Feeding Your Baby: The Honest, Messy, Beautiful Reality From Steph & Ange - founders of Milkco, writing mum-to-mum

Feeding Your Baby: The Honest, Messy, Beautiful Reality From Steph & Ange - founders of Milkco, writing mum-to-mum

Hi lovely,
It’s Steph and Ange here - founders of Milkco, but more importantly, two mums who have been right where you are.

We created this space because we know how lonely feeding can feel.
Those early hours of the morning.
Those quiet nights.
Those moments when the “village” everyone talks about feels like it doesn’t exist - and all you have is your phone, your baby, and your thoughts.

We wanted somewhere on the internet where you could feel comfort.
Where you could feel seen and heard.
Where you could land on a page at 2am and think, “Okay… someone gets it.”

So if you’re here looking for answers, reassurance, or just a moment of “me too” - we see you. Truly.

No one prepares you for how emotional feeding is

Before becoming mums, we imagined feeding as this dreamy little scene:
 A warm cuddle, a quiet room, a sleepy baby nuzzled in.

And sometimes, yes… it is that.

But more often it’s also:

• cracked nipples
 • crying at 3am
 • endless cluster-feeding
 • Googling things you never thought you'd Google
 • a pump becoming your new shadow
 • wondering, “Is my baby getting enough?”

What shocked us both wasn’t just the physical stuff - it was the emotional weight.
 The pressure.
 The guilt.
 The comparison.
 The constant “shoulds”.

Here’s the truth we wish every new mum heard:

There is no one right way to feed your baby.
 Only the way that works for you.

 

 

Breastfeeding: beautiful… and brutal

Some mums adore breastfeeding.
 Some love it but also find it unbelievably hard.
 Some don’t enjoy it at all - but keep going because they feel they’re meant to.
 Others stop, switch, mix-feed, express, or move to formula and still carry guilt that nobody warned them about.

None of these paths make you a better or worse mum.
 They’re simply different tracks through the same forest.
 And we’re all walking it together.

 

 

If breastfeeding is hard for you — you’re not failing

Say it with us:

You. Are. Not. Failing.

Feeding is a learned skill for both mum and baby.

Some babies latch instantly.
 Some take weeks.
 Some never quite get there.
 Some mums have oversupply, undersupply, no supply, or unpredictable supply.

None of that says anything about your worth as a mum.
 It just makes you human.

 

 

Formula, mixed feeding, expressing - it all counts

Feeding is feeding.
 Love is love.
 A fed baby is a safe, nurtured, adored baby.

You might:

• breastfeed
 • pump
 • mix-feed
 • use formula
 • switch depending on your mental load
 • do a combination that changes week to week

There is no gold medal for how milk gets into your baby’s tummy.
 Your baby will remember your love — not the method.

 

 

The quiet thoughts we don’t say out loud

Every mum has had thoughts like:

“I love my baby, but feeding is so hard.”
 “I’m so tired.”
 “I want my body back.”
 “I don’t think I can do this.”
 “I wish someone told me it was ok to change my mind.”

If you’ve thought any of these — come sit with us, imagine a warm cuppa in your hands, and hear this:

You’re allowed to feel all of it.
 You’re allowed to choose what’s right for you.
 You’re doing an incredible job.

 

 

What helped us (and the mums in our community)

Every mum eventually finds her own little rhythm, but here are things that helped us and so many others:

• a comfy feeding chair
 • giving yourself permission to rest
 • small feeding stations around the house
 • using tools that make feeding easier
 • asking your partner to take one night task
 • feeding lying down when the exhaustion hits
 • reminding yourself: this season is temporary

But more than anything?

Being kind to yourself.
 The voice in your head matters more than any method.

 

 

From us to you: you are doing your best, and that is enough

Whether you're breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, cup-feeding, pumping, mix-feeding, formula feeding, or doing a little of everything - your journey is valid.

Your baby is loved.
 Your baby is nourished.
 Your baby is safe.

And you?
 You are enough.
 More than enough.

We're here for you, always — in the early hours, the late nights, and every moment in between.

Love,
 Steph & Ange
Milkco 💛