to think MN shouldn't support boots co-advertising newborn bottle sets and "follow on" milk

[ICBINEG]

when there's a national campaign on to promote BF?

Presumably this advert passes the letter of the law regarding the non-advertising/non-special offers on formula for new born's but it defies the spirit in every way possible.

AIBU to expect a little more social responsibility from MN?

YABU- MN is for all parents/ future parents BF or not!

I didn't have a pram

I had a hand-me-down BabyBjorn.

FWIW I see very little advertising, we don't have a TV.

Why shouldn't formula be advertised? Yes we all know that breast is best but some people can't or just don't want to...if formula was harmful then I would see why it shouldn't be advertised but loads of babies are formula fed and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them at all. Just because 'breast is best' it doesn't mean that formula shouldn't be seen on tv or other forms of advertising. Breast feeding is not for everyone, each to their own

Broccoli is better than crisps but you can still advertise crisps. It's not a stupid comparison because the food children and adults eat later has a far greater bearing on their lifelong health.

marrianne sorry the whole post wasn't aimed at you but my point is a lot of what we purchase in life we learn about from ads so why shouldn't someone who cannot feed be able to see ads about something that they need to purchase.

I don't like or agree about the way formula is described as close to breastmilk as it is not. I see what the op is saying. Formula is not like Breast milk and shouldn't be advertised as such. I'm not sure about the advertising of formula - not the way it is done.

Infant formula advertising was banned because it was decided that women shouldn't be exposed to commercial pressure about such an important topic as feeding their baby.

So the companies invented follow on formula in order to maintain the high public profile of their brand.

If mumsnet doesn't support the advertising of newborn formula they shouldn't support the advertising of follow on formula.

"Broccoli is better than crisps but you can still advertise crisps.

If crisps were the sole food of the majority of UK children (like formula is of children under 6 months) then I would fully support a ban on advertising them.

I am FULLY for all mothers having information about bottlefeeding and formula.

But this information should come from an impartial source.

IE - they shouldn't be reliant on COMMERCIAL MARKETING in making a choice as important as their child's sole nutritional intake for the first six months of life.

Sorry if I'm jumping in, only made it to page 6! But thought I'd throw my hat in...

I am EBF DC1 at the moment. I express so that my co-parent, DH, can feed DS when I'm not there. If bottles are so bad (and a ban on advertising bottles implies this) then how can we possibly have anything close to gender equality when it comes to caring for little babies?

Oh, and the country with the highest rates of breastfeeding in the developed world? Norway.

98% of mums leave hospital breastfeeding in Norway.

And Norway has only two companies who are allowed to market baby milk - these companies do not freely promote their products as they do in the UK. This has been the case since the 1980's.

I think that's a red herring tbh IceNoSlice.

I don't think my partner needed to bottle feed our DC to be an equal parent. By all means do so if it is what suits you, but really, its not essential for gender equality.

Please take this post in the manner it was intended TikTok but how do you get alerted to all bf/ff threads? It's great that you are here and come and talk facts and experience but I've often wondered if a siren goes off or if MNHQ send you a carrier pigeon ?

Sorry, unnecessary diversion. As you were.

'Equal' doesn't have to mean 'the same'.

I've got the breasts, I do the breastfeeding. My partner supported me in every way he could and he is very much an equal parent despite having never given our 2.4 yr old a bottle. He'd probably be rather annoyed at an insinuation that he isn't!

Of course, if you want to express or use formula so that another adult can share the feeding of your baby that is a perfectly valid choice. But its absolutely not an essential part of being an equal parent.

Ice - bottles are not 'bad'.

Breastfeeding is very low profile in the UK except within the NHS. In commercial materials aimed at parents it's pretty much invisible. It's invisible in in mainstream media and in public life.

For the welfare of babies we need to stop thrusting bottles and formula in people's faces. For some women that's all they know. They see bottles and formula everywhere - including page after page after page of advertising in magazines.

As for equality - the majority of breastfeeding mothers around the world don't have paid maternity leave and have to work and share the care of their children. This has been the case since the dawn of time. I went back to work when my first was 5 weeks old, and worked after having both my last two children. Somehow they thrived without bottles and formula. It is possible. It is possible to be a wonderful, committed dad without having to be involved in bottle feeding your child.

But I have to be on hand. He couldn't have DS in his sole care for longer than 2.5 hours, whereas I could have him for days and days (well, forever really).

But where does that leave women at the moment?

If you ask for help with FF at the hospital or from other HCPs, you're told that they're not allowed to discuss formula specifics with you, because breast is best.

If you don't agree with formula adverts, where do you think women should get this information?

And if you think it should be okay for midwives and HVs to explain all about formula, isn't this just as undermining of BF as adverts would be? Perhaps even more, given it's midwives, not big corporations giving the information?

I was totes going to breast feed, but Aptamil sent me the sweetest cuddly polar bear through the post, so after that I thought, "ahhh fuck it. it's formula for you DS. My tits never sent me a bear"

I love the weird assumption here that adverts tell you what you need to know about a product.

This idea that adverts help parents make informed decisions about how they feed their babies.

I bet most people who bottlefeed spend more time researching what buggy to buy than they do their child's sole source of nutrition for the first six months of life.

I think it shows just how in thrall people are to branded products that they're so uncynical, and so TRUSTING of these companies.

Why are you so obsessed with banning everything related to ff? Nobody's stopping you from shoving bf propaganda down women's throats. Mothers who ff need information on the products available, their needs (and their babies) are more important than your personal ideology. All the preaching in the world won't feed a starving baby whose mother can't breastfeed them for whatever reason.

I bet most people who bottlefeed spend more time researching what buggy to buy than they do their child's sole source of nutrition for the first six months of life.

Did you mean to sound so twuntish?

catgirl

Shag I may be misreading your post but are you saying that you did not use bottles but were able to return to work when your babies were weeks old. How did this work in practice? Not sure my boss or clients would appreciate me nipping home and the hour long round trip would make it tricky. Also as I breastfed on demand I may have had to have the equivalent of a bat signal when DD needed feeding.

loads of babies are formula fed and there's absolutely nothing wrong with them at all

Source?

I was totes going to breast feed, but Aptamil sent me the sweetest cuddly polar bear through the post, so after that I thought, "ahhh fuck it. it's formula for you DS. My tits never sent me a bear"

I bloody love you cat

Twunt-tastic.

I bet most people who bottlefeed spend more time researching what buggy to buy than they do their child's sole source of nutrition for the first six months of life.

Eh what are you saying