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

[MissyKLo]

...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?!!!!!!

If you put your baby in a car with a lesser NCAP rating they are at increased risk of serious harm if they are involved in an accident.

It would be highly emotive language to say that the car is harmful, however. Perhaps a bit scaremongery.

altinkum - it does put them at greater risk. They MAY not actually have more ear infections/respiratory infections/etc etc but they ARE at greater risk.

But cleo, how will I know what my DS might have been had he been bf more than 6 weeks? How will I know if his IQ would have been 2 points higher? It does not prove that ff is harmful.
IQ can be affected by how much stimulation babies get, and blood pressure/weight by their childhood diet. A fat adult may or may not have been ff, but one thing does not cause the other...

FF babies are not more likely to grown into fat adults if they follow a healthy diet and exercise. Indeed a bf baby is more likely to grow into a fat adult if is weaned on trash. Bf won't save any child from being overweight if they eat trash and don't exercise.

Maternal influence and genes have waaaaay more influence on IQ(and I suspect a good diet). The IQ theory was also challenged some years back.It was only 3 points or so anyway so woooopy do even if whatever study was correct which it's highly likely it wasn't there being soo little in it.

Blood pressure is gene led and totally effected by lifestyle and diet.

So Cleo you can most certainly deny that ff is harmful to infants.

Tosh to diabetes too,I thought Bubbly was educated on this subject last week.

Not sure what you think I am saying that is any different Milamae....

"not every child who doesn't get BF is going to have gut problems, intestine problems, eczema, asthma etc... so it doesn't put them at a greater risk, however it may."

Errr. No. I didn't say that they ALL would. Only that they are MORE LIKELY TO than children who were breastfed. In other words, they are AT INCREASED RISK.

TattyDevine - can we not compare the outcomes for breastfeeding and formula feeding to the safety of different types of consumer products? It makes no sense at all. Breastfeeding is to bottlefeeding as natural conception is to IVF, or as having a colostomy is to emptying your own bowels through your rectum, or as breathing is to being ventilated.

There is no fixed, unchanging norm with consumer products against which to measure the benefits or disadvantages of another product. It is all relative. Unlike with infant feeding.

any different to what I was saying last week I mean.

True, Cleo, I do see what you are saying re fixed, unchanging norm for comparitive purposes. But with regards to increased risk and the emotive language which is used to discuss this, I think the analogy was relevant.

"FF babies are not more likely to grown into fat adults if they follow a healthy diet and exercise. Indeed a bf baby is more likely to grow into a fat adult if is weaned on trash. Bf won't save any child from being overweight if they eat trash and don't exercise."

No, but if you take two identical babies, one ff and one bf and feed them on a similar diet, the one ff baby is more likely to end up fat.

And a bf baby is less likely to grow into a fat adult, even when weaned on trash, than a ff baby who is also fed on trash. That's because bf is thought to have a protective effect against obesity - something to do with the way fat cells are laid down in infancy.

"Maternal influence and genes have waaaaay more influence on IQ(and I suspect a good diet)"

Well of course they do! But 5 IQ points are not to be sniffed at (and it was 5 by the way, not 3!)!

#2Blood pressure is gene led and totally effected by lifestyle and diet.~"

Yes, primarily. But infant feeding also has a measurable effect on bp in adolescence.

"So Cleo you can most certainly deny that ff is harmful to infants~"

What - on the strength of your analysis of the health issues? I think not!

Do tell more about the effective protection against obesity and give links because sorry you're speaking total utter cobblers. Nothing can protect you against obesity if you eat shite and don't exercise,absolutely nothing. Genes may have an impact but it aint going to stop you getting fat if you eat more than you burn off.

5 points is to be sniffed at as it's diddly squat and the research was challenged.

Re bp again tosh. Bp can be genetic and is effected by what you eat,this changes if you change your diet.BF isn't going to help your bp 1 iota if you smoke too much and eat too much salt.

So sorry ff is not harmful to infants.

I believe the IQ link was recently debunked

Just wanted to say to Capricorn that there is no way you should feel bad for having done all you can to bf - your perseverance was/is amazing

Makes me at how some people argue the points over the benefits of bf even though bf has shown to have lifelong benefits...

So, OK, FF might put a baby at INCREASED RISK of various things..... but exactly how much increased risk. No one ever seems to quantify this with any degree or certainty. If FF is HARMFUL to kids why is it even legal? And are Mothers who have no choice but to ff harming their kids?? Second rate mothers??

Mila - no one is saying that breastfeeding is a get out of jail free card for the rest of your life. Of course what you eat/whether or not you exercise makes a difference BUT if you compare a FF person with a BF person with the same diet and lifestyle the FF person is more likely to be obese.

I'm getting deja vu here...

I think we should get back to the OP because if last week's thread is anything to go by we could be here for days and get nowhere! :)

Bubbly I'd like to see a link saying that.

Cleo thought you might like to read up on BP.

www.infobloodpressure.com/factors-affecting-BP-readings.html

Funny formula doesn't seem to be on the list.

Oh, MilaMae, c'mon, they are talking about then and there! Not past factors - what can change your reading AT THE TIME.

Try harder!

You might like to click on risk factors too,nope no mention of formula there either.

Don't think I'll worry my pretty little head any time yet.

Oh dear - my son, lactose intolerant from birth - really doesn't stand a chance then, does he? What a load of old cobblers!! Or are these threads designed to TRY to make us FF feeders feel second-class and that our children are all DOOMED, Mr Mainwaring, WE'RE ALL DOOMED??

amothersplace - formula is the least harmful alternative available to breastmilk (mother's own or donated)- that doesn't mean that it doesn't have any risks - it is just less risky than the alternatives. (sugared water/condensed milk etc)

You still haven't told us what these "risks" are if it's prepared correctly.