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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why anyone buys that 'Growing Up' milk stuff?

358 replies

bubbleymummy · 03/05/2011 18:42

No one expects to get their iron content from milk - you get it from the food you eat alongside it (although you shouldn't really drink milk alongside a meal anyway because calcium inhibits iron absorption) so why would you spend money on this product? Does anyone on MN buy it? If so - why?

OP posts:
worldgonecrazy · 05/05/2011 09:55

The entire baby food and baby artificial milk industry and aisle in the supermarket has me completely confused. I tend to just ignore it. Perhaps it would be different if DD was a fussy eater or I had chosen not to bf. DD is also BLW so I have never worried about the amount of food she eats either.

It does seem a bit of a marketing ploy as I have seen many mums automatically think iron+vitamins when discussing follow on milk, so obviously the marketing works.

activate · 05/05/2011 09:57

because they are idiots taken in by baby marketing

there's always a number of them who think they're doing right by their kids - because it's wot da adverts say innit (sniffs)

thaigreencurry · 05/05/2011 10:04

Activate I think its harsh to call the parents "idiots" Hmm.

The parents I know who give follow up milk are doing so because they have genuine concerns about their childrens weight. They aren't guzzling it all day either just a bottle before bed. My friends dd won't drink ordinary milk from a bottle and she needs a bottle because she needs the calories. The dietician has advised her to just give her what she wants.

I have seen those little cartons with the straw and they do look ideal for when you are having a picnic etc. Its a shame that ordinary milk doesn't come in those cartons.

seeker · 05/05/2011 10:05

"They did actually - my uncle was a terrible eater and his health suffered as a result for years."

In what way?

hazeyjane · 05/05/2011 10:09

Activate, I can feel my first Mumsnet, fuck the fuck off coming.

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:10

Babbaluv - if someone has eating which is so disordered that they simply can't sustain normal health, then they need help to address that issue.

If this product is supposed to act as a food replacement then it should be marketed as such.

If it's being marketed as a supplement then it should be made clear in the promotion material that it's not necessary for children who are eating a normal diet.

seeker · 05/05/2011 10:12

Activate - that was snobbish and unhelpful.

"Its a shame that ordinary milk doesn't come in those cartons."

It does. And you could also put fresh milk in a container and chill it - even freeze it - to have out and about.

And since when has fortified milk become a picnic staple.

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:12

"The parents I know who give follow up milk are doing so because they have genuine concerns about their childrens weight"

If their children are genuinely underweight and failing to thrive then they ought to see a paediatrician and have their nutritional problems addressed.

thaigreencurry · 05/05/2011 10:13

Spudlika - I too am amazed at the amount of children who have extreme fussiness when it comes to food.

The official advice seems to be to give the children what they want even if there diet is very limited. Nephew would only eat chicken nuggets, crisps and garlic bread, sil was advised to continue offering what he wanted and to gradually include other foods. He will now eat cheese sandwiches but he is 11 years old so its hardly progress. Hmm

When my two have gone through fussy stages I have done what you are not supposed to do and I have given them whatever we are having, if they eat it then great if they don't they go hungry, and it works neither of them are fussy eaters. According to sil's dietician what I have done is storing up issues for later years.

activate · 05/05/2011 10:14

I don't think idiots is harsh at all tbh

It's like the people who believe the Nigerian I have 300,000 dollars that I need to get out of my country, if you give me your bank account details I will give you 10% of this emails

We had one child who was concerning towards end of 1st year / 2nd year, hospital nutritionist advised chocolate or anything he'd eat for calories - wouldn't have gone anywhere near "growing up" milk even then.

activate · 05/05/2011 10:15

Oh sorry I missed being called "snobbish" - really?

God up yourself much?

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:17

Would like to add, on the 'I like to give them a vitamin fortified product, 'just in case' they're not getting everything they need through food, argument - there is no evidence that adults who take a multi-vitamin 'just in case' have better health than those who don't. Why should it be different for children?

And actually haven't they found higher rates of cancers in people regularly supplementing with vitamin C (or was it E).

