To feel annoyed trees were cut down to print this anti-breastfeeding article

[cherrymama]

In the latest edition of Mother and Baby magazine (I bought it for the free gift) the deputy editor has an article about breastfeeding. In it she says that she "couldn't be fagged" to breastfeed and that breastfeeding her newborn using breasts that had previously been used for sex would feel "creepy". And that even the health benefits of breastfeeding "wouldn't induce her to stick her nipple in her bawling baby's mouth."

I think her attitude is horrible! I understand many people try to breastfeed and don't manage, but to say that it is creepy is another thing.

"but its bloody hard work and overrated".

What - making up bottles is easier? Not for me!

And I don't think babies would say it was 'overrated'.

"Once oculd also argue it completely excludes fathers"

Yes - because we know the only way a man can 'bond' with his baby is by feeding it.

sounds like M&B ed is on a catholic guilt trip.

IMO she should be sacked for an article like that in a baby magazine.

she clearly has no idea of the risks that are inherant when formula feeding.

have a look on any reputable website (WHO, UNICEF) to find out the dangers of formula milk.

now, i am not saying that your baby will not get sick if you breastfeed. but it is more likely to get sick if it is formula fed.

just like people dont say that if you smoke your baby will have a cot death, or if you dont fasten your baby in a car seat, it will die in a car crash.

i am not scaremongering re. formula, just presenting the facts.

I agree with the editor of the magazine and I know many who agree with me, in not wanting to breastfeed but feeling under pressure from the media and midwifes etc to do so.

The Breast is best brigade can F off as far as I'm concerned, how you feed your baby is your choice there should not be any campaigns for either method simply support and information for a mothers (unpressured) choice and supermarkets should be allowed to do special offers on formula.

I didn't even see a baby breastfed until I was 14 and babysitting.I wasn't breastfed and nor was my brother,and as he is severely asthmatic and I have a serious allergy I was really really keen to breastfeed.I think that working for an amazing woman in my teens,babysitting her sons,seeing her feed them,was a big factor in me feeling confident and familiar with breastfeeding ,and I'm still grateful for that.Its rarely mentioned how the subtle messages of "you might not be able to" "you might choose not to" "many people can't " can affect us all subliminally.We tend to feel we are "lucky" to be able to breastfeed,rather than that as primates it would be really unusual if we couldn't. It damages women's confidence in the most basic function of their bodies.And that is what formula has given to the world,yet another thing to make women feel rubbish.And that is what an article like this adds to.How would we feel if a man had written it? how he wanted his wife's "fun bags for him alone?"

Pillthrill

I am not sure you are presenting real "facts".

What are the chances of yoru baby getting sick if breasfed. Lets assume from what I read here it is negligable. Lets say a child is 10 times more likely to get sick on formula. Ten times neglicable is still pretty much neglible.

Inherant risks when formula feeding????? Yes, if you are an illiterate mother living in the third world with no access to clean water and the facilities to boil it. Not for an intelligent woman living in a first world country like the UK.

no a mothersplace that is not true.Formula can be lethal in the third world,or in the west after natual disasters,but even in the west there are definite risks when using formula,as it contains intrinsic pathogens,even before you add water.That is why ff babies are more likely to get GI illnesses in this country.

sorry amothersplace, but YOU are wrong. try reading The Politics of Breastfeeding.

do you know what is in formula? no, cos they dont have to list ingredients. why? cos most people would balk if they knew that omega 3 fats were derived from fish eyes.

in (as you call it) a first world country ,the USA, a formula milk was sold that (they eventually discovered) didn't have the necessary vitamins and nutrients in it. as a result, many children through time became ill and disabled. when the us gov. discovered the cause, they naturally told the formula company they must stop selling it in the us. the formula company then went onto sell it in (as you call it) third world countries.

you are so, so wrong and completely misled in your old fashioned and uneducated attitude to formula feeding. you want to try and do a bit of research before you begin spouting such crap.

ever heard of pot, kettle, black? the cheek of you calling people in "third world" countries illiterate.

amothersplaceisinthewrong - ff babies are more likely to be admitted to hospital with a range of common childhood illnesses, from gastro-enteritis to respitory infections. And the research DOES take social background, smoking etc into account to make sure that ff babies from deprived backgrounds are not being compared with bf babies from well off families.

I appreciate these facts are unpalatable, but they are facts.

This is an infant health issue, fundamentally, hence involvement of health agencies in promoting breastfeeding.

They put ingredients on the labels and I would like to know what exactly is spost to be wrong with fish eyes?, people are too damn screamish about food, so much of animals are wasted due to peoples silliness born out of being so used to a spoilt western lifestyle that has only existed for around 40 years in this country.

I have allergies I was brought up on boob and SMA, my brother is perfectly fine and he was brought up Carnation milk mixed with brown sugar, as was my sister who is diabetic.

what does that tell you? tells you shit happens and what milk you had means nothing.

I didnt BF nor did I ever consider it for my DS. The midwives in the hospital lectured me as did my mother. I have no excuses, I wasnt ill, I am reasonably well educated and had read all the literature. My friends accepted it and made their own decisions. I kept my opinion about breast feeding to myself. I am so glad somebody has written about us, the silent majority who are neither ignorant, desperately ill, tried but couldnt manage nor lazy. We dont want to BF for a wide variety of reasons and it is refreshing to hear some of them being expressed in a parenting magazine.

its a testament to the human body RYKO not a testament to carnation and sugar.

carnation is nestle isnt it? PUKE

lucky you are in 2010 then chuck, or your refusal would be infantacide.

and no-one mentions the cows who produce the milk, after being artificially inseminated, then their calves whipped away from them and slaughtered.

sorry chuck, crisps i mean

Crisp, I hope you're not saying that the woman who wrote this article speaks for the "majority" of women who ff, with her talk of creepiness and funbags!

Yes I am lucky it is 2010 and had never considered it could be anything other than that date! I am more than sure if the alternative to FF was infanticide that I would have chosen BF. However as it is the 21st century and will remain so for another 90 years I will thankfully not have that dilemma.
I dont think BF is creepy and hope I didnt post that. I think I said that people don`t BF for a number of reasons, often private, but we do tend to keep very quiet about it.

Carnation is condensed milk by Nestle, it's what mothers used to use before formula milk was introduced.

Milk made for cows + brown sugar hardly full of nutritional benefits yet kids did alright on it, nothing wrong with formula it has all the vitamins a baby needs.

We are so pushed/judged/criticised from all sides as mothers and I do wish we could see that a bit more - bf worked for me but it was not without its judgy comments from MIL and having to go and sit in room away from FIL and nagging about when we'd be stopping and was I sure he was getting "enough" from me etc etc.
The pressure comes from all camps, IMO.

Ryoko.

go back to school.

I am very pro breastfeeding, currently EBF DS2 who is 9 weeks old. However I strongly believe its the mothers choice, and the only time I am sad when someone stops breastfeeding is when she wanted to continue but couldn't get the appropriate support for whatever reason.

Am interested re: the carnation evaporated milk, apparently I was fed it as a baby in 1970s. Not sure why as I'm sure formula was available and my dad and grandma where doctors so would have followed medical advice. I'm in good health BTW...

There is no need for anyone here to be rude... but am still re the article. That being said, breastfeeding is best for your baby, just that some women weigh that up and decide the benefits are not worth it.