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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that the formula companies are succeeding with their campaign to promote formula to be as good as breast milk...

462 replies

MissyKLo · 01/03/2011 14:12

...when it isn't?

this article rang true in so many ways

www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2010/10/how-breast-is-best-came-to-be.html

Breast milk is of course, full of amazing antibodies and nourishment etc that formula can never replicate - but the formula companies are winning in their campaign to make people believe that formula is as good as breast milk aren't they? A lot of people don't see bf as a big deal and that babies are 'perfectly fine' on formula. But what about all the benefits of breast milk and the fact that so many babies don't ever get these?

Breast milk cannot be beaten on so many levels so why are the formula companies allowed to get away with this?!!!!!!

OP posts:
MilaMae · 02/03/2011 11:24

Peppa if you give your dc the right portion size they learn to regulate themselves. I've done it,it's easy and they pick it up from a very young age.

MilaMae · 02/03/2011 11:29

If you go by Peppas theory a bf baby will be soooooo good at portion control they'll turn down more chips,sweets crap-cobblers.If you present your bf child with daily huge portions it will get used to them and overeat.

Stomachs stretch if they're continuously overfilled,if you ensure that kids feel full on the correct amounts of healthy food they won't ever get overstretched stomachs and used to thinking huge portions sizes are the norm. Kids learn from example and how they're raised,it's our job as parents and it's ongoing.

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 11:30

not 3rd world

new orleans, usa
australia

difficult to ff if access to water shut off

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 11:30

Right portion size according to who Milamae? You are regulating it - not your baby/child.

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 11:31

this thread is about formula companies.

i wasn't talking about 3rd world but i can start to if you like...

it gets much worse... so i for one don't want much to do with artificial milk peddling formula companies

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 11:34

Milamae - do you think only 3rd world countries get respiratory infections, asthma, meningitis etc? Why do you keep saying that it only makes a difference in developing countries?

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 11:35

Sad Sad

very sad story of woman who ff her baby during hurricane katrina even though she had breastmilk. if we as a society didn't think that formula was 'good enough' this baby would probably have lived because of access to sterile, protective, nourishing breastmilk.

that is why your view is so so wrong.

bigger picture milamae, bigger picture

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 11:36

sorry, here

MilaMae · 02/03/2011 11:36

Errr yes,after a very short while you don't need to enforce but support.Isn't that part of providing healthy eating patterns over the entire 18 years of raising a child?

I always stuck to the recommended formula amounts no more no less,sometimes they didn't finish the bottle but they never had more.By the time they were weaned my 3 pretty much regulated themselves,their stomachs were never overstretched. They were always good at knowing when they were full still are.

MilaMae · 02/03/2011 11:37

Bubbly smoking pays a part as does poor diet,we have that here in spades.

peppapighastakenovermylife · 02/03/2011 11:42

Exactly - a baby will naturally be able to regulate its own portion size. BF makes this easier than FF.

It's not my theory Hmm, there is a consistent stream of thought in the literature discussing this.

And actually...if you present your child with huge portions alone and let them eat as much of it as they like (rather than encouraging more) they will still regulate their calorie intake.

However I do agree with the statement 'but bf is not something that needs obsessing over.No more than any other parenting ideal eg no sweets,screentime etc.' The 'obsession' however usually comes in reaction to pressure from the formula companies, general ideas in society to normalise formula rather than breastfeeding.

wordfactory - I dont think anyone is saying it is the single most important factor or an over riding factor. I am trying to say that it encourages more positive eating habits (and your average BF baby consumes less calories than your average FF). That is it. No wonder cure or no guarantee for life...just a bit of a better start. And yes it is highly likely to interact with genetic disposition Smile

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 11:47

"but they never had more" - what if they were still hungry? You were regulating their intake according to what you thought they should eat - a breastfed baby may eat more one day/less the next but they won't leave themselves hungry - they take what they need.

Milamae - once again - no one is saying that bf is the only influence for these things (why do we all have to keep saying this to you?) If you compare two groups of people with the ONLY difference being that one group was ff and one group was bf and all other variables are controlled there is an increased risk of those illnesses in those who were ff - regardless of what country you live in. I don't know too many babies or young children who smoke anyway. Hmm

You are hijacking what could be a very interesting thread with all these silly arguments that have been addressed several times here and on other threads.

