aibu to love this blog post about why formula feeding is brilliant?!

[girlwithasecretsmile]

I think it's great to have a post talking about good things about formula for once but part of me feels bad for laughing so much.

passmethebottleblog.wordpress.com/

*not

Breast vs Bottle is just another competition, just another way to pit Mother against Mother. It's ridiculous.

This x1000

Both 'sides' should grow up.

Yesterday 21:19 EC22

Babies who are formula fed are at greater risk of cot death and death in general. That's just fact.

Could you state your scientific evidence of this please ?

YANBU, someone needs to keep up the support for those poor, underfunded formula companies.
And the hateful remarks about the bodies of women daring to feed their babies their own milk are a joy.
We need more misogynistic statements in support of corporate interests and this is a fabulous leap in that direction. Hurrah!

Babies who are formula fed are at greater risk of cot death and death in general. That's just fact.

Could you state your scientific evidence of this please ?
The lullaby Trust have access to this research and have based their promotional material on it. They're good at sharing resources if you're interested in research.

I'm more concerned with happy mother happy baby and guilting anyone about their personal choices is just despicable
Luckily in the western world we have such choices as well as access to clean water and sterilization
Aren't we lucky and why do we judge others

Pathologising normal infant behaviour is in the interests of formula companies, and they do it deliberately.
This

So any non breast fed baby is at greater risk of cot death...... err no they're not.

For a start even though the vast majority of babies are ff the numbers of cot deaths are thankfully tiny,absolutely miniscule. Place your baby on their back,give them a dummy,don't smoke,do drugs or co sleep and the actual teeny tiny risk drops even more.

A ff baby will not be at greater risk than a baby with a smoking breast feeding. A ff baby will not be at greater risk than a breast fed co sleeping baby......

Stop trying to scare mothers and stat twist,its shameful.

Formula doesn't just serve the interests of formula companies it serves the interests of millions of mothers,babies and families.

So any non breast fed baby is at greater risk of cot death...... err no they're not.

Yes they are. I thought this was well known?

Just wish we didn't do this to each other. I wanted to breastfeed. Went to a breastfeeding class, read books/blogs, went to breastfeeding groups when pregnant, expressed colostrum and froze it when pregnant.

Had a difficult labour and LO was trying to latch in the hour we got for skin to skin and we were getting there. He had to be taken to icu and as my colostrum was out of freezer for more than 24 hours they wouldn't let me use it. I was devastated. They had to give him a bottle. I was so upset.

I wanted to continue but just couldn't get him to latch. I had two blood transfusions and was on antibiotics for the first 4 days. I didn't get enough support from the hospital as they are so busy. Got conflicting advise.

I expressed and topped up and even in hospital there was a shortage of pumps so often had to wait ages to get access to one. Hired a machine when I was at home and expressed and topped up for 2 months.

I found the whole experience very stressful. Got a Lactation consultant who told me he was tongue tied and we booked him in for the procedure to fix it and ended up in hospital with another thing with him and I asked the consultant if he was tongue tied and she told me no!!! I was so confused.

I found trying to express and top up so hard and I didn't belong in any camp as such. I didnt feel like going to breastfeeding groups as I wasn't really breastfeeding.

I stopped after 2 months as felt it was effecting my mental health. I'm glad I did but I wish the breastfeeding worked as I do feel a bit of a failure that it didn't work out.

I felt judged on both sides to be honest and I didn't belong anywhere.

We are all trying to do our best so let's just stop judging and projecting our shit onto each other. I think breastfeeding mothers are fucking amazing and warriors for doing it and don't understand any comments people can give like why are you still doing it. I am full of admiration for you but don't want to feel judged either as I really wanted to do it also.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4509240.stm

Actually re dummies research shows they do cut risk. The subsequent research which showed stopping dummy use could be a risk wasn't conclusive. I.e. if you use dummies without stopping it cuts the risk.

ironing
You are looking at confounding factors.
The research is done comparing BF and ff with all other factors the same.
It's basic GCSE science.

Dixie that you didn't experience any of those things doesn't mean she's talking crap, it simply means her experience was different to yours. As was mine... I related to much of the article and I'm not talking crap either. Can you fathom another person having a different experience to you? Try.

I'm surprised at how many of you are so vitriolic about this article, accusing her of anger, bitterness and even lies. Blinkered much? If I had written an article about breastfeeding versus bottle feeding at the time I was doing it, it would have read much the same as this one I suppose. She is relaying her own experience in a candid fashion.
I hated breastfeeding too - absolutely hated it. I persevered for months both times I did it, while my babies grew skinnier and skinnier and I became more desolate and guilty about it. I had mastitis both times and used to bite down on the handle of a wooden spoon to latch on, to stop me crying out with the pain. I cried and leaked and cried and hurt and cried and wanted to run away. I can promise you, I gave it my absolute best.
Bottle feeding the third was a revelation. I was able to actually enjoy her first months instead of spending them in misery, frustration and pain.
It's a good article and definitely has its place.

