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Original poster

To believe that formula companies have PR agents working the BF/FF threads on here?

999 replies

CocoDeMoll · 02/08/2018 20:53

They are a multi million pound set of companies that are invested in keeping Britain’s low breastfeeding rates down and keeping their profit margins up.

Any positives about breastfeeding seem to be shot down in flames on here.

So much pro formula and anti breastfeeding rhetoric.

They can easily afford to and have the best at the jobs be it lawyers, pr teams or spin doctors on their sides and they’re not exactly renounced for their ethics are they (nestle?!?!).

Or am I just getting a bit tied up in conspiracy therorys? Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:32

flamingo and penggggwn nothings I’ve said is anti formula and my op is not anti formula. I don’t think it should be prescription only. That sounds extreme and people probably only say that to stir shit up.

Threads like this are started to question the bigger picture of the bottle feeding culture on this country and how far rich companies will go to keep it this way. Not to slag off bottle feeders. On an individual level I couldn’t care less how the next woman feeds her baby. On a societal level though it’s interesting.

OP posts:
Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:35

CocoDeMoll

Oh, please stop it with the "questioning" and the "interesting". Of course you are anti-formula and it is boring and disingenuous for you to keep pretending otherwise.

Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:37

You can state that as a fact all you want but it’s not true.

Why can’t people have a decent debate about marketing ploys without shit slinging?

OP posts:
Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:38

Under a previous name I used to post about various conspiracy type therorys. They interest me.

OP posts:
Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:39

CocoDeMoll

It's not shit-slinging. Why do you want to "question the bottle-feeding culture in this country" if you have no problem with formula? It makes no sense at all.

Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:41

Because I recognise that breastfeeding rates in this country are really low and it makes me think ‘why is that?’

That doesn’t mean I judge formula feeders.

OP posts:
Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:42

CocoDeMoll

You don't think they are "low" - you think they are "too low". You are making value judgements. Stop trying to disguise it, it's embarrassing.

Aeroflotgirl · 04/08/2018 09:42

Access to safe infant nutrition be it breast or formula is a basic human right, to restrict it in anyway is cruel and inhumane.

Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:42

I also recognise we have an obesity crisis but I don’t judge obese people either.

OP posts:
MrSpock · 04/08/2018 09:43

I think it’s fair enough to question low breastfeeding rates in the U.K.

Some of the posters claiming it should be prescription only need to get tae fuck though.

Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:44

CocoDeMoll

But you think it would be preferable for fat people to be thin people, just as you think it would be preferable for babies to all be BF.

Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:46

I think it’s reasonable to look at the way sweets and chocolate are peddled to children and look at this those companies get people eating their products. That’s what I started the thread about.

OP posts:
Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:46

CocoDeMoll

Same question.

Original poster
CocoDeMoll · 04/08/2018 09:48

pen I don’t want to be your mn attack victim this morning and I’ve got two kids to attend to so knowing how you operate on these threads I’m going to back away back into real life now.

OP posts:
pollygreen7 · 04/08/2018 09:49

CocoDeMoll - questioning if there are conspiracy theories promoting ff is very anti-formula. Saying otherwise is disingenuous.
Maybe more woman ff because they want to. Despite the huge tidal wave of information women receive how about breast milk is best not everyone thinks it is best for their families. I did not consider it the 'perfect' food for my child. I thought the benefits were minimal looking at the costs (a hungry, screaming baby).

There is so much more to parenting than bfing and I really resent people who make an issue of other people's choices. My family, my choice.

BertrandRussell · 04/08/2018 09:50

"hy do you want to "question the bottle-feeding culture in this country" if you have no problem with formula? It makes no sense at all."
I question the"bottle feeding culture" because I know so many people on here and in RL who have wanted to bf and haven't been able to, and I think the bottle feeding contributes to that. I also know a lot of people who have chosen to bottle feed because of misapprehensions about breast feeding-and I think the bottle feeding culture contributes to that. Informed choice. That's what we should have.

Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:51

CocoDeMoll

It isn't attacking you to question your disingenuous postings, Coco. How revealing that you don't want to answer fair and straightforward questions.

Queenofthedrivensnow · 04/08/2018 09:51

Bollocks to that. Let's all starve our babies to teach nestle a lesson. Sounds like a good idea 

Would not buying nestle or Danone be starving your babies?

Where is the lobbying for alternatives?

MrSpock · 04/08/2018 09:51

Would not buying nestle or Danone be starving your babies?

If they don’t breastfeed, yes.

Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:53

I question the"bottle feeding culture" because I know so many people on here and in RL who have wanted to bf and haven't been able to, and I think the bottle feeding contributes to that. I also know a lot of people who have chosen to bottle feed because of misapprehensions about breast feeding-and I think the bottle feeding culture contributes to that. Informed choice. That's what we should have.

If other people bottle feeding contributes to any individual woman's decision not to breast feed, that's a shame, but it's on her. She can't blame those other women, or the availability of formula.

I am not sure how bottle feeding is contributory to someone being unable to BF?

MrSpock · 04/08/2018 09:54

I am not sure how bottle feeding is contributory to someone being unable to BF?

I agree that it doesn’t. I think lack of bf support contributes to formula feeding, but formula feeding doesn’t contribute to lack of bf.

Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:55

MrSpock

Agreed - BF support needs to be better, but the key word has to be "support", not pressure, and not the tyranny of the minority either.

Queenofthedrivensnow · 04/08/2018 09:56

Of course bf rates in the uk are too low!!!! This is a fact

ethelfleda · 04/08/2018 09:57

Interesting OP. I never considered this. But many of the posts you are referring to use the same, specific language so you may be right.

I agree with freedom of choice... BUT how free is your choice when a company targets you with millions of pounds worth of advertising? And how 'free' is your choice if the OP is right and anti-bf posts are also written by formula companies?

Companies wouldn't spend that money on marketing and advertising if it didn't work... and reading many of the threads on infant feeding- it has worked!

Unfortunately there is no or very little money to be made from breastfeeding. Which means it doesn't get 'advertised' to the same extent and there isn't money to plough into more research. It is a very complex substance that we know relatively little about. If breastfeeding itself had the same budget for research and advertising - would the numbers change I wonder? And would we discover more about its 'effectiveness'?

Pengggwn · 04/08/2018 09:57

Queenofthedrivensnow

It isn't even slightly a fact.