formula

[Emma2506]

Ok so I don't want to turn this into a whole ff vs bf war but I find it highly offensive to ff mums who can't collect advantage points/clubcard points, shops aren't allowed to have any offers on etc for formula. I understand it's the LAW but why is it acceptable to have deals on alcohol yet ff mums are penalised for choosing to ff or not being able physically able to bf? I know the excuse is shops promote breast feeding but I'm struggling to get my head around why a bf mum would buy formula just because it's on offer if she is doing well bf and it's FREE!

I agree. My baby is adopted (with very little notice so couldn't try to create breast milk myself).
I found it incredibly frustrating that formula was so expensive and my health visitor would not discuss or help me with formula decisions as it's their policy to promote breastfeeding.

I would have loved to breastfeed tbh

I do think that it's not about being penalised but I feel annoyed that a product I buy (could be any product) is excluded from getting points. I spent the money on it, at that store.

Saying that, I do online shopping at Tesco my shop is £80 inc formula - I get 80 points

Women sold be discouraged at all cost from formula feeding. Breastfeeding is the best start you can give your child. If you choose not to, or are in the small minority who cannot, then you shouldn't be rewarded. Why should you?

Why the fuck are you on the computer? Shouldn't you be teaching little Einstein hoe to play the 5th symphony while feeding him organic homegrown vegetables and singing to him in mandarin?

The best, it's a funny thing 'the best' isn't it.

My mum bf me for a year but she smoked through her pregnancy and all over us even as newborn babies, she also fed is on microwave shite and fizzy drinks.

I don't feel like I had the best start.

There are lots of things that contribute to a good start bf is one of many things you can do and nobody gets everything 100% perfect.

I'm not sure why people say formula is expensive. My chunk guzzles 7oz bottles we use about tub a week that's £10.

£10 to feed a baby for a week? And child benefit covers that.

If you can stop advertising for formula you can easily stop advertising for formula promotions.

Sorry, I don't follow? It's not about advertising formula promotions.

The act of promotion is detrimental to mothers and babies (including ff babies. The banning of promotions is in part to protect that group). It isn't about whether that promotion is advertised.

I'm of the thought that BF mums don't get loyalty points for their milk so no points for either BF of FF parents seems fair to me. The formula companies are all about profit so do have dubious marketing ploys. My uncle worked for one formula and baby food company as a sales rep (think he retired about 15 years ago now) and they were able to try and sell their products to BF mums at 6 weeks as this was classed a common age for people to quit as too tired etc. I don't know the exact sales pitch but this was in the UK. Obviously they wouldn't be able to do that now bit felt this was very wrong and as for their ploys overseas....

What is detrimental about loyalty points? If it has a long effect on the rates of bf...maybe consider these women didn't really want to bf in the first place?

No one who really wants to bf will change their mind over loyalty points

I'm of the thought that BF mums don't get loyalty points for their milk

They don't pay for their milk either

Nutella is just a GF, ignore.

I wish formula was cheaper. There's no excuse for keeping the prices consistently high - seeing cheap formula isn't going to discourage breastfeeding, because breast milk is free, so that argument would be null and void. That said, healthy start vouchers are available and child benefit can go some way towards paying for it, but I still think we'd benefit from having more "own-brand" style formula - still with strict, rigorous rules, having to meet health standards etc, but not as expensive because you're not paying for the marketing budget of the current "Big Three" (plus it would stop the sanctimonious people from banging on about "BY BUYING FORMULA YOU'RE SUPPORTING THEM TO MAKE THEIR ADVERTS AND KILL BABIES").

I do, however, totally agree with no promotions or loyalty card points on formula milk. Partly because the formula companies need to be kept on a very tight leash, and for every inch you give, they'll take a mile, and partly because - as this thread has shown - it will be used as another stick to bash formula feeding parents with. In addition to the comments about "feeding them at arms' length" and "using formula because it's more convenient", we'd have "You care about Clubcard points more than you care about your baby", and we don't need to give the Sanctimommies any more ammunition - they're capable of finding it in the stupidest places already.

What do women do when they are so anti formula because of XYZ but then have a child that they can't BF??

No one is suggesting a woman planning to bf suddenly goes "oooh, loyalty points". Women are not idiots.

But promotion of ffing does have measurable (and repeatedly measured, in proper, recent studies. Particularly in the US) effects on bfing rates. Changes that cannot be explained by saying 'those women didn't want to bf' (If it was as simple as capturing a share of a fixed market, bfing wouldn't decline in areas where heavy formula promotion takes place).

And part of promoting a product is giving loyalty points on it. And we need a clear line that says NO promotion. Because any hint of a blur and formula companies exploit it - as seen with follow on milk.

Unimaginative - most normal women aren't 'anti formula'. You can think it's a marvellous product for those who need, or who want, to use it and STILL think that the companies who produce it are untrustworthy shits a lot of the time.

priority then what are you suggesting? Perhaps women felt pressure to breastfeed and then decided as formula was clearly advertised "maybe ff isn't so bad!" And stopped bfing.

What reason would you suggest for it making a difference?

I really do not see the problem

It's not about the points or about persuading people to BF. Formula marketers have proven themselves to be underhand. They send reps dressed similar to medical staff into hospitals - yes, even in "first world countries", before they were disallowed. I don't want people persuaded either way, I want parents to be able to make an informed choice. Being given marketing disguised as information by somebody they mistake for a health professional is not an informed choice. And if you think this is far fetched, think about the way Bounty reps and those photo sellers behave on postnatal wards, and that make up chain which had people selling in supermarkets very aggressively. It's a problem.

Formula companies regularly release ads which contain misleading information or encourage myths about BF. They do this even though there are guidelines against it. They get fined but the fine is worth it to them, part of the cost of running the ad. Then they doctor the ad very slightly and continue to run it. The court action takes long enough that the original ad is the version which sticks in people's minds and the version without the information just reminds them of the original one - you don't pay full attention to an ad you've seen 100 times but it cements the original message.

It's a blanket rule which just happens to also cover reward points. It's not worth making an exception just to allow people to collect points because the benefit of that to consumers is low and the problems with letting formula companies advertise are too severe.

People think you're being paranoid when you point this stuff out, but there are examples of it - look at the Baby Milk Action website - noting, BTW, that they have also campaigned for better promotion of safety guidelines of formula. Read The Politics of Breastfeeding. Look these examples up. It isn't paranoia, it's just fairly recent history.

Well, if you genuinely want to understand, have a google. It is a complex picture with a lot of contributing factors. There are plenty of articles out there.

I get the impression that you don't want to understand though. Just rant that everyone is formula bashing.

In terms of them ad irritating formula. I don't think it should be advertised.

Advertising works or companies wouldn't do it. It wouldn't directly stop a woman from breastfeeding it's more subtle than that.

Formula companies regularly release ads which contain misleading information or encourage myths about BF.

What myths? I'm curious I've only seen adverts for follow on milk which don't seem to say myths about bf

it's part of the cost of having a baby, the same as buying nappies, wipes ect

WashedIris- well 200 extra points with a purchase (as Boots often do with some products) would be an obvious way.

Washed I don't think points need to be collected on formula. Not only because it's a form of advertising, but because formula is an essential item and should be sold as it is without any promotion.

It's a bit like how supermarkets will only allow you to purchase two tubs.