Parents penalised for formula feeding

[thechristmaspudding]

I just wanted to open up a discussion to find out the perspectives of other parents on this subject. I would also be interested to hear the opinions of midwives, health visitors and other health care professionals involved with families.
To give a bit of background information, I am a member of the Boots parenting club, which has many parents are likely to be aware gives you access to discounts and offers on baby related items in store. I went into my local boots today to buy my son's formula, hoping to get a good deal as I had been notified of an offer in store. Now, in my sleep deprived state I did not read the offer properly and it did clearly state that it was an offer for follow on formula and not infant first. The cashier was very polite and explained that due to government regulations shops are not legally allowed to offer discounts on infant first formula due to the government expectation that breastfeeding should be encouraged for the first six months. To be clear, I am not taking issue with Boots or any other shop, but it got me questioning whether this is fair? No, I do not believe that formula companies should be able to dissuade women from breastfeeding through aggressive marketing campaigns that encourage parents to buy their product. But surely parents have the right to weigh up the pros and cons of bottle feeding and make an informed choice that reflects the needs and circumstances of their own family? I tried really, really hard to breastfeed but found it extremely difficult and due to a lack of postnatal support gave up (the inadequate breastfeeding support in this country is another issue in itself). This is something I still regret and struggle with. However, my personal experience aside, formula feeding is a valid choice to make whether parents decide to feed this way from birth or at a later stage.
I also remember watching an episode of dispatches a few years ago on how due to the cost of formula many families resort to watering down their baby's feed or even to stealing. This is a situation that is likely to have worsened as a result of the cost of living crisis.
So my question is, AIBU in thinking that it is wrong to penalise bottle-feeding parents when it comes to the cost of formula?

I had a child with multiple allergies. No one knew that it was a prescribed formula in the bottle they got because I was not allowed to BF them.

The comments and judgement I got seriously affected my MH.

Just wondering where that 95% figure came from because I think it's a lot lower than that.
A few examples of why a mum might not be able to breastfeed
Dyspraxia
Mastectomy
Previous trauma
Chemo (and other medication)
Being separated from baby
Being HIV positive
Osteoporosis

A few examples of why a baby can't breastfeed
Dyspraxia
Low muscle time
Cleft palate

Surely more than 5% experience one of these and therefore can't physically breastfeed.

I was asked about breast feeding multiple times and the question was always what milk was I giving, not whether I was giving solids

you weren’t penalised. You just need to pay the retail price because any sort of promotion is there to do just that, promote the product which isn’t allowed. The milk companies are extremely powerful and well funded and have proven themselves to use all sorts of underhand tactics. They could make the milk cheaper but it’s all about profits. Those on low incomes and medical milk can get free supplies

Same as all of these sorts of stats, they conduct surveys where they ask a sample of the population. If you ask a big enough sample you can be fairly sure that your results will be representative of the population as a whole.

There was a big infant feeding survey in Scotland in 2018 - it doesn't get done every year as it's a huge task to gather and analyse the info.

@elliejjtiny I think it comes from other countries where breastfeeding is the norm. There has been a huge selective pressure on being able to breastfeed over multiple generations so the majority of women can successfully feed the majority of babies. It would be nice if more women in the UK felt they could just say they don't breastfeed because they choose not to which is the case in the vast majority of cases. It should be normalised as a valid choice.

The 2-5% figure is the estimated percentage of women who cannot produce sufficient milk for their baby, when pure physiology is taken into account. In reality, when many other factors are considered, including undiagnosed tongue tie, which would then affect milk production in the early day, etc, etc,the figure would be rather higher.

Dyspraxia?? I don’t personally know anyone that disabled, obviously extreme physical disability would make feeding difficult or impossible but would surely be any sort of feeding? Making and warming bottle would be very difficult, hopefully those women would be able to have a PA

Its not black and white in many cases, there's so many different factors when it comes to breastfeeding.

I can see how you could potentially perceive that you don't have enough milk when you do. Breastfed babies are often fussier, sleep worse and feed more often. People who bottle fed a generation ago can have really different expectations for newborns.

That said isn't formula today a little different in that it's not as "heavy" on the tummy as it used to be? Aren't you also now supposed to bottle feed on demand rather than a schedule? Maybe this will even out some of the expectations gap.

I also wonder about the cannot produce milk figures.
Totally unscientific but I think my body prioritised me surviving rather than none essentials like feeding a baby, I had a horrific birth.
My dc was also born with a serious physical disability and I was in shock. I wonder if it’s natures way - same way as animals don’t feed runts of litter or push chicks that have issues out of nest. So my body knew something was wrong with baby and nature kicked in.
I was so flipping determined to breast feed her as she already had things harder than other dc but it wasn’t happening.
Obviously my dc was bottle fed and has thrived.
I’m very aware that a century ago or in some countries it would be she won’t feed/failure to thrive/kinder to let her pass type scenario.
I hope I don’t offend anyone with those types of thoughts.

@WhatNoRaisins theres no scientific evidence that breastfed babies are more unsettled or sleep less than formula fed babies.

The marketing bods though have done a great job of making parents think that normal newborn behaviour is a problems. A problem which can be solved by formula.

The big difference though is perception. A formula feeding parent can reassure themselves with knowing how much milk baby has taken. Breastfeeding mothers don’t have that ability. It can trick them into thinking they don’t have enough milk.

