To not understand why anyone cares if other mothers choose to feed their babies breastmilk or formula.

[honeytea]

I am a new mum and have only recently come across the breastfeeding/formula feeding debate.

I breastfeed my DS because it is free and he is growing well and it is easy I don't think we would leave the house if i had to think about bringing steralised bottles and milk with me

I like other people's babies but I can't say I have an opinion on how other women feed their babies, so long as the baby is fed it is really nothing to do with me.

Why do some people care so much about what a baby eats? There are so many things in the world to get angry about, starving children, children with freezing homes, abuse horrid horrid things but so many people seem to get het up about well loved children drinking formula.

Am I missing something?

doublecakeplease don't apologise for your rant. The "support" you were given is horrific. That woman should not be let anywhere near new mums. x

I don't care but I do notice that a bf mum stating her reasons for bf is often taken as an attack on ff - only in forums not noticed it in real life.

Yes there's the folk that like to evangelise but that isn't the majority by any means.

I'm evangelical.

In countries where there are high incidences of bfing, there are smaller gaps between the rich and poor, there are higher taxes, better health, social care and education services. More community spirit and better maternity rights and support.

Why?

Oxytocin spreads a desire for social cohesion, love of your neighbour, empathy and a desire to work as a team as opposed to competitively and individually.

So I care very much that bfing rates are increased.

Doublecake- I know the militants are out there, I know some of them (and they drive me nuts) women trying to bf or thinking about bf do not need to be patronised, preached to or made to feel stupid or like bad mothers. They need accurate information delivered in such a way as to allow them to make a decision based on their own feelings, their own family situation etc. a woman who makes a decision herself is empowered, a woman who feels pressured into a decision feels disempowered, which can exacerbate pnd etc.

Yanbu particularly as even at a population level the benefits of bfing are still pretty paltry in this country.

I also find it bewildering as bf/ff is but one of 100s of parenting choices we make and compared to many choices makes an insignificant difference in comparison.Examples of other choices being diet,exercise,screen time,care of toddlers,sahp v wp,access to books,eating together as a family,use of language,etc

I also think in most other parenting debates eg staying at home or working -a lot more respect and intelligence from those pro are in evidence on threads.

Because they are breast feeding fascists.

Starlight, I think you've got your causation reversed there.

Starlight where do you get your info from?

I doubt it. I think I can safely say that taxation doesn't get oxytocin flowing.

Absolutely bonkers.

Michel Odent, Gabriel Palmer and up and coming research into Autism Spectrum Disorders.

No idea op, with both my children i planned to FF from the second they were concieved, i got many many comments along the lines of 'why dont you just try to breastfeed' ' just give it a go' 'you cant not even try it' .......... nobody seemed to grasp the fact i had no inclination to try it tbh i would rather of stuck pins in my eyes i felt so strongly against not doing it. I was 100% happy with my choice to FF before and after the fact, not sure why it affected others so greatly.

Nice wide range of research there.

We all know breast is best, but its not always is it? Some people simply can't due to medication or simply don't want to.

We have access to clean water, good formula and can sterilise. Formula is simply one of a million choices we make for our children.

Breaks feeding is not a miracle cure all. Go into any reception class and you cannot tell who was breasted and who wasn't.

Breastfed not breasted!

'Breaks feeding is not a miracle cure all.'

It is if it creates a society that is motivated not to sell off their green free exercise space, work together, increase the health budget, extend maternity leave and rights, invest in getting people out of poverty instead of vilifying them, support disabled people to have jobs and lives etc. etc.

But it doesn't. Otherwise we would never have had the industrial revolution when nearly all babies were breasted.

Woman had no power to influence anything at the time of the industrial revolution.

Oh come on Starlight are you for real?

So the world was like that before formula was invented was it?

I wonder if Hitler was FF....

Allonsy I expect it didn't affect those people greatly at all - rather, they probably just cared about you & were trying to be helpful.

If a friend of mine told me that she had "planned to FF from the second she conceived", I would think that was a shame. Not in a judgy way - just a shame that she wasn't going to even try, not even for one feed. And so I would probably say, without one ounce of judgement or nastiness, "why not just give it a go".

If she then decided to FF, fine, doesn't affect me at all.

How much do you care starlight? What do you actually do to HELP more women to breastfeed? (Other than spouting a load of very useful information about breastfeeding & higher taxes!) x

Women were oppressed long before Formula was invented. It's when they started to get a voice that forumula came along.

It was mighty useful as women had to compete as men in order to stand a chance in those days, so disowning their breasts was pretty much the only way they could do it.

I think views like starlights actually hurt the breast feeding message.

What the fuck are you on about starlight? I don't see what breastfeeding has to do with encouraging disabled people to work! X

So it's women's lib that made a difference then, not how babies were fed.

This thread has taken the most bizarre turn...only on MumsNet Lol!

For me I get upset because I hardly ever see people feed in public. Even my sil goes into another room to feed her baby. My DC is 4 and saw someone bf for the first time a few monts ago and was Gobsmacked. I want people to feel comfortable and normal doing it but it is so rare in the uk it is frustrating!