Someone at Nestle gets a raise every time blog posts like this get posted.

Always remember in the infant feeding space, one side has a massive profit motive and one side does not.

Ironing, actually assuming safe sleep guidelines are followed, breastfed babies are safe bed sharing (I assume you meant this rather a than co-sleeping, which simply means sleeping in the same room as your baby, something that is recommended by all major health organisations until at least 6 mths to protect against SIDS). FF babies are not safe bedsharing, even if all other safe sleep guidelines are followed, as not bf reduces the mother's sensitivity to her baby. Breastfeeding is one of the Safe Sleep Seven for this reason.

Yes, comparing very unsafe bedsharing breastfeeders to otherwise safe bedsharing formula feeders on an individual basis will give you some funny results, but everything else being equal babies who are bf are at lower risk of SIDS than those who are FF.

As you say the risk is very little either way. So why are you so vehemently against a factual discussion of relevant factors? No-ones accusing formula feeding mums of endangering their babies... But there are still degrees. There are still facts. Why can't they be discussed?

Well first of all the article wasn't funny so I'm not sure where you're getting your lols from.

One way of feeding has better health benefits for the baby.

As for being better for the mum? Well it depends on the mum doesn't it. I enjoyed breastfeeding my two children immensely.

"Always remember in the infant feeding space, one side has a massive profit motive and one side does not."

Always remember? I don't think so. This is a woman, a real person, talking about her actual experience. Or may people only write from a perspective that fits in with your agenda? Don't be daft. This isn't political - it's life.

Clearly it isn't if you are discussing any breast fed baby in comparison to any ff baby which some seem to on here.

A ff baby with non smoking parents is not at greater risk to any bef baby. Ditto a non co sleeping baby.

Also you seem to be forgetting that most babies are breast fed at birth. Research focuses on any breast feeding.

pictish are we talking about the same blog, that's called "pass me the bottle" and has a whopping one post? That's all about how great formula is? Is there any additional background on the poster so that I know she's a "real person, talking about her actual experience"?

Sorry but I am extremely suspicious of posts like this, easy for a PR to throw something like this up and put a bunch of Twitter links to it. There have been plenty of cases of "mommy blogs" where people were paid to post certain things by companies.

peanut2017 I'm so sorry you had such a tough experience and if you feel attacked. It's really not the intention of (most) bf mums who advocate to make people feel bad - it is precisely to increase women's awareness of the challenges so they know what's normal and what's not,and to insist that prenatal education and postnatal support are improved so that what happened to you doesn't happen. You tried so hard and the medical professionals who should have helped and supported you just got in your way.

GPs, mideives and even neonatal consultants often have no training in diagnosing TT - my little girl had it, and I was told by a million HVs and midwives and the GP that she didn't, only for a private IBCLC to tell me she most definitely did - I fought tooth and nail to get her to an NHS tongue tie clinic, and was lucky to find one at all. Support is shocking. And you did amazingly to pump for 2 months, absolute nightmare as you have to work twice as hard feeding and pumping. It really will have made a difference to your baby. And I'm sure you did the right thing stopping when you did to protect your mental health.

Just for reassurance, most bf groups are very welcoming to all, even mainly FF mums who are keen to introduce or increase their breast feeds. Pumping IS breastfeeding. I went to a La Leche League group and there were women at all stages - combi feeders, exclusively bf/pumping mums, FF mums who had wanted to bf looking to relactate and try again, mums who were still bf their preschoolers. It was such a loving supportive space. And they were all so passionate about helping women have the experience they wanted.

Sorry for the ramble. You did brilliantly, and you're in my camp!

pictish Of COURSE it's political.

Yes, there are real women suffering desperately behind all these stories - but why are they suffering? Why do women in the UK experience such a struggle with breastfeeding when women in other countries don't? Your answer is political and down to government approaches, advertising, lack of HCP training (as a peer supporter I am frankly shocked at the complete lack of understanding of how lactation works demonstrated by many midwives and HVs. This is not to blame them; training is woefully inadequate).

Surely we can ALL agree that improving Britain's breastfeeding rates would be a positive thing?

Positive for mothers, positive for babies and, yes, positive for the NHS. There are other models to follow - Norway, for example.

That's not to say that mothers that want to FF shouldn't. It's to say that no mothers should be left feeling as you were - desolate and guilty.

I think it's worth remember when discussing how horrible breastfeeding is that the UK has the lowest breastfeeding rates IN THE WORLD. Many of the people who had a shitty time breastfeeding here have done so because of an accident of geography, not because breastfeeding is inherently difficult and unpleasant.

I think that blog post is horrendous, sorry OP. "No accidental flashing at strangers" is the kind of thing that makes women feel they can't BF in public. Feeding your baby is not "flashing". Ugh.

I have both FF and BF and both have their advantages and disadvantages. But I wouldn't slag off one method in order to make the other seem better. That helps no one.

Maybe the UK is better at responding to miserable mothers and babies alongside providing better provision for safe formula.