To expect Aptamil NOT to contain fish!

[Millie1206]

I'm not veggie (luckily!) but just noticed this on the carton. Do all infant formulas contain fish oil? Bizarre

I beleive in the every little helps idea of promoting bf, whereby there is a timeline of how bf benefits the baby. Though I only managed it for 3 weeks, at least dd got something and that makes me feel proud.

Mabey this thread needs to be pulled as its getting really now.

I think that someone on the bf/bottlefeeding section posted it: 1 week, 2, week 3 week, 1 month, 2 month, and the different beneftits at each stage. I think that its the way to go.

Ruby, those studies are from the early 2000s. Further research has been carried out since then including the study I linked to from 2009.

and this one from 2010

Leonie, I wish you would mince your words a little more. You are so offensive.

I remember that on a thread too and people did think it was off.

Leoniedelt - you are thoroughly offensive and I suspect you enjoy it. No-one who didn't get a kick out of upsetting people would be so unpleasant and vindictive.

You can blame others for getting you to the point of being rude, but it is very, very clear from the thread that you came onto it intending to shout the odds from your soapbox and, primarily, attack Altinkum in a particularly nasty way.

I find it unfathomable that any mother would choose to come onto a public forum and deliberately, spitefully criticise another parent who is doing her best for a child with difficulties relating to food. The story of your struggles with your own children is irrelevant and does not excuse your unpleasantness.

If you don't do this sort of thing for fun then you are quite simply an unpleasant person. Unfortunately there are probably people reading your posts and feeling upset about one more kick in the teeth about their failure to breastfeed. But you don't care about that, do you?

gosh i have just skimmed through this...

i am sure altinkum is doing the very best for her child and although i passionately belive in breastfeeding, this is obviously not right for her child and she is obviously very well informed on what he has to have - i wish your boy all the best altinkum

i admire Leonie for persevering with bf through very difficult circumstances - she has battled through where others would have given up

for me personally, what i find hard is that many of us battle through the problems that can come with bf where some dont (up to them of course) and if i can be honest, the 'excuses' i hear sometimes grate me. but that is my issue and up to everyone what they do. lately in the media i have read natalie cassidy say she gave up because she had no milk and patsy palmer gave up because of mastitis - well i contintually suffered from mastitis but managed to feed and lack of milk is very rare and it is more likely that it is lack of knowledge, proper feeding and support
i had many nights up feeding for hours and hours for what seemed like months on end and felt at the end of my tether, but this can be normal when establishing bf and some people - for me - really take away from women who keep on with statements that have no medical merit as to why they stopped bf

this is only my personal opinion and not meant as an attack on anyone!

Hi MissyKlo . I do agree with you, but I thnk that bf support in this country is not that good tbh and if women are having problems with bf whatever it might be, if they are not getting the help and are being told to top up with formula from Midwives and HV than thats what they do, and of course that can undermine the supply and demand of breastfeeding, so that the milk dwindles and gets less and less. I think thats what happened in my case i was topping up with formula

Lack of education on the way bf works, i wish i knew then what i know now and i know that i would have been more sucessful.

i was told to top up with formula but did not and honestly i had nights where i wanted to tear my face off and was shaking and crying with the constant bloody constant feeding, but i also knew from support from a very good midwife that this was NORMAL so i persevered and it did get better. my son would bf every hour at night sometimes and every bloomin 20 mins in the day sometimes and it was constant constant! i make sure friends know this now and it helps them. yes, topping up with formula in the crucial first few weeks will affect supply and if you have no idea of what to do of course you listen to the hv's and you did what you could with the info you had - it is so frustrating to me that with me and friends i know we were told to top up when all that was needed was perseverance - which of course is hard. the first few weeks, even months are crucial to get right to establish supply and it is a shame there is so little support for some people x

Missy, I think that's what key in understanding why some other women don't keep going. (And being more sympathetic consequently )
If they haven't read MN feeding board and Kellymom etc. and then listen to what their ill-informed doctor or midwife tell them then they won't be able to keep going.

If I'd listened to Doctor who told me to express to check my supply I would have stopped feeding altogether quickly.
I knew he was wrong, and where to get the right info and we were able to battle through.

Pure luck that I found MN before I gave birth.

No I think the key to it is to remember that everyone has different lives, circumstances, pain thresholds and problems to you. I had support from mumsnet, hv, mw and gp, a lovely dh, and a desperate need to breastfeed. But those things make fuck all difference when you are sweating and sick from the pain throughout a feed.

"..personally, what i find hard is that many of us battle through the problems that can come with bf where some dont (up to them of course)."

then you go onto say about people making excuses, I just don't understand how, without walking a mile in their shoes, you can decide whose excuses are valid.

Yes hazy I personally do think some people make excuses and I have seen so many women battle through immense problems - myself included - and that's how I feel! I have so much admiration for women who battle through bf problems to give their baby bm but I do understand that a lot of women have not had support or have very big problems that just can't be overcome - but with problems that can be overcome, I personally admire women who battle through them and don't see anything wrong with saying that and as long as a woman is happy with her choice that is up to her but I may also have an opinion on it, as we all do!

hazey, I don't know all the reasons why some women can't keep going, of course. Lack of support and information is just one and the one I suppose I can most empathise with as I know that without it I wouldn't have been able to keep going.

For example, I have a friend whose mastitis resulted in hospitalisation to drain the access but she kept up with the bf (her dh would bring her baby in for feeds) - do I admire her? Yes, massively. I had very ba mastitis which was ba enough and attachment problems but seein her battle through that to feed her child humbled me

Yes I do agree with missyk I feel admiration for people who are able to battle through and continue to bf, all women are different and psycho social factors can influence it.it's right to feel proud but not do it in such s way that puts others down or makes them feel bad

Yes many new mums take health professionals word as gospel, it's the trust thing, when they are told that their baby is loosing weight fast and if it continues baby will have to go to hospital, yes it does place doubt about their bodies abilities to adequately nourish their baby. So many women are railroaded into using formula, and sometimes it is needed to give baby nourishment and mum a rest while mum can coninue to pump or bf at the sane time so supply is not affected

I have 3 dc's
One I BF for only about 10 days
one i BF for about2 weeks
One i BF for 13 months

One is almost 19, one is 16 and one is 5.
Although I loved breastfeeding, once I had the hang of it, I don't look down on anyone who for whatever reason choose to formula feed.
But I think Leonie has had a bit of a roasting on here for only quoting her opinion. It IS just her opinion and she is anonymous, anyone who would really beat themselves up over a choice they made, either forced by circumstances beyone their control or freely, needs to examine their own thoughts about the issue more closely.
I don't care what anyone thinks of my baby feeding choices and I hvae 3 live, healthy offfspring who have all been fed differently and yet, so far, show no differences in health.

Yep leonie is entitled to her opinion

I think altinkum is also right in her posts as she is obviously very knowledgable about what her baby needs

More support is needed and more facts on how hard it can be and what you need to do for supply is needed for breastfeeding too

Thanks for the links ZepharineDourhin. They are all from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. I wonder what the links are - like how many of the researchers are bankrolled by formula companies. I might be wrong, and tbh if DHA helps babies who drink formula, that is a good thing. I am just saying that I have read about this type of thing before and have been staggered by the amount of research that seems credible on the surface but when you do some digging, it comes back as completely flawed or biased.

Like I said, if DHA and AHA are good for babies, then that is a good thing. Formula companies themselves have been quoted as admitting they are only used as a marketing ploy.