To think adverts for and more info on formulas should be allowed?

[StrictlyBoogying]

I couldn't and didn't breastfeed either of my DCs for many reasons and when in hospital I was asked which formula I wanted DD1 to have. I had no idea which to choose and the staff weren't allowed to suggest or recommend one brand. I think it's ridiculous. People who want to make an informed decision on formula aren't being allowed to.

[StrictlyBoogying]

I didn't say that information on F Feeding should be the responsibilty of staff but it should be available. None of the Mums I know chose to FF but many ended up doing so for various reasons. I had to and would have liked nutritional information.

[Bathsheba]

I was in a very similar position to you - my DD1 wouldn't BF, there was no help at all, it was assumed I'd put her on formula so "what did I want"..

I had absoltuely no idea at all, I'd never even been down the formula aisle at the supermarket.

I asked the midwife who wasn't allowed to tell me anything other than what they had in stock in the cupboard....I picked what my best friend has fed her daughter, who was 10 months older than mine, on....and that was the basis of my choice....

I was there, a very highly educated 33 year old basing a split second choice on "its what my best mate used"...(and she probably hadn't based her choice on anything either...)

[StrictlyBoogying]

Bathsheba - that'd exactly the situation I was in. I also remembered my friend's formula brand and picked it! She is the kind of person to make an informed decision so I hoped it would suit DD1!

[paranoidandroidwithabobcut]

when i first went to buy formula there were three brands for sale in the shop cow and gate, sma and farleys.

i remember when i was younger some cow and gate products had been found to have glass in them and a few weeks before i had remembered about some sma being recalled for somereason so i went with farleys.

not the most informed desision but it worked for us.

[Sassybeast]

Midwives are not 'allowed' to recommend any commercial product. The guidelines are very clear and are there for their own protection and for yours. It's not really rocket science is it ? There aren't any huge differences between formulas as far as I'm aware ? In many cases it IS a case of trial and error.

[BeehiveBaby]

But there is no difference in the various '1' formulas surely? Other than different companies selling the same product in order to make profits for their company? Beyond the basics, you would have had to have tried one to know that you needed eg 'Comfort' or 'hungry baby'?

Also, isn't it too important a product to be handed over to advertisers to inform and educate about? I see your point though, OP, especially given that HCPs don't seem to know what to say about it.

Disclaimer: I don't think it should be advertised at all, anywhere for any age group.

[AvrilH]

Advertisers will just try to bamboozle us and sciencey sounding gobbledigook. They all want to sell their own brand, they don't care about our choices.

A simple table of the relative casein/whey contents and any additives would be useful though.

[Fitzy72]

beehivebaby - there is a difference. for example in something as simple as the consistency of the formula - i found one brand to be a lot thicker than another.
why should companies not be allowed to advertise?
surely all advertising is a company trying to sell products for profit - should all advertising be banned then??

[McDie79]

I really don't think advertising would sway anyone's decision away from breastfeeding if that's what they had decided to do.

If formula feeding (for whatever reason)is the decision a mother has made I think that more information on formula feeding should be given by midwives/health visitors,not just the nutritional qualities but things like sterilisation,different flows of teats,storage guidelines.

Personally, I did'nt manage breastfeeding after weeks of trying with a lot of support from HV,when I decided to formula feed (or as midwife snidley called it 'artificialy feed') their attitude towards me completley changed,I was offered no advice and felt a bit abandoned to be honest.

So, YANBU I totally agree with you

[scarletlilybug]

I don't think adverts really inform anyone though, do they? For example, washing powder is heavily advertised... do you really know the actual difference between the different brands? All adverts simply claim - directly or indirectly - that theirs is "the best" product and try to find ways to appeal to consumers on some subliminal level.

Cynical me thinks that some formula companies actually prefer not to keep consumers too well informed about the contents of their products (which are not always entirely appetising, should we say), as well as the recommended way to prepare formula. Preparing it the currently recommended way - water at least 70 degrees, each batch prepared separately - is a big faff, and hardly convenient. Not exactly a big selling point, nor is the reasoning behind the guidelines.
JMO.

[BeehiveBaby]

But no other product provides a baby's entire food supply. Still a problem, but not one solved by encouraging formula advertising. Maybe it shouldn't be a commercial product at all? I suppose the argument against that is that profit drives innovation. What's the cheapest formula? Is it significantly so? Are babies fed it getting a raw deal?

[Fitzy72]

questions which could possibly be answered if advertising was allowed and formula was treated like any other product on the baby food market??

[Fitzy72]

sorry hoochie - my last post was in response to the one before you
what new mums need is information.
do companies here not just push follow on milks because they are not allowed to advertise their 1st level formula?

[thisisyesterday]

it isn't ridiculous at all. ANY formula is fine for your baby, you don't need to know wht's in them, or what the manufacturer claims it can do.

any infant milk is suitable to feed to an infant.

vallhalla, the thuird world has nothing to do with it. yes, millions of children over there die every yuear as a direct result of formula feeding, which I for one do not wisdh to support by lining their pockets.
However the effects of formula feeding (aside from unsanitary water) are the same the world over. A baby in the UK still has a higher risk of many long term illnesses if it is formula fed.

do you see breastfeding adverts on tv? NO.
so why would you need formula ones?

at the end of the day formula is not equal to breastmilk and does not deserve to be promoted in an equal way.

the ban is there for a reason, a very good reason.

[thisisyesterday]

can't say about sdcandinavia, but i know that in Brazil they take the code very seriously,
you are not allowed to advertise dummies, bottles, teats- nothing to do with artificial feeding

following this breastfeeding rates soared

[thisisyesterday]

if you are interested in this kind of thing then "the politics of breastfeeding" makes fascinating reading

[Fitzy72]

if anyone wanted to advertise breastfeeding on tv i would have no objections and i'm sure they would be free to do so
formula may not be equal to breastmilk and i'm sure if a company tried to say that it was then the ad would not be allowed
i thought that this was a free country with free speech?? if formula is not banned then companies should be permitted to advertise.

[thisisyesterday]

the problem is that advertising does affect breastfeeding rates.
if it didn't then formula manufadcturers woul.dn't do it would they?

every child has the right to the best possible nutrition, and as such the government (rightly) believes that it needsd to take steps to try and ensure that every child has the best possible chance at being breastfed.

a formula fed child is far more likely to end up in hospital within its first year, it is more likely to have long term illnesses.... all of these cost the country money.

[Vallhala]

Thisisyeaterday, all i can say is that there is little or no need for any advertising if we're honest. No I don't see breastfeeding adverts on TV. Nor do I see adverts on how to eat but I do see ads for meat and vegetarian products, displaying the wares and offering the choice. However, the accepted view in this country is that a diet including meat is 'best' for a human, despite there being argument to the contrary. Regardless of this manufacturers of vegetarian products are thankfully not censored in their advertising, so why formula? I'd argue that the intention is to persuade consumers to prefer a brand, not to chose formula over breastfeeding.

We will never agree and I don't seek to change your views, I just maintain that government censorship of this type is unacceptable, infuriating and an insult to the average intelligence.