AIBU - to think that adverts for follow on formula should acknowledge breastfeeding...

[GillianLovesMarmite]

Having just seen the advert on tv for heinz (now hideously overpriced) Nurture (follow on forumla) which delivered the message that it is the best thing you can give your baby for its development...
Do you think it would be unreasonable that these adverts should recognise breastfeeding - eg saying that if you are breastfeeding that this is great and providing what your child needs, however, if you have chosen not to breastfeed or have chosen to formula feed, that this is then the stuff for you... and that the 6 month time thing is not a deadline to stop at but a target to aim for.
I realise that by 6 months I am now in a minority of mothers who are still breastfeeding. I acknowledge that everyone has a right to choose how to feed their child, or that sometimes the choice is made for them, often by conditions or factors outside of their control and I would NEVER presume to judge how another woman feeds her child.
However, I just think it would be appropriate for these adverts to acknowledge that if you are breastfeeding you don't need this stuff - although in the real world I know that this will never happen as they have a product to sell - but do you (whether bfing or ffing) think that this would be an unreasonable thing for the companies to do?

(Sorry for the long post - just really really annoyed by the advert).

So tittybang, what's HEALTHY about letting a newborn lose 10lbs in his first week of life???!
The baby wanted a good feed- and no midwife was making sure he had one., Disgusting.

VS - stop telling me what I can and can not do. How dare you.

VS said it all much better than me

What would've been healthy would be a lactation consultant helping the mother to breastfeed, not a bottle of formula being given.

By the way VS, HCPs should not have an apostrophe.
There, another random post to infuriate you.

Is follow on milk made up because they can't advertise first milk? Or is it better? Oh we've just won the badminton doubles YAY

How dare I?
It's an internet discussion board love, if maybe if you added a worthwhile point to the debate rather than throwing in posts that are not really anything to do with formula advertising then you'd be worth reading.

And you only needed a comma OR a full stop, but let's not be pedantic.

I think we all know that breastfeeding education and support are woeful in the UK.

But how does that relate to the issue of formula marketing?

High rates of breastfeeding failure in a society don't justify a free for all in terms of formula marketing.

If anything it justifies tighter regulations - it's hard enough for new mothers who are already coping with the pressures resulting from inadequate care, without being exposed to emotionally manipulative and misleading marketing tactics on the part of baby milk manufacturers.

VS - the point is they don't give you formula.

They let you starve your baby because there are no 'lactation consultants.'

Gateau carry on...I'll just take care of my sickly, doomed to die early of horrible diseases, ff children.

Ouch, I'm cut to the bone, VS.
The aim of the thread was not to give air time to breastfeeding preachers either. You're boring, I've heard it all before. See ya.

What saddens me is just how "normal" ff is arund where I live/work. I am in the West of Scotland which has atrocious rates fo bf. My SIL - and her friends - did not even consider bf - "just didn't like the idea". The same geso with collegaues at work: if they even started bf, they stopped within days/weeks "cos it was too difficult and it is much easier to ff"

I don't even get involved in these disucssions at wrok or whith my SIL as I don't want to be seen as "pushing" bf - and then feel annoyed at myself for chickening out and not putting acorss the point that yes it can be difficult (and it was( massively diffiecult for me and I got loads* of support) but that it is achievable.

I think the saddest thing about these follow on ads (which annoy me too) is how invidious they are at assuming the need to use them. There was a sad thread on here yesterday when someone's ds or dd (a toddler) wanted to know why his/her mum wasn't giving her youngest child the (better) follow-on milk and was still giving her breast milk That is how effective they are - creating an auro of normalcy, nay, necessity.

gateau, I'm sorry you were let down by your HCPs when trying to feed your baby , and someone should have recognised your baby's weight loss and got you the appropriate help, but this would seem like a completely separate issue from the promotion of formula milk.

It is difficult not to see Formula as a lifesaver in circumstances like that, and I felt the same way when DS and I changed overnight from miserable and uptight to calm and relaxed. However, a distance of six years has allowed me to gain some perspective on my situation and to see that it was the HCPs who let me down rather than the formula comapnies who saved my sanity. It also made me determined to do as much as I can to help other women in my situation by training to become a BFing supporter. I am also an advocate of the banning of misleading adverts and information from formula companies as no-one told me there were any risks associated with it when I was at my lowest point. Now I know a little more of how the industry operates, I am horrified that I wasn't given the information up front.

oh dear, in the time it took me to post that you've gone. It would have been nice if you could've remained calm and reasoned in the debate rather than resorting to the old BFing preachers line and flouncing

no-one here is preaching about BFing that I can see, just telling it like it is really.

Gateau - obviously the midwives should let babies starve to death if breastfeeding isn't possible.

Alternatively maternity care could be delivered in such a way that far far fewer mums end up in a situation where supplementing with formula becomes a necessity.

