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

[Mrswhiskerson]

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.

It's SHOCKING that you don't get points for buying infant formula!

At the very LEAST each tin should come with a free packet of fags to help you cope with the guilt!

There are lots of things companies are not allowed to give points for eg fags.

Re mastitus....I had loads of bouts in UK with first 2 kids.....got it here in South Africa and when I was sent for infra-red type treatment I was well pi**ed off and was shouting "give me the friggin' antibitocs....thats all that works"

I sat there chuntering for 30 minutes as they directed some sort of heat treatment at naughty breast.....but it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!! supposed to go for 5 sessions, needed 2. Got immediate relief after 10 minutes!

Flippin" miracle. Honestly!

Previously I have had days of crying with the pain in the UK.

Ask your GP. Can't remember exact name but am sure if you google it'll come up.

slavetofilofax please do not use my name to bash ff, I directed my remark at people who put people down because of how they feed their baby,
imo the holier than thou posters who bleat on about how bad ff is need to get a life.

Reality I'm not sure about specific vegan formulas but you can get soya based formula which you can buy in boots (you don't get any points thought ) but I think its something that you would discuss with GP/Pediatrican/HV before using.

I'm not using your name to bash ff. I'm not bashing ff. I'm stating facts. And agreeing with you!

Reality, you can get vegan formula made from soya. Also some of the hypoallergenic ones you can get for dairy allergies are vegan.

I am really interested to know, has anybody ever met a mum that would base her feeding choices on the availability of boots points?
Those that think it is unreasonable to give points do you really think there is one woman in the whole country who had decided to breast feed but then changed her mind because she would get 9p worth of points for every £9 she spent?

oh and giving your baby a bottle of formula does not compare to buying it 20 B&H or a G&T

Make it stop.

Well truth often looks like rudeness to liars. Do I look bothered to you --->

yawn yawn yawn. Anyone who can't understand this simple one is a moron. BF= no financial incentive, FF= no financial incentive. All of you arguing any other point= moron.

"Shocking" is a bit strong a word. Annoying is perhaps best. There are other places to buy formula from and many of them don't even have loyalty points cards.

They don't allow points on prescriptions charges either.

Would it not be cheaper to buy formula in Morrisons or Asda (without points schemes) than it would be to buy in boots even once you'd deducted money saved in points (which is a false economy because you can only spend the points on boots more expensive products anyway)? If a points scheme causes you that much heartache it's really worth considering.

Yes, points should be given for formula if points are given for breastfeeding Mums too .

Note to self, get bar code for boobs for next time I visit Boots.

"oh and giving your baby a bottle of formula does not compare to buying it 20 B&H or a G&T"

No, of course not.

On the other hand mothers are told that not breastfeeding may impact on a baby's health and development and that therefore that however they decide to feed your baby, it's a very important decision, with possible long term implications for them both.

That makes it different from buying nappies or weaning foods, and it makes sense to me that the government should - as far as it can - discourage the use of normal commercial marketing strategies designed to work on the anxieties and raw emotions of parents. (because let's face it - ads for follow on don't contain information about the product that allows parents to make a meaningful comparison between brands. It's all about emotional manipulation)

I don't understand why people don't just buy the cheapest formula available.

After all, it's probably no different from the formula they were fed on as babies, and, as we all know, nobody knows anyone fed on formula who's ever suffered ill-health and been able to attribute this to how they were fed in infancy.

I just wish that people who chose to stop bf - like the op's friend - would stop saying they could not bf. Not being able to bf is rare. Most people stop bf because it is really hard and hard to persevere through the problems. I did persevere through so hearing people say they could not when it was actually that they stopped always make me

wildhairrunning - do you know the op's friend? how do you know she chose to stop? This is the problem with breast feeding threads - just because you could do it doesn't mean everyone can.

Wildhair - how many animals on farms are fed formula? Very, very few and nearly always because their mother has abandoned them not because they didn't have enough milk or other such excuse.

You are right, breastfeeding is very difficult and not for everyone but I too hate hearing people say they "couldn't" breastfeed when invariably it was just too difficult for them to persevere.

You may not directly get points for bf - but in my local town, Boots is the only place I can buy Johnson's breast pads (my preferred choice), and I DO get points on those.

So while I can understand that they can't do this by law, and I am still bf'ing 7mo DS3 (and have bf my older 3 dc too), I still think it is unfair - due to essential meds, I had to give up bf DS2 at 3mo - why shouldn't I have got points on the formula, when I had no choice but to ff at that point?

I am no longer on those meds, hence bf'ing DS3 for longer, but OP, YANBU, it IS unfair that I can get points on my breast pads, and your friend can't on the formula.

Well I COULDN'T bf DS2 for longer than 3 months - the epilepsy medication I was put on at that point comes through in your milk and could have affected his liver function.

What kind of weirdy world of entitlement makes the OP post? The Job of any company is to make money, pay their bills, pay their staff, and hopefully make a bit of money.

Don't confuse business with public services. You choose/can't bf your baby, your choice. Don't expect businesses to subsidise your choices.

loudlass it isn't unfair - you can get points for your breast pads, a formula feeder can get points on bottles, teats, sterilisers etc. It's only the formula itself that doesn't earn points.

theredhen "I too hate hearing people say they "couldn't" breastfeed when invariably it was just too difficult for them to persevere."

"invariably"? Really? Your view is that always, in every case, without exception, every woman who says she couldn't breastfeed really just didn't persevere because she found it difficult.

How incredibly ignorant.

It defeats me why each tin of formula doesn't come with a big stick for you to beat yourself up with whilst using. Would save the know-alls of MN doing the job.