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.

cornish, then you are very lucky.

where i live, largish town in the south-east, there is ONE breastfeeding counsellor.
a friend had to wait 4 days for a visit from her

bear in mind that bfc's are generally volunteers, with families of their own.
some areas are lucky enough to have government funded BF support. many more are not.

as has been said before, formula feeders are in a massive majority.
of course your health care professionals should give you advice and listen to concerns regarding formula feeding, but likewise, you can probably get that info from the milk tin/calling the manufacturer/talking to most other mums you meet!

Misplaced paranoia?

I have thought this quite a few times with MN threads and never mentioned it before but I am pissed off with so called threads from people whom we can't identify. It seems clear to me that this is intended to promote ff advertising.

I support Baby Milk Action's stance that parents who choose formula milk should get proper information from the NHS. Proper information does not include - (from a really great MW) "Well, they say brand X is closest to breastmilk^" I quote verbatim. The MW had been influenced by FF advertising to HCPs and didn't even realise it - oh and neither did I at the time, I duly gave my baby the stuff

Pooexplosions - how do you know there is nothing to choose between them?! Where did you get that information?

TheCrackFox - I'm guessing that you have not looked at the list of ingredients on a tin of formula and had to make the decision to use something full of monophosphates, nicotinamide guinosine etc. And if you did you'd know exactly what they were and what they would do to your PFB?!

Hoochie - thanks!

closest to breastmilk

CornishKK: I have never, ever, stated that FF would kill "your" child. It might kill a child in the developing world. But that's another matter.

If you look at the majority of my posts on this subject, you will see that I am against FF companies, not FF mothers.

I must say I resent the tone of your "at last".

knock yourself out.report if you really believe op is bogus

i hear dem communists are everywhere too

Maybe instead of wasting your time demanding formula adverts (never going to happen) you could campaign for the NHS to actually properly support BF? The vast majority of mums actually want to BF but fail because they have not been properly supported.

Just a thought.

I'm in South East London, my sister is in Cornwall - BFing support was abundant in both locations. As it should be!

I did Scottishmummy because I think OP is talking crap.

If you are Scottish why are you adopting the cod Southern US accent?

YABU - I gave my dc the occasional bottle of formula, because whilst I didn't mind bf'ing (found it a bit tiresome tbh, but easy enough & obviously worth doing), I really disliked expressing milk for an evening out. Also, I went back to work after anywhere between 4 & 6 months, after which I mixed ff & bf.

If I had it to do again, I'd try to bf exclusively & for longer.

Anyway. Each time I bought formula, I assumed there was nothing much to choose between the 'big three', so bought whatever we'd had last time or whatever the corner shop had in stock. I did notice that each of my 3 dc had different reactions to different types - eg dd1 cried all night when given 'hungry' formula, whereas ds had had it with no ill effects at all.

Neither advertising nor advice from a HCP would've helped me 'choose' a brand of formula - the only meaningful way in which they differ is that different babies react diferently to different breast milk substitutes, & that you can't predict.

is someone here demanding formula adverts? missed that post
in my experience bf is very well supported whereas those who ff are most certainly not

I would bet my bottom dollar that even if this information was available, the majority of people would still spend more time choosing a buggy than deciding on their child's sole form of nutrition for the first six months of life. Such is the trust in formula companies......

you bet or you know

Penthesileia - typo, was meant to say "at least". Jokey and actually appreciating your more balanced approach to FF mothers than other posts I have read Please don't resent my tone, there wasn't one!

maybe if advertising was permitted there would be more research into the effects of different formulas on children. surely this would be beneficial

Hoochie - yes, but even those risks are still negligible - small percentage points of risk. I'm not denying that there are risks - they are real - but they remain small. I don't think it helps BF to insist on these risks which people can't see manifested in any kind of statistically meaningful way in their lives, IYSWIM?

That's why I'm increasingly more interested in arguing the "freedom" line: namely, that FF impinges on the freedom of BFers. If we're about "choices", well, then that's a big concern...

Cornish - not sure, btw, what you disagree with me about? That we are not a FF-culture? I think this is borne out by observation.

why cant we all just realise that all formula is nothing like breastmilk

it isn't gonna kill your child or even harm them

but it is nothing like breast milk

no advertising ever tells the complete truth or even some truth

and its a sad fact that ff are a majority

whole heap of assumptions and anecdotes here
op is a bogus manufacturer interests post
more time on buggy than feeding mode

really?
such claims are likely unsubstantiated

"in my experience bf is very well supported whereas those who ff are most certainly not"

So how many ff mothers do you know who have been forced to breastfeed because they weren't shown how to make up a bottle? Compare that to the thousands and thousands of women who give up bf in the first two weeks of their babies' lives because they haven't been supported to get them properly attached at the breast.....

There is theoretical support for breastfeeding - but unfortunately it doesn't usually manifest itself in the form of widely available, timely and skilled help when women are struggling to establish lactation.

in the midst of all this squabbling and waving quasi-research at each other,supporting women whatever choice they make is lost

no one mode of feeding confers special maternal stasus

Sorry Scottishmummy can we have some verbs to help us out here

LOL at the ideas of mothers "forced to bf" because of lack of info on ff - this I like. Those evil Nipple Nazis

"in my experience bf is very well supported whereas those who ff are most certainly not"

that is my experience like it or not.
of course nobody has been forced to bf due to lack of support for ff - however those who ff are left to it.

X-posted, Cornish - ahhh, I see. Thanks for your explanation. Sorry to jump to conclusions.

Pens "FF has an effect on BF, or people who want to BF." - this bit I didn't agree with but I obviously have a completely different experience in terms of BFing support available, I've just had my first baby and had BF support coming out of my ears - a good thing but I'd like all Mum's to be supported.

Anyway, I'm off to bed before getting up in 5 or six hours for a bottle of the evil white stuff.