, and thankful for bottles that allowed my husband, my family, and my adopted son’s biological mothers to also share in the bonding experience of feeding my kids. Tossing out those very last bottles hit hard because that part of nourishing my children when they were infants and in the beginning stages of toddlerhood was such a big deal for me because I knew how important it was for their health, their comfort, and their connection. But as a mom who has done it all, I’m here to remind you that fed is best, and also you might cry when you finally throw out your last bottle, knowing there are no more tiny babies to feed, just saying. But there are some not so tiny, growing entirely too quickly, little humans that I get to nourish every day now, and it’s probably my favorite part of being a mom.

I lastly want to end with saying a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported me in my feeding journey of our children. From my husband who at just a few weeks into dating ordered me another case of bottles to have more in rotation, to my motherhood circle I attended postpartum, to my work colleagues that always made me feel comfortable pumping at work, to everyone who purchased bottles for us over the years of fostering and to my mamma circle this past year that offered so much support in finally ending my breast feeding journey, and all the family and friends that have so lovingly held our children to feed them….. THANK YOU! It truly does take a village and I’m so beyond grateful for mine.

Bye Bye Bottles

A Week Without Social Media