Living with roommates requires making many compromises. You may not be able to play your music out loud late at night, and there’s always a possibility that you’ll go to the kitchen and find a pile of dishes in the sink that you never used. But for a living arrangement to work, it’s important that everyone in the house respects one another and keeps their hands off personal items that don’t belong to them.

One woman recently reached out to Reddit for advice after getting into an explosive fight with her roommate. Below, you’ll find the full story of what sparked this roommate rift, as well as a conversation with the author and insight from Registered Dietitians and mothers Jess and Nita, of Happy Healthy Eaters, and Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition, Mark Corkins, MD, FAAP.

This woman has been feeding her newborn formula since she came into the world

Image credits: Toa Heftiba / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

But when the mom came home to find all of her formula in the trash, she ended up in a huge fight with her roommate

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Blake Cheek / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Blake Cheek / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

Later, the mother replied to some of the comments she had received and provided a brief update

Image credits: Infinite-Minute2004

“Formula is the most rigorously monitored food in our supply chain, and it’s important for parents to know and trust it’s safe”

To find out more about this situation, we got in touch with the mother who shared this story online, Reddit user Infinite-Minute2004. She was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain what’s happened since she made this post.

“I’m trying to save up to move out of the apartment,” the mom said. “We are as okay as we can be, but I don’t have the funds to [pay for the] first and last month deposits, security deposit, utilities, etc. and all of that other stuff you need to be fully self sufficient and on your own.”

We also asked the author if she had ever had issues with her roommate prior to this experience. “Didn’t ever have issues with [her] before this,” she revealed. “I knew she was kind of cuckoo, but I didn’t think she’d pull this. I literally just try to ignore her and stay out of her way. I keep myself and my baby locked up in the bedroom and literally do my best to never interact with her.”

Finally, the mother shared her Venmo with us, if anyone would like to help her get into a new apartment faster: @emit13.

We also got in touch with a few experts to find out more about baby formula and set the record straight about whether it’s “poison” or not. Lucky for us, Registered Dietitians and moms Jess and Nita, of Happy Healthy Eaters, and Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition, Mark Corkins, MD, FAAP, shined some light on this topic.

First, we wanted to know if it’s safe for babies to start drinking formula from birth. “Yes, it is absolutely safe,” Jess and Nita shared. “There’s also a wide range of reasons why an infant may need formula or why a parent may choose this route. Formula is the most rigorously monitored food in our supply chain, and it’s important for parents to know and trust it’s safe.”

Dr. Corkins added that it’s perfectly fine, as long as the baby is full term. “It is designed to meet the complete nutritional needs of a healthy infant,” he noted.

“Some families feel that it allows the caregivers to be more involved in feeding, especially when breastmilk isn’t available”

We also asked the experts if they could break down some of the pros and cons of feeding an infant formula instead of breastmilk.

“While there have been tons of technological advances and innovations on the production side of infant formula, it is still not like breastmilk,” Jess and Nita pointed out. “Breastmilk is incredibly dynamic. It changes feed by feed and day by day, which is so fascinating.”

“Breastmilk also changes depending on the child’s need – for example, if they are sick, the milk may change to provide more specific immune benefits. Other cons may be it takes time for preparation, it can be costly and some specialized formulas are in fact cost prohibitive for families,” they continued. “The shortages that were experienced several years ago also shines a light on how accessibility can sometimes be challenging.”

“It does not contain all the growth factors and immune protection factors of breast milk,” Dr. Corkins shared.

But when it comes to the pros of using formula, Jess and Nita say, “It’s right for some babies and parents. Some families feel that it allows the caregivers to be more involved in feeding, especially when breastmilk isn’t available,” they explained. “As clinicians, we also utilize formula for specific cases where weight gain (poor growth) is an issue – for example, we may concentrate breast milk with formula (this should always be done with a medical team).”

Dr. Corkins also pointed out that anyone can give formula, and it is very portable.

So are there any misconceptions about formula that these experts would like to dispel? “It contains ‘growth hormone’ and antibiotics,” Dr. Corkins told Bored Panda. “Bovine growth factor won’t activate the human growth hormone receptor anyway. Also, the milk is not allowed to contain antibiotics, and the milk is tested to ensure none is present.”

Jess and Nita shared that there’s plenty of misinformation often spread about formula. “There is a growing amount of people who want to prepare homemade formula, which is really unsafe and certainly not best practice,” they warned.

“Many folks are also really worried about the ingredients in a formula – people often think if they can’t pronounce a specific word that it’s ‘bad’ or ‘toxic’, but this isn’t the case,” Jess and Nita continued. “All formula must meet specific requirements and prove that it supports optimal growth and development, especially since it’s the sole source of nutrition for infants 0 to 6 months of life.”

Image credits:  Rainier Ridao / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

“Formulas are complete from a nutrition standpoint, and the kids will gain and grow just fine”

We also wanted to know what parents need to consider before choosing a formula for their children.

“Is it an FDA approved formula? Infant formula is the most highly regulated food of all,” Dr. Corkins shared. “If FDA approved, it must contain all of the required nutrients and be shown to support normal infant growth. Via the internet, there is access to all sorts of unregulated and foreign formulas without those safeguards.”

“If [a parent has] decided to cease nursing, just make sure that this decision is yours – for example, some women cease nursing because of return to work or maybe because of perceived low milk supply, but may not realize that they can still combination feed!” Nita noted. “This worked for me, as a I returned to work at 9 months postpartum. We found a way to nurse and offer bottles of formula.”

“The best formula for you is the one that works for your baby! If it’s working, then that’s amazing!” Jess and Nita shared. “We’ve loved learning more and more about the role of DHA in baby brain development, so when it’s available and if it’s important to parents, they can look for this ingredient in formula. Now more and more are definitely adding it because of the known benefits.”

The experts also pointed out that there is absolutely no reason to judge a parent for choosing to use formula. “Sometimes choice isn’t an option – support can look differently, so asking parents what they’d like is important (not tossing out their formula).”

Finally, Dr. Corkins added, “Breast milk is the ideal because of the immune factors. However, the formulas are complete from a nutrition standpoint, and the kids will gain and grow just fine.”

And if you’d like to learn even more about this topic from Jess and Nita, they’ve shared their own nursing stories on their blog, as well as the 411 on Formula and a list of 11 Things We Wish We Knew About Breastfeeding.

We would love to hear your thoughts on this story in the comments below, pandas. How would you have reacted if you found yourself in this mother’s shoes? Then, if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda piece discussing similar issues, look no further than right here! 

Many readers urged the mother to get police involved, and she shared some more details about her situation

However, a small minority thought that the mother should bear some of the blame

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