MilaMae · 02/03/2011 11:48

"Stream of thought" does not equal cold hard facts involving vast numbers of children which proves that ff led to their obesity.

As mothers we buy,cook and serve our dc's food any obesity levels are down to us and us alone. Unhealthy food is often addictive both bf and ff babies would eat too much of it if it was served up daily in huge portions,bf won't stop this at all.

And as has been previously mentioned bf babies can overfeed,I know a couple who were clearly overweight.

MilaMae · 02/03/2011 11:52

Why would they be hungry Bubbly.They had all their nutritional needs in their portion of formula,I never had screaming hungry babies once I followed a routine and formula guidelines.

Interestingly I was a hungry baby who was overfed with rusks and raw eggs in my SMA. I've always eaten very healthily and I'm very good with portion size as I've been educated and raised knowing what is good and bad and how to fill up on the good stuff. I'm slim.

Yet again maternal influence plays the biggest role.

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 11:52

Milamae- will you please listen to what people are telling you! No one is saying that bf will prevent you from becoming obese if you eat a crap diet! It is not a get out of jail free card for the rest of your life. Why are you focussing on obesity anyway? Why not the other risks? I wouldn't say too many mums decide to bf purely because they think it will stop their child from becoming obese in later life.

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 11:54

this is pretty nasty and formula fed infants are 6-10 times MORE LIKELY TO DIE that is quite a few families ripped apart because of artificial baby milk. If fewer people thought like you - that formula is ok - perhaps support for women who want to breastfeed (there are many many many many) would be better.

Breastfeeding insignificant? Tell that to the babies that died of NEC when breastmilk might have saved them. You do the Maths

peppapighastakenovermylife · 02/03/2011 11:54

I'm not sure there is evidence of anything 'proved' to be linked to explaining obesity in every single individual. It is all about combining genetic predisposition with risk.

There are many meta analyses showing increased overweight amongst formula fed babies - with reduced risk for each month the baby is breastfed.

No one is saying that BF stops obesity. All I am saying is FF puts that at greater risk. This is one risk in a myriad of influences.

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 11:54

"They had all their nutritional needs in their portion of formula" according to you - not them. Are you not hungrier on some occasions than on others? How do you know when a growth spurt is coming up and allow for that?

Again, this is completely off topic!

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 11:56

"Interestingly I was a hungry baby who was overfed with rusks and raw eggs in my SMA. I've always eaten very healthily and I'm very good with portion size as I've been educated and raised knowing what is good and bad and how to fill up on the good stuff. I'm slim.

Yet again maternal influence plays the biggest role."

That is a complete contradiction because your maternal influence was overfeeding you... Hmm

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 11:57

"NEC does not occur in utero. Colonisation of the gut with either commensal or pathogenic bacteria may affect maturation of the innate immune system (pattern recognition receptors and microbial-associated molecular patterns). Hyperactive inflammation in infants caused by inadequate or altered colonisation of the gut may cause deficiencies in dampening of bacterially mediated inflammatory pathways.
Note also that:

Polycythaemia, drugs, cardiac defects, exchange transfusions, RDS may contribute to the hypoxic-ischaemic injury.
Blood cultures are positive in 20-30% of cases reflecting the reduced defense to bacterial invasion (E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp., S. epidermidis).
Several groups have shown that upregulation of nitric oxide plays an integral role in the development of epithelial injury in NEC.5

Breastmilk plays a massive part in protecting the infant by lining the gut wall. Formula does not. End of.

peppapighastakenovermylife · 02/03/2011 11:57

Maternal influence plays the biggest role - YES! And mothers influence milk intake more in formula feeding than in breastfeeding. Not every single mother. Not every baby will be affected. But overall patterns.

Yes you might have been overfed as a baby but your later circumstances over rode that. I am not denying that in the slightest. I am just saying amongst all the things that can effect obesity, milk feeding can play a role. As with anything in life all the different factors interact.

Original poster
MissyKLo · 02/03/2011 11:58

Bubbly - you are fighting a losing battle talking to certain people who will desperately grab at anything to deny how amazing bf! It is almost amusing to read some of the desparate posts that are so keen to underplay the benefits of breastmilk!

OP posts:
Nancy66 · 02/03/2011 11:59

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet.

RubyBuckleberry · 02/03/2011 12:00

lol hi Nancy. chill out! 'twaddle' Grin

bubbleymummy · 02/03/2011 12:01

You're right Missy :)