But before this could happen we'd have to have arrived at a situation where mothers and health professionals actually valued exclusive breastfeeding as something that has long term benefits for newborns. I suspect this isn't going to happen while formula is still being so widely marketed as a fantastic, health giving, developmentally advantageous, super-scientific, 'nearly the same as breastmilk' food for babies.

Ditto, Gateau, keep harping on about formula, maybe when you've got over your own pain about feeling failed by the professionals wrt breastfeeding then you'll be able to discuss the issue of formula milk being advertised without your own demons clouding your thoughts.

Bumdiddley, I know they don't do what they should do, and IMO the health service is totally lacking in provision for breastfeeding help, but surely if there was less competition for breastfeeding, in the shape of formula, then it would be a good start, no?

I've seen three, yes, three threads in the last two weeks asking what bottles/formulas should be bought just in case the baby isn't feeding well, yet none of the posters had any information about breastfeeding, nor realised that having the formula in the house ready would make BFing less likely.

Advertising is not information
Information rarely comes from advertising
Advertising is not information
sigh

am slightly at the one person on this thread who lives in the real world - we all have our own real worlds too you know, only on your computer that we are virtual

In response to the OP (because the thread seems to have taken many turns and deviations since then) personally yes, I think YABU.
I would liken it to having to mention on ads for say, chocolate, that although chocolate is nice, you should really be reaching for an apple because that would be far better for you.
We all know that breast is best - it is not possible to enter a doctor's surgery, baby clinic or labour ward without seeing that broadcast. I would happily bet money that no one has ever been swayed to stop breastfeeding after 6 months purely to allow their baby on to follow on formulat (I thought follow on stuff was aimed at older babies (i.e. 1) anyway???) - either way, those who have made it to 6 months are definitely not going to be put off by a mass advertising campaign from a formula company.

"And the benefit in terms of tax revenue from the companies is probably more than cancelled out in terms of costs to the NHS in treating the higher rates of illness that are linked to artificial feeding."

I have NEVER heard of any babies anywhere who have become ill due to artificial feeding.

What I meant by "living in the real world" is that by working for a blue chip company and direct to nhs sales, I feel that I can see "both" sides of the argument iyswim.

Once again- why dont all you bf who feel so emotional and passionate (that being a good thing btw) get together and rattle the cage of the doh to get things changed.

Feel like you are fighting a losing battle having a go at the ff companys, unfortunately they have the power of money and are in the business of maing money.

It may not be ethical but its real.

"Advertising is not information
Information rarely comes from advertising
Advertising is not information"

Unfortunately the formula companies are doing their very, very best to blur the boundaries between information and advertising through the medium of

a) mum's clubs
b) 'help'lines supposedly staffed by health professionals
c) information booklets on many aspects of early postnatal life, including breastfeeding
d) websites giving information on baby care and baby feeding

Honestly I think the government should put a stop to this NOW. The information that mums are getting through these sources isn't being policed or monitored by people with enough knowledge of infant feeding. I have already made a complaint about a C&G booklet on 'Common Feeding Problems' which suggests that bf babies get just as much constipation as ff babies, and encourages bf mothers to supplement with water in between feeds.

Exactly Tittybangbang
Noone is suggesting we let a baby starve to death, if you can see that in any of these posts then you need your eyes checking or head examining.
What would be nice is if bf was considered by the majority to be a good, normal thing, as opposed to something you martyr yourself with for as long as possible and then move to the more normal, socially acceptable formula feeding. That is undermined by formula feeding ADVERTISING.

I hadn't actually read Gateau's posts. My ds lost a POUND in the first few days. He took seven weeks to regain birthweight. And I am proud of the fact that I continued to bf through all of that. That is everything to do with looking at the baby and responding to his needs. If Gateau's baby ended up having problems becasue he had lost "too" much (10 pounds is within the bounds of normality, but it obviously depends on how much he/she weighred in the first place), then that is the HCPs at fault - not an issue of bf versus ff.

And like waynetta says- its only advertising.
I dont like adverts for crappy food
Bernard mathhews turkey for example, but I feel so passionate about animal welfare that I would NEVER buy them.

Same goes for Formula, if you feel passionatly about bf then you would not be swayed.

Think you are being a bit harsh to gateau btw.
She obv had issues with feeding her dc and this is reflected in her views and she is perfectly entitled to them.

lillymolly, most of us that feel passionately are already doing things.
I helped with the breastfeeding picnic, and partly organised the leg in Oxford, I am part of NCTActive, I am training to be a peer supporter for my local babycafe, I am at the end of the phone for anyone who ever asks me for advice on breastfeeding and have supported two good friends through it who both needed the support.
We are helping, as much as we can. I don't see the people so passionate about formula helping anyone.