to think baby formula should come in plain packaging?

[Yoyoyozo]

Fancy packaging is used to inflate prices and extract more money from parents with phrases like 'premium' plastered on the tin. Parents shouldn't be made to feel guilty for not buying the most expensive, well-marketed brand.

Yes, parents can make their own informed decisions, but clever marketing is proven to undermine this.

A report published in The Lancet (2016) unveiled that aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes is undermining efforts to improve breastfeeding rates

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(15)01044-2.pdf

No, this is not equating infant formula to tobacco! The aim is to prevent exploitative marketing practices that undermine access to impartial information on infant feeding.

I think they ought to move the ban to 36 months in line with the international code.

I completely agree.
If you agree breastfeeding is the biological normal, formula feeding does come with health risks, which should be made clearer to parents so they can make informed decisions. Formula packaging shouldn't be allowed to make claims that are backed by shoddy evidence and should have to make clear the risks of using the product.
Some people I'm sure are going to take that as attacking their choice - but I'm not, I'm attacking the companies for being dishonest and deliberately misleading.

This. Loved, healthy and cared for babies tend to thrive, however they are fed.🙄

The main thing that needs to change to improve breastfeeding rates is better care in the early stages. Two children - the first, the so called feeding specialist immediately suggested I move on to formula when two hour old DS hadn’t latched. The second - no support at all. Having paid for a lactation consultant, I ended up breastfeeding DS for two years (despite constant comments from others asking when I’ll stop) and still breastfeeding my second.

By having better support and care for new mums, women who are able to breastfeed but need more support will be able to do so, whilst women who want to but unfortunately can’t will get the support they need to try different options. Too many women give up because they find it too difficult and too many women end up struggling with guilt because there were issues they were unaware of which affected baby’s weight gain.

For me I'm less concerned about the risks of formula feeding, especially in places like the UK with clean water and electricity in all houses, but the cost of it. I don't think it should be taboo but I don't think it should be normalised when buying the tins of milk can put a poorer family into a massive financial burden.

What about the woman who choose not to breastfeed so want to see the options and have the money to spend.

I think a better argument is that there legally CAN'T be "better" formula on a nutritional level. It has to meet the same standards.

Women who have money to spend can probably research their own preferences perfectly well. Vulnerable women who feel like they've "failed" their baby by not BF don't deserve to be bamboozled into paying higher prices by disingenuous marketing. There was an article on the BBC recently about a mum not compromising on the "best" formula for her baby, in spite of dire poverty.

That matters a lot more than women with money to spend.

This. There isn't enough support when breastfeeding isn't working. Some women seem to find it easy, for others it's a lot harder.

What I needed was support on dealing with a baby who didn't find it easy to feed, building supply and managing recurrent mastitis.

I did not choose to give formula based on the packaging, I gave it because DS wasn't gaining weight and was advised this was the best option for him.

I wish the breastapo would have a day off ffs. Well done, you’re better than me, is that what you want?

I agree

I don't particularly think that formula usage is a problem to be tackled, but if you do, aim to tackle it in a positive way by supporting people who want to breastfeed to do so. No need to restrict formula advertising or packaging if everyone who wants to breastfeed can. Then the only people using formula are those who have actively made a choice to do so, and obviously that comes down to their body their choice.

Focusing on restricting formula is such a negative stance to take.

(Mine were EBF without issue so I've no baggage on this topic just don't like shaming women for perfectly valid choices.)

Totally. I actually find your post insulting. Its as if the breastfeeders are the educated and the formula feeders are just thick hillbillies who see something shiny and want to buy it: a bit like the chavs and their mobile phones.

As you are very well aware, the reasons why people don't breastfeed are complex and multifactorial and the idea that a bunch of people would just try a bit harder with the breast because they are ashamed of buying something which looks like a packet of 20 Rothmans is ridiculous.

There's enough hysterical judgement around formula feeders as it is without making people who can't breastfeed feel like addicts.

And absolutely this too. I felt such a failure and now I look back and think why did I feel so guilty about it, no-one knows or cares now.

Plain packaging would have made me feel like it's a bad thing amd increased the guilt.

I think this is pretty patronising. Everyone should be aware of both options and be able to weigh up what works for them and their baby depending on a host of variables (including whether they even physically can establish BFing - I couldn’t despite a lot of work!). I do, of course, think anyone who needs breastfeeding support should get it, but I think that issue is separate from whether formula is normalised over breast, which I really don’t think it is. Regardless, there is nothing wrong with formula being normalised. Financial limitations once the decision is made should be mitigated with appropriate financial support and baby banks. Why would there be so many reported families struggling with the cost of formula if it was so easy to just switch back to breast? Those who are struggling financially deserve as much choice as anyone else.

Anyway, I read once that “breast milk is free if you don’t value a woman’s time”. After a week or so of no sleep from attempts to pump around the clock, I certainly found myself agreeing with this!

Marketing costs the company money and that's what you're paying a premium for. Just think how much cheaper formula could be if they had no budget for packaging design or advertising.

"Then the only people using formula are those who have actively made a choice to do so, and obviously that comes down to their body their choice."

We 'actively' made a 'choice' not to allow our son to slowly starve and suffer stunting due to the inadequate nutrition he was receiving via breast milk.

I'm sick of a clear medical need being portrayed as some kind of 'choice'.

So going by your suggestion then teenage pregnancy shouldn't be an issue because condom wrappers are shiny and attractive of course everyone wants to use them they are so pretty 😍 98% of pregnancy would be planned right?

Right?

Yes parents are probably aware that they are not just paying for the milk but the tin and the labelling. I don't see your point ?

I think if there is a medical need for formula it should be on a prescription like any other essential medicine. I don't think it's fair to just assume that a mum who can't make enough milk can pay out that sort of money for formula.

It just sounds like another way to shame parents who formulae feed. Categorising formula in with cigarettes.

It's baby food not a medicine although you can get formula on prescription if the baby has an allergy.

If the mum can't produce breastmilk it's an essential medicine like insulin for someone who can't produce insulin. Mum can't just feed the baby any old food to save money, it has to be the expensive formula.

My point is that if there was plain packaging and no advertising, the company wouldn't be paying for that and so the cost of producing formula would be cheaper, hopefully resulting in cheaper formula. I thought it obvious what my point was.

I have three children the age gap from first to last is 12 years in that time breastfeeding advice and support has gone from there there head pats it will get better just persist to nothing zero are you not going to even bother breastfeeding? (I failed with the last two children so no) well we can't let you go home till he is drinking (vast amount as reccomend for a one month old) as an experienced if reluctant FF mother I ended up pouring some away telling them yes he was drinking that huge amount every feed they told me at every feed my child would be fat sick unhealthy the one thing they didn't do is offer me any help or support to breastfeed

That is why breastfeeding rates are low zero support and information not pretty packaged powder

I think the problem is the Price! The cheapest on the market is about £7 which is outrageous.

Low rates of breastfeeding in the UK is due to multiple factors in which culture and lack of support are important factors.

This would be true of all foods - the whole process of making them appealing generally also makes them more expensive, sadly.

Over exaggerated/false claims of what they do don't help either.
Formula milk is never going to be exactly like breast milk, so they need to stop trying to suggest it is, however it's still a perfectly acceptable food source for a baby!

I was able to BF, and it was the best option for us, but I also support anything which could make formula cheaper while still meeting the best quality standards posdible.