To be outraged at this price increase?

[Pinkcat231]

I was reading an article the other day about baby formula prices and how families struggle to afford it then today I have noticed several shops have increased the price of all the Aptamil products.

I assume other brands will follow and it just seems outrageous with the current crisis and so many people getting less or no pay.

A lot of companies seem to be cashing in on the fact supplies are running low of certain items so AIBU to think Aptamil have jumped on that bandwagon or is this an innocent, albeit poorly timed, price increase in line with inflation?

@GinDaddyRedux completely agree, I would have absolutely loved to have fully breastfed my baby, but she was born at 27 weeks, my milk supply was awful because of her being so early and because of me being so ill with pre eclampsia, and I couldn't have her feeding to increase my supply because she was too tiny (under 2lbs) and unwell. I didn't even get to try breastfeeding for the first time until she was 10 weeks old and even then she got exhausted quickly and had to have some of her feeds through the feeding tube. I ended up combination feeding when she came home. So breastfeeding isn't available to everyone, and we'd spent so much on fuel for a 120 mile round trip to the hospital to see her practically every day for 3 months, plus hospital parking so buying formula was quite a struggle!

Everything has gone up in the supermarkets. DH did our weekly shop yesterday without fruit and veg because we get that delivered, and with only one pack of mince because we have meat in the freezer, and it came to £90 for just 3 bags of shopping. I noticed the other day that paracetamol that was previously 45p is now £1.25!

@Crosswordocelot no I'm pretty sure they're new. So glad they're here now though! They didn't exist when I was a baby. They only do standard stage 1 and a follow on but that's good enough for us especially when you think the "top of the range" aptimil is more than twice the price.

You don't see anything else out in nature going out and buying formula for it's offspring.

you see cadavers instead. Not sure what your point is.

The rest of the stuff like pumps, bottles, storage bags is all optional.

That's not true. It may be optional for some women. Not for me or my best friend. Both of us spent hundreds of pounds on pumping equipment while our babies failed to feed. It was literally a choice between that or formula. (Yes I did throw money down the drain on a cheaper manual pump first. Never managed to express a single drop with it.)

I think BF is great, to put it mildly. But the idea that it is always free or cheap, and that anything other than that is a "choice" for the mother, is simply not true. Many women will be forced to use expensive pumping equipment. Others will have to pay for tongue ties to be cut privately, or to see a lactation consultant as there are widespread failures in NHS BF support provision. (Nor was I ever offered free vit D drops. A single nursing bra in my size was £40. Etc etc.)

Nor was I ever offered free vit D drops

They do seem to be badly publicised. DH went to the chemist to get me something when DC1 was tiny. Can't remember what it was now but he said I was bf in case relevant which is when the pharmacist mentioned the free drops and gave us the first ones.

Had I not needed something for myself then we wouldn't have been offered them either which does seem poor.

I think the price of all food and toiletries seems to have gone up. I am shocked how much a little top up shop seems to cost. Guess it's supply and demand.

@DappledThings, not only was I never offered the free drops, I wasn't even told that DC would need them. Same with needing folic acid in pregancy - no-one asked until I was several months in. Fortunately I did my own research, but it did make me wonder how many women are never told about necessary supplements at all.

I noticed that Aptimil stage 2 tubs have gone up by about 40p from the old price of £10.85 last week whilst doing the weekly shop and that Tesco has stopped doing the 2 for £18.

A lot of prices will go up now due to supply issues, not just formula.

I hate that a feed has yet again turned into a bf and ff debate.

Wow people really hate talking about this, don't they? FWIW, I'm not judgmental about FF. Couldn't give a tiny shite. I specifically said that 'breast is best' is nonsense and that being tight and lazy were excellent reasons to BF.

But this conversation has become so toxic (because of all the judgement and guilt women experience throughout being mothers) that you can't state the blindingly obvious. That many women FF who could BF and that F companies are businesses who have a track record of exploitative behaviour.

Of course lots of women can't. It was touch and go for me. But if the NHS spent the amount on BFing support (not guilt-inducing twaddle) that Nestle spends on advertising,we'd have higher rates. If all the women people know are being told to supplement, there's a lot of ignorant HCPs out there, and lack of decent support. I also know a lot of women who chose to FF from birth. Who cares? But they have decided to pay F companies through the nose.

At 6 weeks the BFing rate in the UK is 24%. Are posters really suggesting that 76% of babies would have died of starvation without formula? There's some lack of choice. There's a lot of choice in there as well. 10% of babies aren't BF from birth. Again, choice. Again, I don't care. But it will cost money.

Sorry 19% from birth.

@MrsTerryPratchett - your post shows you have absolutely no understanding of the difficulties many women have with breastfeeding. It’s not “free and easy” for many, probably even most. I think we’re all tired of attitudes like that so give it a rest.

The hysteria about formula does mean there’s less competition and no deals on newborn formula (the follow on milks do have deals). Quite a few supermarkets have now started to produce their Own brand which is much more competitively priced. The problem is, you have to get the baby to like the cheaper one (not much difference between the actual contents But babies and toddlers can be fussy).

