I taught a bf class today of 12 lovely clever smart people and NOT ONE of them knew what formula was made of

[harpsichordcarrier]

not single one of them knew that formula is made from cows milk.
in fact they looked very surprised.
and in about four weeks time about half of them will probably give some to their babies.
weird, isn't it?

[beansprout]

That is odd. And not a little worrying.

[sherby]

lol

my hairdresser yesterday thought you had to heat breastmilk up because it comes out cold

[FrayedKnot]

What did they think it was made of?

[berolina]

That is odd. What did they think it was made of?

[berolina]

( FK)

[maidamess]

Coffeemate

[misdee]

tbh when i had dd1 i didnt really think about what it was made from

[IAteRosemaryConleyForBreakfast]

maidamess

[ScaryHairy]

Oh I don't know.

I didn't ever think about what formula was made of because it never occurred to me (literally not for a second) that I might not breastfeed. Maybe your class are all like me!

[beansprout]

sherby - that's good!!

[tiktok]

Harpsi - I have had that experience too with classes. Sometimes, a couple of them might know, at most.

[serant]

I didn't even think about formula either!

Knew i was breast feeding, never thought otherwise.

[harpsichordcarrier]

well they were all very sensible pragmatic types who were going to have a go at bf but they would see how it went etcetc.
they thought it was made of "chemicals" and "artificially in a lab"

[harpsichordcarrier]

tiktok, actually I have never asked them before. I usually talk about how formula tends to stay in the stomch longer because it is harder to digeste because it is made of cows milk.

[ilovemydog]

But the word, 'formula' sounds so lab like?

Maybe someone shoud start a campaign to call it, 'dried-cows-milk-with-sugar-and-other-stuff...'

[littlepinkpixie]

I know some very educated people who insist that formula cant be made of cows milk because babies cant have dairy food when they are that young.

[tiktok]

Harpsi, I have started to ask them in the past couple of years or so. I think it's evidence of the way formula has been marketed over the years, to be honest.

[unknownrebelbang]

TBH, when I had my babies, I didn't give it much thought.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Back home, people call it 'baby milk'. So ... what does that make breast milk?

It's funny, the idea of it being made in a lab is so much more palatable than the truth, that it's made in a factory.

[zippitippitoes]

how bizarre what else would it be made from

[nooka]

Weird! I thought you were asking what all the additives were, which I would struggle with (beyond sugar)

[callmeovercautious]

I never considered it either until my Sister went on a BF course (she is a Nurse) and learnt about all the additives etc. She realed off a list of ingredients a mile long. That was the point when she became supportive of my extended BFing and unfortunately started regretting mixed feeding her 2.

[sabire]

they thought it was made of "chemicals" and "artificially in a lab"

This is what I can't get my head around.

That we live in a society where the vast majority of people - even those people who describe themselves as 'foodies', who buy organic, artisan made cheeses from Waitrose and would never dream of giving their older children mechanically recovered chicken nuggets, think it's perfectly normal and fine to choose a highly artificial food for their babies as their soul source of sustenance for months and months and months.

I mean - ffs, aren't babies human beings? Don't they deserve real, fresh food like the rest of us?

[sabire]

Whoops

I meant 'sole'

[fruitful]

But Sabire, those 12 people at a bf class are intending to give their babies "real fresh food". They'll use the formula if they can't manage the bm won't they? It's not about choice or about what babies deserve.