NOT permitted to use Boots points for milk

[kirk33]

I am currently extremely upset with Boots the chemist.
I am a working mother and my husband stays at home to look after our 5 month old son.
My husband has just been told at Boots that we can NOT use our Boots points to buy the formula milk we feed our son !.
Apparently its company policy as they do not want to be seen to be promoting non breast feeding !!!!!!!!
This policy applies to all the formula even milk designed for older babys.
This policy is not advertised or displayed in store anywhere. As a customer who regularly spends a fortune in Boots the points seemed like a nice bonus, saving up for a rainy day !, i feel very aggrieved that i cannot use them against things we need. They advertise that they are parent and baby friendly but this seems very anti parent to me.
What if my husband were a lone parent ?. He would not be able to breast feed anyway.
My husband and I will no longer be shopping at Boots for any products and He will be informing the other parents in his coffee group about this situation.
Does anyone else feel we should be able to use the points on products we need ?

[moaningminniewhingesagain]

This is one of the funniest threads ever. And it ably demonstrates why we don't need a moderator.

It broke my heart when they stopped letting you earn Nectar points on fags < Ah, memory lane >

[omnishambles]

When will it be my turn to 'get with the lovin'

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

Bollocks. I miss all the good threads.

Bloody 'job'.

[SkiHorseWonAWean]

It's easy to be pious when you're not poor. OP, I really hope you weren't relying on those points to buy milk for your baby - but I'll bet there are women out there who really are that short of cash.

So a mum on a very limited income can by herself some nice Lee Stafford hair straightening balm but her baby can go hungry because it's not the government-approved message.

The official NHS message appears to be "produce your own you DRY-TITTED slag!".

The fucking irony of it all is that formula is considered "dangerous" when women cannot actually financially afford it and therefore don't feed their babies enough. Then, in a civilised country the government actually STOPS women getting access to free formula... fucking bonkers innit.

[Hazeyjane]

skihorse, if you are on a low income then you should be eligible for vouchers that you can use for baby milk.

The laws surrounding baby milk aren't there to punish f'feeders.

[SirBoobAlot]

Yes Ski, the laws are there because they want FF babies to starve

If you are on a limited income you can get milk vouchers.

[SkiHorseWonAWean]

I'm glad that some people get vouchers - however, as fiofio states, not everyone who is independent is flush with fivers.

It's a shame you chose to interpret and twist my words in such a negatory fashion.

[Zimm]

Question and potential thread hijack but who will care if a troll...at what age can you give a child cows milk? I was hoping to avoid follow on milk completely, planning to return to work after a year, assuming DD can have cows milk then? And what about from between 6 months and 1 year if I decide to mix-feed plus solids at that point? I know there are official guidelines but keen to hear real mums views and experiences...

[nowherewoman]

If you're on a low income, you don't shop at boots.

[Algebra18MinusPiEquals16]

Zimm - babies can have cows milk as a drink as soon as they've turned one :) it must be full fat though, at least until they're 2 IIRC, and they aren't allowed fully skimmed until age 5.

I would switch gradually though. DD switched when she turned one (she was only BF until 8m and I was keen to ditch the formula) I think we swapped 1 cup a day for a few days, then another etc.

before that you can use it with food, like in cheese sauces or with porridge/cereal, but it shouldn't be used as an actual drink.

you really don't need follow-on, it's horribly sweet (and it smells disgusting too!) - they can still have normal formula from 6-12 months. follow-on is a con.

[TrillianAstra]

Ferret - no singing that song until December!

[Algebra18MinusPiEquals16]

I got Healthy Start vouchers (new name for milk vouchers) for a little while, it's great as now you can use them on fruit and veg too! great if you're BFing as you aren't missing out on free stuff.

"So a mum on a very limited income can by herself some nice Lee Stafford hair straightening balm..."

no... if you had that low an income you presumably wouldn't be spending enough in Boots to get enough points for that! there are plenty of cheaper shops in which to buy baby stuff, Asda etc do much better deals... though obviously I get all our baby stuff in Boots because of the staff discount.

also, hopefully if you had no money you would use the points you did have to get essentials like nappies, wipes or bottles?

[Marchpane]

Lmao at this thread. Can't believe I missed it last night. Hilarious

[virgo1979]

Hilarious.....

Bit concerned about the MN'ers giving their babies Kalms instead of milk though.........

[Algebra18MinusPiEquals16]

no different than dosing them up with calpol surely!

(although on a more serious note DH was telling me he actually does get concerned about the amount of calpol some families get through!)

[tiktok]

I don't recognise SkiHorse's fantasy at all.

You'd have to have be a mighty big Boots customer to get free formula - someone do the maths for me, please!

Women on limited incomes get Healthy Start vouchers - which do work out as more-or-less free formula (a can a week is about a young baby's needs, yes?).

This is not the government being discriminatory to formula feeders - you could argue that if points-related discounts were available on formula, then this would discriminate against breastfeeders as they would have no use for the formula points, so one entire product range would be out of their scope.

It's not about mothers. The law is there to protect all babies, formula feeding babies as well. If you buy formula at a discount this week, and find you have to pay considerably more next week ('cos you have no more points to redeem), then this does not allow sensible budgetary decisions and (goes the theory) you might be forced to feed your baby something less safe/suitable/cheaper instead.

You might scoff at this. You might wonder who would be so cash-strapped to not be able to buy sufficient formula on the non-discount weeks. In that case, don't bring up the notion of cash-strapped women relying on Boots points to feed their babies.

FFS.

[mrsunreasonable]

I haven't bothered to read this whole thread because a) I am lazy and b) I have better stuff to do but Boots don't let you use the points not because of their anti ff policy it is because formula for babies under 6months cannot be reduced/part of a promotion etc because the government say so. Also if you are that strapped for cash you NEED to use the points for milk then might I suggest stop shopping in Boots because you can buy everything they sell in Boots much cheaper elsewhere.

[Algebra18MinusPiEquals16]

you get 4p per £1 spent so to get a tin for say £6 (or are they more now?) you'd need to spend £150

[Algebra18MinusPiEquals16]

BTW Boots aren't anti-formula really, have you seen how much they stock?!? it's a whole aisle in our Flagship store.

I complained at my DH as his (local pharmacy) store has shelves of bottles, teats etc and the few BFing items (nipple cream, breast pads etc) were right at the bottom, where you hardly see them.

I asked him if he could swap them - maybe just for BFing awareness week a while back - but he's not allowed. companies pay for the best shelf position and he can't go against that :(

[tiktok]

Thanks, Algebra.

Formula is a tad more than £6, and premium brands considerably more.

But lets stay with £6.

So, if a baby goes through a can of formula once a week for a year, in order to get free formula on your Boots points, you'd need to spend £7800.

I do hope the mothers at the OP's DH coffee morning point this out to him :)