Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think it is shocking boots don't give points on first formula

384 replies

Mrswhiskerson · 07/09/2011 14:34

This was brought to my attention again because a friend of mine has just had a baby tried to breastfeed suffered mastitis and started feeling really down so she switched to formula, when she handed over her advantage card she was told points were not given on first formula , she felt bad enough she could not breast feed and now it feels like she is getting penalised for it elsewhere.

I found the same thing when I had ds a year ago when I was told ,you don't get points for first milk I felt really bad too it's like your being punished for not breastfeeding in a way .

This is in no way a bf vs ff debate I just think it's wrong of boots to do this.

OP posts:
SiamoFottuti · 08/09/2011 20:46

believe it, not everyone needs them, or can afford them.

DawnTiggaWeirdyBeardy · 09/09/2011 12:07

slavetofilofax I had some breastpads given to me and used 2, they are there to pass on. I didn't buy a single bf'ing bra. I did buy some Lanisoh and then had a tube given to me.

HTHTiggaxx

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 09/09/2011 13:07

That's all you spent on breastfeeding?? Really? I spent a good deal more. I got through boxes of breast pads for a good 6 months, I leaked like a tap and had to change them at least 4 times a day. And Lansinoh alone is a tenner a tube. Where are you buying nursing bras so cheaply? I had giant boobs when bfing and had to get underwired ones at £30 a pop. I also had to change and wash my clothes a lot in the early days if I leaked through them. So no, it's not free. But certainly still less expensive than bottlefeeding I suppose.

SiamoFottuti · 09/09/2011 13:13

It's not free for you. Other people= not you.You follow?

TheControversialJessie · 09/09/2011 13:14

I used washable pads from an NCT nearly new sale.

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 09/09/2011 13:20

Are you always so rude siamo? Yes I follow Hmm My point is that those who go without those things are, I imagine, in a significant minority.

Mrswhiskerson · 09/09/2011 13:44

I have read most of this thread and maybe the use of the word shiocking is a bit ott but fgs I think a lot of the over reactions are too and the attitude of some people on here is pretty bad to be honest.
I never said I feed my baby to get points , I would have loved to bf and so would my friend. Boots is the only shop I use which has loyalty points. And yes I do think the way ff mothers are treated is disgusting or the experiences and predjudices myself and other people have faced .
I did not realise it was law but I do now.
And yes I rely on points to get myself deodrant etc because I have no money anyone who looks down on me because of that needs to look at themselves before judging me.
Finally I think every mother should have the right to choose how to feed her baby and have support whether breastfeeding or not. At the hospital the midwives would not help
me feed ds because they were not allowed to ,leaving me after being in labour for two days sore and exhausted trying to feed ds when practically sick with tiredness.
I do not know much about the formula companies and the bad things they do , I will look In to it.

OP posts:
SiamoFottuti · 09/09/2011 13:47

I try. You repeatedly asserted it is NOT free. It is free. If you choose to be the ephemera, thats your choice.

SiamoFottuti · 09/09/2011 13:48

buy, not be. Though you could be it too I suppose.

fuckityfuckfuckfuck · 09/09/2011 13:52

But I didn't choose, that's the thing. It's silly to argue about this, but to bottlefeed you have to buy bottles and sterilisers and things. For me to breastfeed, I had no choice but to get breastpads and bras at the very least. How else was I ever meant to leave the house without a soaking wet top and constant mastitis from ill fitting bras? Just saying, you might see me as being frivolous with money to waste on unnesessary shit. That's not the case at all. That stuff was no more a choice for me than having to buy maternity pads and clothes. I'm sure some people get away with adjustments to their normal clothes. More power to them.

Milsean · 09/09/2011 14:05

Women around the world BF without easy access to Boots. I'd say pp is saying that you didn't need to as in nobody actually physically essentially needs these things, not as in you are frivolus or anything. You can make reusable breastpads quite easily, as well as convert regular bras to nursing bras with a bit of sewing.

qwepoi · 09/09/2011 14:45

Mrswiskerson 'the way ff mothers are treated is disgusting'. Examples please. You do know that by 6 months about 95% of babies are ff, mothers that ff are hardly an oppressed minority! Try feeding your baby in a cafe and being told to leave / do it in the loo.
Also you say that you'd have loved to bf but the midwives in hosp wouldn't feed your baby just after you had given birth, that is becuase if you give a new baby artificial milk it makes bf harder. The reason they won't help mothers ff is to encourage them to bf, which is what you say you wanted to do.

Crosshair · 09/09/2011 14:50

''And yes I rely on points to get myself deodrant etc because I have no money anyone who looks down on me because of that needs to look at themselves before judging me.''

Why shop in boots then :o Not as if its cheap even with points.

upahill · 09/09/2011 15:11

So what do people think of those that both BB and FF?

Moominsarescary · 09/09/2011 15:14

Dont know but the only time I've been made to feel like I'm abit odd in rl is when I've ebf

Eglu · 09/09/2011 16:33

I'd like to know what prejudices you have experienced as a ff mother. I have ff two babies and never experienced 'disgusting treatment'

Moominsarescary · 09/09/2011 16:48

Ive only encountered prejudice on her, never in rl but then I've never experienced prejudice in rl for bf in public either

Moominsarescary · 09/09/2011 16:49

Here not her

Crosshair · 09/09/2011 17:03

Family seem to think its odd that Im considering bf, but pretty much all of them have ff for generations and its the norm.

goodasgold · 09/09/2011 20:27

slavetofilofax no I didn't have any of those things, I was a twenty year old girl. To breastfeed all you need is a) a breast b) a baby.

If you are living in Mali and being given 'free' formula. But you have to mix it with dirty water from the stream that contains excrement, then I would say bf bf bf.

Andrewofgg · 09/09/2011 20:41

If Boots are doing something wrong because the government are forcing them to instead of because of their own crass incompetence I suppose it is something of a first.

InTheNightKitchen · 09/09/2011 21:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ohnoredundo · 09/09/2011 21:27

Formula is such a sinister word for it. It sounds creepy.

Stormfromeast · 09/09/2011 21:29

This is no government regulations or law. This is big companies playing the pc game. Imagine those breastfeeding militants protesting outside Boots if they award points for formula!

Cereal · 09/09/2011 22:08

I don't think so. It just means it's a carefully formulated, tried-and-tested recipe.

"Formula is such a sinister word for it."