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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Milupa's "support" line...

57 replies

hunkermunker · 25/08/2005 21:58

Caligula said she wants to get this line regulated/taken down/some transparency shed on what they're saying/doing (or words to that effect).

So, who else would like to try similar? Posts containing "Boden, number 4, yawn or feminine itching soothers" need not appear on this thread, please. If you're not interested, go elsewhere

OP posts:
WigWamBam · 25/08/2005 21:59

Yes, I would.

caligula · 25/08/2005 22:02

Yes.

Today I e-mailed the NCT and they mailed me back saying they're aware of this line but didn't have any concrete evidence about what Milupa are advising.

So I reckon we need to give them some!

Twiglett · 25/08/2005 22:04

I have a concern that the more click-throughs / phone calls received the more the company will view this as a succesful marketing campaign and replicate it in future. My concern extends to the more the campaign and brand are discussed too.

fuzzywuzzy · 25/08/2005 22:04

You do realise that Milupa are not the only baby milk manufacturers to have an 'advice' line, Cow and Gate have one too (thinking off the top of my head here).

lilsmum · 25/08/2005 22:08

SMA have a helpline too

Original poster
hunkermunker · 25/08/2005 22:08

Hmm...

Don't have time until Tuesday now to ring the line, but will then. Hope others can ring tomorrow.

Also have been perusing the info available on the site Twiglett posted to (the Milupa one for healthcare professionals) and have come across several things I don't think are legal

Would this site fall under the code? It's for healthcare professionals, but it's very much freely available first milk information.

(Site here, was just looking at the page re Aptamil Extra

OP posts:
Original poster
hunkermunker · 25/08/2005 22:10

Yes, the Cow & Gate line told one of my friends that their formula was pretty much the same as breastmilk anyway.

I guess we need to ring them all!

The advice line number is on packs of formula so I would imagine we're not the only people calling it.

OP posts:
suedonim · 25/08/2005 22:31

My chemist had leaflets from SMA or C&G (I forget which) on the counter offering bf info and support. Is that legal?

alux · 26/08/2005 09:45

advertising to hcp also banned by code.

full code

giraffeski · 26/08/2005 09:50

Message withdrawn

beatie · 26/08/2005 10:06

Isn't there some current campaign to ban advertising of all formula milk? Or am I mistaken?

Wouldn't it be better to rally support for this campaign?

Tinker · 26/08/2005 10:08

In the link about the Independent it did say that the govt is seeking to get the advertising of follow-on milk banned as well.

Tinker · 26/08/2005 10:09

"The UK Government has said it is working for a ban on the advertising of follow-on milks after the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported in 2003 that the WHA measures should be implemented in UK law."

beatie · 26/08/2005 10:14

Lots of info. here

Babyfeedinglawgroup

stardoman · 27/08/2005 20:43

The formula companies are trying to stop advertising on follow on from being banned. If advertising has no effect then why do the formula companies go to such lengths to be able to continue.

For example, the formula companies have told the Food Standards Agency that there have been no complaints to trading standards about follow on milk. They are trying to argue that this means that there is no confusion between follow on milks and first milks and therefore they should be free to advertise follow on.

However, there HAVE been complaints to the trading standards. The formula companies are trying everything they can to keep things as they are.

I think its worth knowing that in countries such as the US where there is no ban on advertising first milks that follow on does not exist. Follow on was only created to get around the ban on advertising for first milks. And they do this by keeping the imagey similar for the two products.

Mandy. (Please be kind as I'm new).

charleypops · 27/08/2005 21:01

All these threads are making me feel like a completely useless mum, like my lo is going to die early and be susceptible to all kinds of disease. I know that your argument is with the fact Milupa are offering an advice line which makes mums feel a bit better about opting for formula, but FGS I would LOVE it if someone could make me feel better about it. I have had a SHIT few weeks since ds was born - he started off in Special Care, everyday I feel sick with worry, he wouldn't bf, I didn't have the energy to continue expressing and I know I should probably be bfing especially as he needs all the help he can get. But I CAN'T, and I WANT a manufacturer to tell me Aptimil is the best formula I can feed my baby and to help me not feel so guilty.

OK, I might be in the minority, but so are a lot of people. I feel like the way I feed my baby is some dirty secret.

WideWebWitch · 27/08/2005 21:05

Charleypops, NO-ONE wants you to feel bad, this is about the fact that what Milupa are doing is either illegal or close to it and that pisses a lot of us off. It's NOT about the fact the some people bottle feed (I did btw) - it's about a large company flouting the law and trying to turn women who might otherwise persist with breastfeeding into formula users. And that is wrong. The criticism is of the formula cos, NOT you or anyone who bottle feeds/fed. Please try to see that. And I do speak as someone who wishes she could have breastfed but didn't

lummox · 27/08/2005 21:08

That's one of the most thought-provoking posts I've seen on this topic Charley.

charleypops · 27/08/2005 21:19

WWB - I know, it's just that over the past few days on here it's caused so much outrage - like they're the devil incarnate or something. Anyone could be excused for thinking that the promotion of formula was like advertising filterless Gitanns or something. It's upset me a bit.

I can only speak from my point of view.

Lummox - I'm sure there are a lot of people avoiding these threads at the moment.

JoolsToo · 27/08/2005 21:20

isn't there a thread that says 'please don't post on this thread' - because ........

Roxswood · 27/08/2005 21:27

I just wanted to say to Charley that I'm sorry you feel bad. Its not right that you have to feel guilty for not breastfeeding your little one when you oviously wanted to.
I hope you can see though that its not right for formula companies to be offering BREASTFEEDING advice! There is a huge conflict of interest and I would think it would be fine if the advice line clearly stated it was only for questions directly about their product but they don't. They produce advertisements thinly disguised as breastfeeding information that lead parents to believe theres no real point in breastfeeding since formula is pretty much the same. Of course its not and can never be.
We are so lucky that formula exists for babies like yours who have problems with breastfeeding, but the literature produced by formula companies is often the only breastfeeding information Mum's get and its all aimed at getting you to feed your baby their specific product.

Hattie05 · 27/08/2005 21:34

Here here Charleypops.

A fit and healthy mummy is far more important than the method of feeding your baby. A scbu unit is not the most comforting environment to have to try and start breastfeeding in, neither is a premature or poorly baby going to latch on so easily.
Don't let this get you down xxx Noone is knocking the content of the formula, just the companies way they go about their business.

charleypops · 27/08/2005 21:35

But the fact that the advertising of first formula is banned in the first place worries me. I think Milupa et al are only doing the "advice lines" because it is the only way they can market their product. And unfortunately, instead of being allowed to say "Our formula is the next best thing to breastmilk", they're having to try and fit round the legislation and end up with a thinly veiled attempt at promotion via a pro-breastfeeding stance.

hercules · 27/08/2005 21:37

But their formula isnt the next best thing to breastmilk so why should they be allowed to say this?

charleypops · 27/08/2005 21:38

So what is Hercules?