Are you hard of reading?

I wrote, "Of course lots of women can't. It was touch and go for me." in case you missed it.

@MrsTerryPratchett - are you able to read? I told you to give it a rest.

🙄

It is not just the cost of ingrediants and supply issues that affect price. I would imagine thr costs of a socially distanced prodction line are considerable.

Even amazon when reporting profits a couple of weeks ago said that despite increased sales they had not made any more profits due to the cost of social distancing measues. Could just be a tax fiddle though....

The cost of cigarettes should put any right-minded person off smoking, but it doesn't. Oh, and of course it is universally agreed that smoking is harmful to everyone's health. Yet people still CHOOSE to smoke

Feeding a baby is ESSENTIAL. It's not a choice to feed a baby or not. Many mothers DO have a choice to breastfeed, and yes I agree entirely that there are many many reasons why mums cannot breastfeed.

But formula is available. It is a reasonably large investment when you consider the cost of bottles, steriliser, equipment, bags etc. And it is an extra faff when you think that you're getting up in the night to feed anyway.

We're told breast is best. We're also told that the UK has one of the lowest bf rates in the world. Most UK mothers take up to a year off work, or return after the exclusive bf recommendation of 6m

A pp stated that in the USA formula costs 3 times what it does here, and they have much higher bf rates (despite almost zero maternity leave for most)

Maybe fórmula is expensive. Maybe the government should triple the price (as in the USA, or like they seem to do with tobacco) to promote bf. Maybe mums would make different 'choices' if it wasn't so cheap in the grand scheme of raising a child.

Market forces OP. I wonder why the formula companies don't just raise prices - how many folk would be arguing that it cost £75+ to feed a newborn a month vs (relatively) free bf?

Lazy and tight? Breastfeed! I'm sold!!

@Muppetry76 maybe forcing new mothers into poverty by tripling the price of formula would not be a good idea.

Are people really surprised that prices are going up during a global pandemic where supply chains are disrupted, distribution centres have had to implement social distancing, factories are running at reduced capacity due to social distancing and staff illness/isolation, shops are having to implement new policies and procedures, the global supply chain is impacted, and there is a worldwide financial shit storm occurring?
Oh, and Brexit at the same time?

Stuff is going to get more expensive (apart from oil, which creates its own financial shit storm with knock on effects on markets, exchange rates etc)

@Muppetry76 - I'm a mum of twins. Breastfeeding rates amongst multiples are low because it's very, very difficult to care for two babies (and any other children you may have) whilst also building up a supply that's sufficient to keep two babies fed. And I have to buy double the amount of formula of families with just one baby. But yeah, let's treble the price! How exactly would that address the reasons why I couldn't sustain breastfeeding? All it would do is bankrupt me!

I agree powerslide. I was fortunate in that I didn't have any problems breastfeeding my two but I think formula prices need to be kept to an afforable level so that women can formula feed if necessary or indeed if this is their preference.

The danger of parents being under to afford infant milk is unsafe practices such as watering formula down or replacing it with cows milk or premature weaning.

The danger of parents being under to afford infant milk is unsafe practices such as watering formula down or replacing it with cows milk or premature weaning.

A very good point. Babies have died due to diluted formula.

It didn’t take long for the breast is best twats to surface in mental health week did it? They just seem to assume people don’t breast feed because they can’t be arsed or aren’t willing to try hard enough. Many women either can’t breast feed or don’t for many valid reasons. They guilt piled on them by women like you caused untold mental anguish. Great you were lucky enough to be able to feed your kid for free. But you know nothing of different women’s circumstances- so really never comment on another women’s method of feeding. It’s nothing more than bullying.

Let’s hope the “benefits” of breast feeding compensate for the lack of empathy obviously existing in their mothers.

Poor families are watering down baby formula.
www.google.com/amp/s/inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/families-are-watering-down-baby-formula-and-parents-are-skipping-meals-to-pay-for-it-212017%3famp

There needs to be more support for new mothers to help with breastfeeding, not just pushing the "breast is best" message as that doesn't help when your nipples are shredded and baby is latched on for the 6th hour straight...

What we need is breastfeeding behaviours to be normalised, support to latch and family to support breastfeeding mothers by not putting pressure on new mothers to pass babies around to all family within hours of giving birth.

Formula is fabulous and it is great that there is a safe alternative to breastfeeding but I personally think it should be prescribed for those that need it . Breast milk is made for babies and in reality only a a very small number of women CANT breastfeed.

In saying that I think that a woman's mental health shouldn't suffer whilst breastfeeding, so that should be a legitimate reason to use formula. But the market and profits for formula should not be allowed. Ironically it is often the poorest who do formula feed.

Formula companies are there to make profit, this is an easy time to make profit.

I agree with PP, the majority of mothers could breast feed, it is a choice not to, fair enough, but breastfeeding is the cheaper option, you only need breast pads ime. I didn't bother with pumping but was a single parent so easier to feed directly.

OP I was over 30 when I had my kids, no midwives recommended ff for weight gain? Seems a bit odd, as bf helped me loose weight, I remember eating loads as I was using so many calories bf