Yes to formula ad?

The point keeps being totally missed.

NO to formula add.

I am a breast feeder and I agree with wordsmith et al.

I don't think it is a big deal. Sorry.

I don't think phrases like "Blimey,just realised that it's still usable,5 years on... That's creepy isn't it.Imagine ginving your kid something so dead" are exactly supportive of bottlefeeding mothers Moondog. Do you?

Who's making bottle feeders feel worthless. Hmmm.

A lot of posters on this thread.
The 'quiet room' in the postnatal ward which is plastered floor to ceiling with pro-breastfeeding posters.
My friends' HVs and their reluctance to suggest ffing (until it was desperate)
'The establishment'
et al.

And I'm sorry a few greetings card mftrs do not balance it out.

Why should Moondog be supportive of bottlefeeding?

Of bottlefeeding mothers, that's different.

I don't think phrases like "Blimey,just realised that it's still usable,5 years on... That's creepy isn't it.Imagine ginving your kid something so dead" are exactly supportive of bottlefeeding Moondog. Do you?

wordsmith..I'm confused.Who is making bottle feeders fell worthless exactly?

M/ws get about 1/2 a day covering b/feeding (a m/w imparted this information on MN a while ago.)

I would imagine the average HV gets even less!

i dont mind it being there

HV's don't make you feel worthless if you switch, they make you feel worthless if you don't switch because your bf baby isn't following the trajectories designed for bottle-fed babies.

HVs banned from talking about formula? That's just not true. Look at MN and the sheer number of women who have given formula under pressure from HVs, and even been ordered to supplement with formula, and subsequently had to give up breastfeeding, which they really wanted to do. It's absolutely endemic. I was told I was 'starving' my baby in ds's case and told to give formula while I was still in a 'baby friendly' hospital.

What witch-hunting? Minding a formula company "promoting" breastfeeding?

Caligula, totally agree. Images and anecdotes of bottlefeeding are everywhere, from the cards and clothing your newborn receives, through well-meaning relatives talking about what a shame it is they can't share the feeding, to HVs talking about weight gain and suggesting topping up.

Sigh.

Moondog, I know several women for whom breastfeeding was agony, even with sympathetic support. And making them feel worthless if they switched was prolonging that agony, IME. I'm really glad it worked for you, but it doesn't for everyone. It did for me, I don't have an axe to grind, I just find this witch hunting a bit unsupportive generally.

As an avid bf'er and someone who wouldn't touch a bottle of formula with a bargepole I am really trying to get upset about this whole thing....however I can't seem to get worked up about it. Not sure why really..... need to think about it more. Could be something to do with having difficulty believing that someone seeking advice with bf'ing would log onto the Milupa website.

HV's are prohibited from talking about it?

Yes, but what they talk about is how light this baby is, how scrawny she looks and how breast-fed babies are often like this.

They don't have to use the words "formula-feed".

aaaaaaergh! see the original thread for why it's not true that bottle-feeding isn't being rammed down our throats! It may not be technically, but if we analyse all the subliminal messages we absorb about it, oh yes it still is.

Even by those of us who are quite rabidly pro-breast-feeding (me included! )

'prolonging their agony'?????

What a weird turn of phrase!

Exactly Fisil, far from bottlefeeding being rammed down our throats (metaphorically speaking) as some posters seem to think, in fact most HVs are inhibited or prohibited from discussing it with clients who are having a traumatic time with bfing - prolonging their agony! That's the evil as far as I'm concerned. It's an option, so tell us about it!

I don't mind it.

ah janh, I recognise another anal control freak!

...and yes I KNOW Milupa are marketing their product, of course they are, but what do you think Mumsnet people are doing when they go onto the radio to take part in discussions, or promote their name in the newspapers? It's PR rather than advertising but it has the same aim and effect! It's not evil! It's how a lot of us make our living!

Gosh, fisil - that's exactly what mine said to me! Not a word until I'd decided though.

I don't mind it being there.

There is a post by Caligula on one of the original threads which is great food for thought on the subject of "why not to advertise" and it is a post which is beautifully and sensitively executed unlike many others on the subject of formula feeding.

However, I still don't mind it being there. This is, after all, the real world.

And what an excellent sentiment Fisil. I too feel that I wasn't given all the information I needed at the time.

I agree, this debate just doesn't heat me up! It can stay there as far as I'm concerned.

My hv said to me when I (very traumatically) gave up breastfeeding ds1 "thank goodness for that, I think bottle feeding will suit you much better and allow you to develop a relationship at last - I couldn't say anything before." And I then realised that I hadn't been given all the information that I needed!