That does make sense. More people have complex births these days and more mothers and babies survive births with technology. There's much more intervention. I was on blood pressure medication that reduced my milk supply, in the past I'd have had a natural birth and either died or got away with it.

Discounts are a marketing strategy. They aren't going to fundamentally change the profit margin that the company makes on the product.

So if you could have discounted formula, the "standard" cost of formula would be slightly higher to maintain the profit margin. But the company would be a little bit more likely to sell formula to a parent otherwise not looking to purchase it, because they see it on sale. That powder/bottle makes it's way home and is given to a baby who might otherwise be exclusively breastfeed, undermines breastfeeding, more formula is introduced. Great for formula companies, worse for mothers, babies and the family bank balance.

Discounts do not make the product cheaper for consumers. They do not change the profit margin for manufacturers. They are a marketing strategy that encourage more people to buy the product who otherwise would not.

@Somethingsnappy thankyou, that makes sense. With a few of the examples I gave the problem isn't the mum's ability to produce milk.

@BungleandGeorge dyspraxia in either the baby or the mum can cause co-ordination problems and severe dyspraxia can mean breastfeeding is difficult or impossible, especially in the beginning. The right support in this situation can make a huge difference but sometimes it's just too difficult. Also a mum who has dyspraxia is more likely to have a baby with additional needs as well which also makes things difficult. Bottle feeding can also be a challenge. I have dyspraxia and I had a baby with dyspraxia and a cleft palate. He couldn't breastfeed and had to have special bottles because he couldn't feed from normal bottles either. Feeding him was extremely hard.

Makes me wonder how accurate some people's memories are. MIL was absolutely horrified by how fussy my babies were. Claimed she could just feed hers every 4 hours and put them down and get on with housework.

I think even putting breastfeeding totally to the side for a moment because it can actually conflate the issue.

Formula milk is a unique food product because with the exception of prescription milks, it's basically nutritionally identical across brands and there is also no alternative food for (non-breastfeeding) infants. Therefore, all marketing strategies for formula are essentially predatory serving no purpose to the consumer and only making the product more expensive. Ideally, formula milk should be completely debranded, completely unmarketed, and profit regulated. This would be best for all babies, breast and formula fed. Formula marketing only serves the formula industry, that's why they spend billions on it every year (at consumers' expense). Additional weapons for formula companies marketing arsenal such as promotional discounts worsen the situation for all babies, breast and formula fed.

OP, I know it must feel unfair to miss out on a 'reward' or offer but you are not being discriminated against. There are very good, peer-reviewed and evidence based reasons why the regulations about selling and promoting formula in the UK are the way they are. And believe me, the companies push the rules ALL the time! Sorry if you've missed out on a couple of quid but this is in the interests of better public health.

The ‘poor NHS’…. Boo fucking hoo. It’s been manhandled and stripped by corrupt politicians whose pockets are bulging.
Babies, every single child in this country- one where so many families are feeling more than a financial pinch- should have access to formula on prescription.

Why should the NHS pay to feed every baby in the country for the first year of their lives? No one expects the NHS to feed toddlers or schoolchildren (or adults, for that matter).

The number of things people are expecting the NHS to provide is spinning out of control. This isn't what it was founded for.

I'm explaining why the argument that not being rewarded isn't the same as not being penalised with an analogy that people might relate to.

If the analogy makes sense then it should make it easier to understand why I don't think the argument is sensible.

If formula is the same price in big Tesco as the little tescos then I can accept that no one is being penalised. Also I breastfed 3 kids but it wasn't easy, there needs to be a lot of support. I managed nearly 3 months for 1st child but it was so hard, if new mums don't have the help then as much as they might want to breastfeed it's hard to continue

It isn’t penalizing parents, it’s penalizing formula companies. Because they have form for using the Heroin Marketing Strategy whereby they gave away formula in hospitals or massively discounted it to parents of newborns making it seems not just easy and the done thing, but also super cheap to formula feed the baby. Then, once formula feeding is established and it’s too late to go back to breast, the discounts fall away.

The rules are about stopping this unethical practice in a way that can’t be wriggled around.

Well said number theory. It’s a product, it is marketed hard. All the advertising of kids in hazy light is to sell. Both methods of feeding come with their own issues. Support with feeding eases this . Years ago our street was full of mums who could ask . Their advice sometimes helped. Now infant feeding groups fill that role. I’m old enough to see babies fed cornation milk watered down. Chart was on the side. Later found too much salt.

I agree breastfeeding support is awful and if you have an issue establishing feeding they try to chuck formula at you

its interesting on here there seem to be lots of criticism of FF but my experience was there was so much negativity around breastfeeding in reality and from all avenues. I also felt very isolated as all the Mums around me were swapping tips about formula etc.

Midwives and health visitors didn’t know what they were doing as don’t seem to be trained and their ‘help’ was worse than useless as it led to multiple poor latch and broken skin as well as terrible feelings of inadequacy. None had breast fed themselves (not that they have to but either training or experience I would say is essential).

Large hospital having 1 or 2 breastfeeding counsellors (who I never got to see despite repeated requests over a month of asking) is not enough.

An old friend who lived the other end of the county had breastfed 2 children including PFB with tongue tie and was a trained to La Leche counsellor really helped me.

It literally took 2 phone calls with her practical advice experience as well aa compassionate approach and was away and kept going for 18 months.

*country that should say.

Here peer support is available so all the women have breastfed. They are well trained and do lots of different aspects of support.