Some moms produce enough breast milk to build a backup freezer stash. But many women — including Olivia Munn — struggle with low supply and end up feeling exhausted and defeated.
“I felt like my body was failing,” Munn, 41, revealed in an Instagram video on Tuesday. “I worried I wouldn’t bond with my baby.”
Munn, who shares 2-month-old son Malcolm with comedian John Mulaney, 39, worked with two different lactation consultants to remedy the issue. She also tried several breastfeeding pillows, lactation-boosting soups, teas and cookies, and liters of coconut water.
“None of it worked!” Munn shared. “I cried and cried.”
But recently, Munn came to an important realization: Breastfeeding and formula are both good.
“To the mamas out there — do whatever you need to feed your baby,” she wrote. “And don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it.”
In the clip, Malcolm is seen happily breastfeeding and then smiling as he slurps down a bottle.
“I had the same issues. It wore me out physically and emotionally,” one fan commented.
Added another, “THANK YOU! My OB told me ‘Breastfeeding, formula, he doesn’t care, just feed him.’”
Dr. Irwin Bruckner, a pediatrician in Encino California, tells moms and dads that breast milk is A+, while formula is a solid A, meaning they’re both excellent choices.
“There’s so much more to parenting than giving your baby breast milk. There’s smiling, there’s cuddling, there’s dancing,” Bruckner previously told TODAY Parents. “So if breastfeeding is wearing you down so much that you’re not doing those other things, it’s not worth going the extra distance to get the A+ in breast milk as opposed to the A in formula.”