To start a thread about boots not giving "points" for formula

[Kab13]

Saw someone complaining about how she had breasted for 10 months and went into boots to buy some formula and couldn't collect points on her boots card because boots don't allow it (when buying formula for under 2's I believe).
I'm breastfed for 12 months then moved onto formula & it never really bothered me that boots didn't give points out for buying formula for children under two.
I kind of get it but can't help but feel if you really struggled to breast feed and chose to move on to formula for whatever reason this could make a new mum feel ridiculously guilty (even more than she did before)
What about mums that CANT breast feed? I do think it's a little unfair on them... Someone who worked at boots commented on this lady's status saying that they can not promote formula use (give rewards for buying it) by LAW. Really ?

Didn't know there was another thread.
Would've just referred to it if I had...sorry

I don't get points for DD's medicines, but that doesn't make me feel guilty for getting her prescription made up. If a mother can't breastfeed, then formula is as necessary as medicine. It's not as though breastfeeding mothers are getting points on their advantage cards every time their baby latches on. Formula is bloody expensive, but a lot of that down to the huge marketing budget of formula companies, which promotions only encourage.

I don't think there's another current thread. It's just one of those subjects that crops up pretty frequently.

I can't think if any successfully breast feeding mother who would CHOOSE to start buying formula just because it's on offer.
Or a mother who bottle feeds buying MORE formula than her baby needs because it's on offer.

If the government/World Health Organisation were being consistent, we would have the same rules in place for HFSS foods (foods high in fat, sugar and/or salt). There are some advertising restrictions, but you can collect Nectar/clubcard points for crisps, kit-kats etc.

I find it bizarre because there about a hundred other more effective ways to promote and support breastfeeding rather than withholding points!

How about training midwives to detect tt and separate
Providing proper education and support so that fewer people are left thinking they 'can't bf', 'don't have enough milk', 'want their baby to sleep through the night' etc.

not allowed points/offers on first milk but it is allowed on follow on and toddler milks. Didnt bother me and I ff 2 children.

It is a pretty silly law, like the idea that you might get say 1% discount in points would make you think it was worth spending £10 a box on the stuff and ditch the free breastfeeding! I doubt many people choose ff based on cost, it is a really emotive thing and lots of people struggle. To then be told you cant benefit from buying it due to govt policy is a bit of a kick up the arse, especially if you couldn't bf or the doctors forced you to give formula against your wishes before you left hospital! Ironically i believe that the healthy start vouchers can be used for formula, which means that for the poorest, for whom the cost would actually be a large deciding factor, could get it free anyway correct me if i am wrong on that

Why would not getting Points make someone feel guilty? You don't get Points for feeding your baby, however you do it. It's not like the BFing mothers get Points; they don't

This

They only withold points as that would count as a promotion and is not allowed by law

the vouchers would not cover a tub of formula so they wont get it free

Because it's suggesting you are buying something they consider unworthy of points. Ie food for your baby because you've chosen not to breastfeed/can't/whatever your reason.
It upset me and I didn't even use it in the end. I was upset and felt guilty just considering buying it as I had been told repeatedly that breast feeding is best for my baby.

I think imagining someone who BFs buying some formula, just in case, because it is on offer is in the same category as imagining someone who FFs caring about promotional points. Both are hard to imagine unless you put yourself in someone else's highly emotional, exhausted shoes and add in a dollop of "being a bit daft."

You don't get points on medications either, maybe try to think of formula being in a category with medicine instead of shampoo and make up. Perhaps a better campaign would be asking retailers to train their staff in how to word the exemptions so as not to hit a nerve. Would someone saying "formula milk is considered an essential, medical product for babies that cannot be BF and therefore is exempt from advertisers and promotions" have been ok?

You got all of that from not getting some points?

Receiving points which can be redeemed against the cost of other non-related items is a financial incentive, you'd have to be pretty dim to choose to FF for this reason but the legislation is there, not as a deterrent per se, but to steer mothers towards BFing in line with WHO guidelines.

Nobody should be benefitting finandially from having a child and giving a reward for FFing would seem unfair to BFing mothers.

It frustrates that Formula marketing/promotion/pricing is as equally strictly controlled as cigarettes, and much more strict than alcohol. Like formula is a Bad Thing.

Formula milk doesnt kill, lessen your lifespan and hasnt been proven to be a cancer risk, yet it gets lumped in with cigarettes and alcohol in its retrictions.

I know breast is best. I know breastfeeding is something the government wants all women to be doing,but how we feed our babies is a choice as there are two healthy choices out there. Only one is not allowed to be advertised.

I also am of the mindset that if men breastfed and knew exactly how fucking hard it can be, theyd be less likely to sit in their government health boardrooms and basically try and shoehorn all women down the BFing path.

We are adults. We know our own bodies and minds. Whether or not someone can collect advantage points on formula isnt going to be enough to make them turn tk formula.

It's not about fears that women will consciously choose to ff to collect clubcard points.
It's about the subconscious effects of advertising and promotions on our choices.

Advertising works, that is why companies spend so much on it.

If someone is feeling unhappy about needing formula, being told that they can't earn clubcard points may trigger strong emotions at the till, but they are not upset about the points, they are upset about not being able to breastfeed.

More importantly, not allowing advertising or promotion of newborn formula aims to let parents make informed decisions about feeding their baby free from commercial pressures.

I say 'aims to' because formula companies have plenty of tricks up their sleeves.

If you would like formula to be cheaper ask the formula companies why it is so expensive. The basic ingredients are pretty cheap. The newer fancy ingredients do not have an evidence base of advantage over standard formula.

It's not just boots, and it's not just formula. You can't get nectar points for it either, and none of the supermarkets give or let people use points for tobacco or alcohol products.

It's not about buying something that is 'unworthy' of points, it's to stop the companies from promoting it full stop, it's shades of grey all the way. What starts as regular points becomes double points, then triple points, buy one get the value back in points, buy one get double the value back, vouchers for free formula in bounty packs, free formula in bounty packs, free 'starter kits' in bounty packs. There has to be an absolute line because unless it's 'all or nothing' the formula promoters will find a loophole.

lady I certainly did. It may have even be the thing that guilted me into not using the formula I brought. So it worked! Just made me feel fecking awful.
Madness to you maybe but in my emotional "I've failed my baby state" it was very real.

"Because it's suggesting you are buying something they consider unworthy of points"

No, no, no - think about the whole point of promotions and advertising - they are to sell people crap they don't need or to entice you to buy it from one person over another - things "worthy" of promoting are things that are difficult to shift otherwise! There are African villages where people who don't have clean water can recognise the Coca Cola logo - that doesn't make Coke more worthy than drinking water, just because an advertiser has got on the case!

Formula/tobacco/alcohol
That's probably why it hit a nerve.

In those cases it wasn't strictly that the formula was bad, it was more that the families weren't able to steralise bottles, use hot water to prepare the formula powder safely etc, whilst a boob doesn't need steralising.