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?

OP, if you think it's socially irresponsible to advertise a product, then you must inherently think that product is bad, or that people shouldn't use it.

If you can't admit to this, then there is no point taking anything else you say seriously.

Personally I am glad that some women choose to formula feed, it meant that when I had no choice to FF due to next to no milk production, the formula I chose was as close to breast milk as possible. Due to the Formula companies having the money to spend on research and improving formula.

If I had a third baby I would try to breast feed again. So obviously all that marketing of bottles and follow on milk has had no effect on my principles and choices.

But I have formula to thank for my happy and and healthy DS's. Without they'd be dead.

Do you think advertising offers enough accurate and unbiased information to make an informed choice on the back of, though?

I don't.

I'd rather formula wasn't advertised at all, and instead the companies passed the savings onto parents in the form of permanently reduced prices. Formula is disgustingly overpriced for what it is, which is dried milk with some vitamins and oils added - that's because those who need to use it are paying for all that advertising and cuddly cows through the inflated prices they pay for the product.

And they should make a contribution to a independently run information resource for those who need it, that gives accurate information on ingredients of each brand and how they are tested etc, correct ways to mix/store formula, details on mixed feeding and so on.

Sirzy - read a book called The Politics of Breastfeeding. Pretty much covers it.

I guess Lambert & Butler can start marketing their own range of children's toys, after all, children need something to play with and nobody in their right mind is going to link the two and be influenced by it!

oh fgs please stop it you look like an idiot

OP you are maybe coming over a tad self-righteous here.

Yes formula advertising is banned, so they cant publish adverts and make false claims regarding the merits of FF over BF as they used to which quite possibly in the past did sway people.

I havent seen this advert I have to say but if its along the lines of the aptimil one which clearly states We Know BreastMilk is best for your Baby but if you DO decide to move on heres a Fluffy Polar Bear, then I cant see what there is to get worked up about.

From what I have been reading lately and hearing are people not moving away from the "Breast is best" stick beating and more towards education and help, which is a much better approach in my opinion.

WillSucceed - Honestly, I don't know. I think it should be advertised so that mothers have the options available for their own reasons. It seems a bit hysterical to ban those adverts, it does nothing but put a bigger stigma on formula feeding, forcing mothers who are unable to breastfeed to keep trying through guilt manipulation and end up with very unhealthy and underfed babies. That's taking it to extremes but it could happen.

The government has determined that formula adds for newborns are socially irresponsible.

Formula companies side step that by advertising follow on etc. which side steps the letter of the law but is obviously equally irresponsible.

I thought MN might like to take a spirit of the law stand rather than the letter of the law.

That is all.

hemlet if you could swap advertising on TV for having to sit through guilt trips in antenatal appointments wouldn't that be better though?

You don't miss adverts that you don't see. You can't help noticing the agenda during antenatal classes.

If we could preserve or improve our BF rate and at the same time reduce the guilt tripping of new mums, wouldn't that be a good thing?

OP

You have still not admitted that you do care how others feed their babies. You say you don't but how could you be so anti the advertising if you truly don't care how others feed their children.

Do you not think that worrying how others feed their babies when in most cases it makes not one jot of difference and in some cases saves lives is a tad ridiculous when you probably think nothing of putting your kid/s in the back of a car?

Why is it equally irresponsible to advertise follow on milk.

Not everyone wants to BF forever. In fact many people who are struggling with breast feeding, or who have to go back to work see 6 months as an achievement and want to use follow on milk.

Why should they be stopped from making those choices because on your say so?

Not all formula is "the same". My ds had terrible reflux and colic on SMS gold. On the advice of the hv we switched to aptimil an he was fine!

According to my hv aptimil is supposed to be the closest substitute to breast milk. It's information like that which is helpful to myself as a ff mother

I think the formula ad ban is pretty ridiculous tbh. It's pretty drastic for a product that actually does not do any harm (I stress: in the UK).

I can't be the only one who's received store coupons that say 'can't be used for tobacco, alcohol or formula', and thought, WTF?

