To be annoyed at someone on the bf/bottle feeding forum saying that formula should only be available on prescription

[pigletmania]

That person obviously has found bf a complete and utter doddle and might not have encountered any problems with it. These comments do nothing to promote bf imo only reaffirm the stereotype of bf matrons. If formula were to only be available on prescription it would penalise those who are struggling to bf and need that extra to top up, or those who have made the choice not to bf though respecting their decision is a bit to me.

i already have, this is the AIBU thread after all.

Nah, doesnt make it okay just because you've started a thread to slag off another on the aibu part.

YABU. I haven't read the other thread but it strikes me as quite a good idea. I don't see why prescription formula is in any way a criticism of women who can't BF. In fact, it should make a lot of things easier for women who FF. For example, am NHS supported formula would mean it could be checked for nutritional content and regulated - something that doesn't happen currently. The price would be fixed to make it immune from the changes in the open market - something that doesn't happen currently. It could be made properly sterile - something that doesn't happen currently. It could be given alongside additional support to try and keep women BF longer, with the REAL help they need to carry on when they don't want to stop - something that doesn't happen currently. And - most importantly - it would increase BF rates to above the shockingly low levels they are at the moment.

Feeding babies is a public health issue - the govt NEEDS to intervene to make sure we have a healthy population. Given that the link between BF and healthier outcomes is well-established, why shouldn't it be on prescription?

I didn't read that thread.

The smuggery of the thread title was enough to alert me that we had a nutter on our hands.

obviously to you IABU. lve said the same thing on that thread

No, it's not unreasonable to disagree and discuss the issues. It is not on to start another thread like this to encourage the slagging off of someone who holds a different opinion to you.

I didn't realise this was a thread about a thread, as it said forum not topic, but having seen the op on the other thread, I stand by my previous post.

FF isn't as good as bf. That isn't said to upset anyone but it is a fact.

There are mothers who can't bf I know that. But there are also others who choose not to. And I think that it should be made clear that whilst it is of course their choice, they are not making the best choice for their child.

If someone smokes throughout their pregnancy it's seen as OK to tell them they are harming their baby. In fact they'd probably be critisised roundly on MN.

And BTW I don't know anyone who found bfing a 'doddle'. It isn't easy to start with. It hurts.

"If freedom of choice is removed from one element of life then where should it stop?"

the government does lots of things that remove freedom of choice from you, especially things for the public good. You aren't allowed the freedom to choose to not wear a seatbelt, or a motorbike helmet. You aren't allowed to choose whether to take illegal drugs, or give alcohol to minors..etc etc.

The op of that thread does not deserve this kind of abuse, and those attacking her and others because of their own ishoos is quite frankly pathetic.

i was annoyed at the comments and was having a moan, i am sure the poster is a very nice person, i dont know that poster so i have nothing against her but i was at the comments. not only those but other peopel that i have come across in life with comments that are in a similar vein.

That's true.

I'm sorry I called her a nutter.

I won't read any of her threads again with a straight face though.

I'm not sure giving it on prescription would improve bf rates. It wouldn't be hard to get so if you wanted it then you would get it. I think people would regard it more as a nanny state thing/an entitlement rather than think that 99% of women are capable of breastfeeding therefore I probably can too.

I do think it is a legitamate pov though. I don't think formula advertising should be allowed including online clubs, follow on milk and slogans and tie ins to the brand but plenty of people would disagree with me.

Is this the new convention then? Migrate to AIBU so that evryone can give the op a good kicking?

Do you really think the op deserved all the nasty comments that have come her way now??

A lot of militant breastfeeders do themselves and their cause no favours imo.

Ultimately it is nobody else's business how someone chooses to feed their baby.

Research shows that it is best for children to be brought up by a parent until they are three, but can you imagine if sahms started coming on to threads saying that women who work don't get enough support to sahm/that women choosing to work and leave their babies in nurseries are selfish/that more women should be encouraged to stay at home etc etc?

Ultimately there are lots of things that are best for children. But none of us, no not one of us, is able to always do the scientifically proven best for our child, either through choice or through necessity. And providing that people aren't doing actual harm to their children, how they choose to bring them up, be that to bf/ff, to wean at 4/6 months, to go to work/sahm, it is nobody else's concern but theirs.

And let's be honest - we're generally only talking about the first few months of a baby's life here. If you take a hundred adults, half of whom were bf and half of whom were ff, could you tell the difference? No thought not.

As for formula being made available on prescription, it would of course make people feel more sstigmatised than currently, because women, often vulnerable new mothers, would feel they needed to go to a professional to justify their decision to ff. And what would be the criteria for giving a prescription? Could a woman be refused a prescription for formula?

mabey it was not a good idea and should have generalised my thread not directed it at a specific thread but i was

Actually, I take issue at the starting of the original thread. Formula should be banned? Oh, come on. She knew she was being controversial unless she has been living on planet Zog.

I find breastfeeding / formula feeding 'debates' generally end up with formula feeders having a good old sob about how shit bf-ing was and how guilty they feel about ff-ing, and breastfeeders going into some sort of mad 'who can find the most damning anti-formula statistics' Quote Off. Tiresome.

Yes, breast is best. No, formula should not be banned.
Yes, bad form to start thread about a thread. Also bad form to be a twat.

if some one makes bizare comments then they have to expect to be pulled up on it.
imo it is just another way of getting one upmanship.

Did any of you read the article? The op of that thread merely said that if what it said was true it was shocking. it was the article that recommended formula on prescription, which was done in scandinavia (amongst other measures), massively improving bf rates and congruent benefits.

Agree, or disagree. get mad if you want, but aim it at the author of the article, the swedish government, whatever. leave the poor woman alone who did *not start an AIBU thread and didn't have a go at anyone.

And stop being so bloody predictable...another empty BF/FF debate? Yawn........

She didn't say 'banned' though - she said 'allowed to be sold'. She might well have meant 'on prescription'...

The people who reacted so quickly and aggressively to what was an unclear post interpreted it as 'banned'.

MrsMattie very good post

Agree with poo.

But clearly it was like lighting a blue touch paper.

YANBU.

As was said by MrsMattie,

"If the point being made was really that doctors should have the power to prescribe (or not prescribe) formula to new mothers - taking the power away from the woman herself to decide - well, that's just preposterous."

If formula was prescription-only I fear that women would have quite a struggle to obtain it and have to put up a case for it, just as we do with, say, antibiotics. We'd be denied Penicillin if there was nothing wrong with us and, I suspect, denied formula unless there was a clinical reason for it (ie can't, rather than won't b/f). I can envisage a lot of very distressed mothers being told that of course they are able to b/f, don't be silly dear, chop-chop and just get on with it, and many more furious ones being told that they must b/f, when they choose not to do so.

I agree that the comments do nothing to promote b/f and everything to make this poster spit!

I agree that the benefits of BF over FF are less clear than NHS literature would have you believe. So I disagree that BF/FF is such a significant public health issue that it is comparable to clearly harmful activity, such as smoking while pregnant.

I'm not a BF expert, but neither, I suspect, are many of the militantly pro-BF lobby.

Each to their own. And I think if you take into account the emotional stress that BF can cause some women (not all), the 'benefits' of BF/FF are even more closely matched. It suits some women: others feel pressurised to continue, at some cost to their own emotional well-being, and that of their family/relationship.

Its not just about what you put in your baby's tummy, and the wider physical/emotional issues need more discussion than they currently get in the rush to persuade more women to BF.

tbh,most bf/ff threads are full of spurious unsubstantiated chuff so no not surprised at the comments