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?

Feel better after spewing that smug shite?

Can’t you see that if parents were rewarded with points that equate to free money because they are buying formula, it would actually be breastfeeding parents that were genuinely penalised?

How do you work that out? There’s no financial cost attached to breastfeeding. How is making an expensive product cheaper penalising someone who doesn’t even need to buy it?

Follow on milk in that case should be banned as it’s the same as first stage (stage 1 is up to 12 m, follow on is 6-12m) if that was banned then maybe people would feel that this was all being done in the interests of babies but all I see is that Formula companies get away with it and make money but parents are still paying for an expensive item and they can’t make any savings as offers aren’t allowed but the companies can make loads of money

For Christs sake @Merseymum992

My dd had tongue tie. Quite badly actually. She couldn’t latch on to my nipple but she was ok with a bottle.

Her problems got lost in the system because I gave birth in a different county. By the time she was seen again, she was over one and because she had weaned ok and was starting to speak, they discharged us.

Shes 10 now and still tongue tied. The only thing she can’t do, is roll her tongue.

She HAD to have formula. My nipples were in agony trying to breastfeed her and jt got to the point where I resented trying to hold her. My brand new born baby and I didn’t want to hold her.

My son on the other hand, I really tried with him but guess what..he was fucking allergic. So he had to have a special formula.

As others have said OP, you’re not being penalised, you’re just not getting a discount. You’re no more being penalised than someone who doesn’t live near a Boots or have online access. Discounts are nice but not a human right.

No, babies would starve.

Actually there is a cost. Breastfeeding bras and breast pads for leakage. And maybe special shawls if you want to pander to peoples disapproving eyes in public places. Also a breast pump, bottles and steriliser for when you return to work.

No if formula didn’t exist babies would die.

dont be such a dick.

Being penalised is not the same as not being rewarded but I agree with you that it’s stupid. Like anyone sacks off breastfeeding because SMA is on save £1.50 this week, it’s so patronising. Just switch to follow on milk at 6 months and enjoy the savings.

This 100%

I've no skin in this game has I have formula fed one and breastfed two kids. Both methods have their pros and cons for me.

But for many women breastfeeding is extremely expensive. The amount we spent on breastfeeding support, tongue tie division, breast pumps, storage bags, all kinds of creams, nipple shields, supplements for increasing supply, nursing bras at £30 a pop......

It really does feel unfair for formula feeding parents that you can't get points/offers on formula. I do get it. But unfortunately those limitations are there because formula companies have behaved so badly in the past.

You’d need bras anyway. And bottles and a steriliser for formula feeding. You’re really stretching now.

Actually for those conditions, women in the poorest countries have breastfeeding techniques available to them that we as a society and women have forgotten. Example - I have inverted nipples, low milk supply, and DS had a severe tongue tie — bf didn’t work until I was taught how to bf by a Somalian nurse with special techniques that ‘fed’ the nipple to DS. Pain disappeared, DS was able to drink enough milk and I expressed the rest, until the problem was fixed with an op

Breastfeeding mothers are being penalised by Boots because they can't put their use.of breastmilk towards loyalty points even when their baby gets to 6 months "follow-on" milk age. So no -formula feeding parents are not being penalised.

Some of us just can't breast feed! Formula is expensive, so why shouldn't they discount it to help struggling families who may need a discount?
Years ago back in 2001 🤣 you could buy formula from your local doctors surgery at a discounted price £9.89 to be precise!

FED IS BEST

What bilious shit stream did @Merseymum992 spew that time?

I’ve personally witnessed babies die because their mothers were unable to feed them, why are you trying to convince yourself that babies dying isn’t common and that those infants didn’t die?

It’s very fair.

Formula companies are unscrupulous as hell, they employ very dodgy tactics to sell their product and whilst infant formula cannot be advertised, there’s a reason EVERYONE knows the brand names.

Breastfeeding is only marketed by the NHS because nobody profits from it. Meaning piss poor budgets barely stretch to offering support and promoting breastfeeding - which, wether you like it or not, is not only better for mums and babies but saves the NHS money and it is a public health issue. That isn’t judgment - it’s fact. Hence the restrictions around formula companies (much like you can’t buy lottery tickets with advantage/Nectar points etc). Because do you know what would happen if we DIDNT have these kind of strict restrictions? These greedy companies who don’t give a shit about babies would take an inch and run a mile. We’d be like the US where formula companies can bother new mums in postnatal wards and pretend to care about babies whilst making profit knowing they are getting the best substance they can get, tempting vulnerable women with gifts and empty promises. They would push the boundaries of marketing as far as they can to dodgier levels - breastfeeding rates are already low enough without rich formula companies cutting them down even further.

Look at how low the breast feeding rates are in the UK. Some of the lowest in the world. So for all the encouraging, the majority after 6 weeks aren't doing it.

These threads bring out the real ‘if you don’t breastfeed, you don’t deserve to be a mother’ cunts, don’t they? 😆

You are not being penalised, you are free to buy formula if that's the choice you make for your baby. You just can't get a discount on it.

Formula companies just aren't allowed to push their product as factually it isn't as beneficial to babies as breast milk is.

If they could market it, mothers who would have breastfed would be influenced to use formula instead, and that's not what's best for babies.

What is actually needed is better and more accessible breastfeeding support.

The government is following WHO recommendation and I'm glad they are. Breastfeeding rates in the UK are awful. Mothers need more support to breastfeed, not less.

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?

But you do have that right.

Also makes me laugh that people confidently proclaim that THEY aren't affected by marketing/advertising, yet simultaneously fall for the ridiculous "closest to breastmilk" claims by the likes of Aptamil

Yea this always makes me laugh. If people know the brand names - SMA, Aptamil etc - they have been affected by marketing

The truth, but it makes some people a bit sad so it got deleted

I think you should be able to accumulate reward card points through buying formula. It costs a lot and for a lot of women, it’s not a choice.