You can advertise beer, McDonalds and all the other crap that actually does massively affect people's health. The fact that out of all that, they choose to ban formula ads, strikes me as massively patronising toward women, guided by this idea that we're too stupid to know what's best for us.

queen absolutely! Information is fine...advertising is not. It is very hard to unpick the concious info from an advert (the words) from the unconsious (the whole vibe of the thing).

A FF advert will say "breast is best" and then pump a megawatt of "but look who easy loving and fantastic FF is" into the images/music etc.

It would be better for the NHS to give out info on the formula brands and ban the advertising, MASSIVELY.

But why shouldn't the criminal fraternity amongst us, me included, be advertised to? If you are a BFer, good for you. Lots of us didn't choose to or couldn't. If you can promote the positive image of one side of it, isn't it a bit arrogant to say we should censor the other side?

Why is it equally irresponsible to advertise follow on milk.

because anything other than breastmilk is poison according to some and babies and toddlers should only have breastmilk it is probably an advertisers dream not to promote extended breastfeeding too

Or it helps to make people who cannot BF less of a failure, knowing that there is an alternative.

What do you think the spirit of the law is OP? To not advertise formula at all? Do you think MN is being socially irresponsible for running adverts for baby products which many of us buy and use?

Laws are laws, there was no doubt plenty of pontificating done at the time.

And fwiw posts like yours on MN do far more to influence my feelings about how I feed my baby than any advertising. Peer-to-peer you see. So I feed my baby formula and feel constantly guilty about it, even though I tried and failed to bf. I plan to ff my second as its such a black and white decision for people like you, you probably think I'm a bad mother. Or a victim of socially irresponsible advertising.

Anyway - I'm pretty sure different health outcomes for bf and ff babies have been shown to be down to income, education, parenting and nutrition through solids anyway.

dreaming You can read any number of articles/headlines/ anything really and see that FF costs the NHS millions every year. The idea that it does no harm (on average) is not correct. It is a tiny difference in risk for each individual baby and you could NEVER know if you own personal feeding method made any difference (positive or negative) but added up over the millions of babies in the country is DOES make a difference.

Oh dear. I think YABU.
There's 'a national campaign to promote BF', ergo all advertising of formula and bottles should be banned?

Meh. Personally I'd love to live in a world without adverts, but I don't.

Advertising is basically lies. This or that brand of formula will not make my baby healthier, any more than a bowl of Special K in the morning will magically make me taller, thinner and wearing a red dress everywhere.

By the same token, I would really love to live in a world where the 'campaign to promote BF' stopped at medically proven facts, rather than bleating on about "It makes you feel wonderful and gives you a closer bond with your baby", which in my case was complete crap on both counts. One particular DVD issued with the Bounty pack a couple of years ago was especially bad on that count.

You have to click this to even ENTER Aptimil site.

Breastfeeding is best for babies and provides many benefits. It is important that, in preparation for and during breastfeeding, you eat a healthy, balanced diet. Combined breast and bottle feeding in the first weeks of life may reduce the supply of your own breastmilk, and reversing the decision not to breastfeed is difficult. The social and financial implications of using an infant milk should be considered. Improper use of an infant milk or inappropriate foods or feeding methods may present a health hazard. If you use an infant milk, you should follow manufacturer?s instructions for use carefully ? failure to follow the instructions may make your baby ill. Always consult your doctor, midwife or health visitor for advice about feeding your baby.

Icbineg, yes I do think it would be a great thing. Unfortunately things aren't as black and white as that. So many women can't BF, or won't for their own reasons. I don't think anyone should be made to feel guilty for their decisions.

I understand (from mrsjay) that the ban is to promote BF rather than FF, but I think it's going too far, there should be strict guidelines along the lines of not being allowed to promote it above BF rather than banning it altogether.

But as I say, I'm only pregnant with my first and perhaps am not 'qualified' enough to have any real standing in this debate. It's just what I think really. That's not being snipey by the way :)

I wasn't convinced by a formula advert not to bf. with dd bein honest I just didn't want to, I find whole idea quite creepy for me personally. With ds I wanted to try given the abuse I suffered from bf mothers with dd but I wasn't able. I was apart from him for over 24hrs after his birth and he was in scbu. When I was able to attemp to bf him he didn't want to and was well established as a ff. I chose to continue that as it was critical that he gain weight.