It bothers me the thought of all the mums giving their children synthetic vitamins in toddler milk thinking it'll improve their general health, when there's no evidence that it does in adults, and some evidence that supplements can actually cause harm.

thaigreencurry · 05/05/2011 10:17

Spudulika - The two children I was referring to are both under a dietician.

Seeker - I haven't personally bought the cartons but I can see the advantage and I haven't seen ordinary milk in cartons, I have looked because ds1 asked for some when they were being given cartons at nursery.

There are a variety of reasons why parents may buy follow on milk - some may be taken in by the marketing but not all.

thaigreencurry · 05/05/2011 10:19

What so chocolate is better than artifical milk? I find that hard to believe.

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:20

thaigreencurry - we're the same in our family: eat it or go hungry.

Db has done the 'get anything down them for calories' approach with his very well behaved, lovely oldest boy, who now at 6 eats NO fruit or vegetables at all, and has a worrying fondness for preserved meat products. Talk about setting your child up for a lifetime of ill-health....

I noticed that my db has taken a different approach with his two younger children who eat everything.

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:24

"There are a variety of reasons why parents may buy follow on milk - some may be taken in by the marketing but not all."

Hardly anyone would buy a product which costs 10 times as much as the alternative, and isn't as widely available unless they had seen marketing which had persuaded them that it offered health benefits to their child.

By the way - would everyone on this thread agree that children who eat a normal, balanced diet don't need vitamin supplements?

How many of you take supplements yourself?

juneau · 05/05/2011 10:25

Surely it's a vicious circle giving this stuff because if your child isn't eating properly? It's so filling that then they won't have any impetus to eat normal food, whereas giving a vitamin tablet/gummy/etc to address any deficiencies doesn't fill them up.

I think formula companies are charlatans, full stop. They're not allowed (in this country, at least), to market formula to parents of babies under six months old, so they target their products at older children. Hence follow-on milk, growing up milk and all the other unnecessary crap they peddle.

NimpyWindowmash · 05/05/2011 10:29

activate,
My 13 month old child has growing up milk mixed with cow's milk while she gets used the taste of cow's milk and will drink 100% cow's milk. Cow's milk is much less sweet than growing up milk or baby formula, so it takes a bit of getting used to. She eats a good varied diet of normal everyday foods. And I'm not sure if I have even seen an advert for growing up milk.
Thanks for calling me an idiot. I think people who concern themselves so much with other people's shopping and eating habits are fucking loons.

belgo · 05/05/2011 10:29

juneau - not all children will swallow a vitamin tablet, not even if it is shaped like a jelly baby.

dolldaggabuzzbuzz · 05/05/2011 10:33

Because they're suckers?

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:33

Nimpy - how long has she had growing up milk for? You could add a tiny quarter of a teaspoon of sugar to normal milk and reduce it to nothing over the space of a fortnight couldn't you?

Would want to add - why do so many people feel that cows milk products generally are ESSENTIAL for small children?

They're not! Lots of children around the world grow up not drinking cows milk.

Belgo - do you think that giving vitamin supplements to children who are fully weaned is a good idea, given that they're not recommended for adults eating normal diets?

seeker · 05/05/2011 10:35

The people who make this crap are rubbing their hands with glee as they read this thread!

The voices of reason being massively outnumbered byt he others who have bought into the scam. And a gratuitous insult to the buyers of the product just to make sure they are confirmed in their support for it!

Spudulika · 05/05/2011 10:35

Nimpy - the OP is more concerned about parents being pressured and manipulated by massive marketing campaigns into buying expensive, unproven, unnecessary products for their children.

I think that's fair enough, don't you?

clitorisorclitoraint · 05/05/2011 10:38

DD is 15 mo and still breastfed. She won't accept formula of any kind and detests cows milk also.

I have to admit that some of the adverts for follow on & growing up milk do worry me a little. They are worded in such a way as to make me feel that I'm not doing the best by DD for not giving her enough Iron etc.

They are quite cunning.

belgo · 05/05/2011 10:41

clitorisorclitoraint - yes advertising is very cunning, and we are all taken it by it at some point in our lives. That does not make us fools or idiots or suckers and it certainly doesn't make us bad parents.

You can look up the Kellymom website to see why breast milk is still beneficial to your 15 month old baby.