Turning the benefits of Breastfeeding into the risks of formula LIST

[rubberduckduck]

What do people think of this?

here

Just how much of this can be proved with current studies? eg.less likely to be alive on their third birthday.

Talk about scare mongering?

gaelice, yes, absolutely. All the posters, literature bangs on about the benefits of bf which is great and I knew all that. But when faced with a baby literally starving to death in my arms because he/I couldn't bf and I had then been told that ff may mean he wouldn't make it to his 3rd birthday WTF would I have done with that information?

And lol baroque, I think we were on the same page then!

i really really hate this

it presupposes that those women who end up ff are making that choice despite having family and hcp support, that they know the risks but just don't give a shit

this really couldn't be further from the truth

if you want women to bf change the context they bf in so that bf and work are more compatible, so that the expectation is that people around the mother are going to pick up the slack and then some with respect to household tasks and childcare, so that where there are issues the mother has instant access to qualified hcp who are coming from the perspective that fixing bf is the priority

otherwise you get a situation where you are hectoring women for failing to finish a race that was fixed from the start against them, how cruel

You really are obtuse aren't you Leonie? I'm assuming you didn't benefit from all those IQ points that bf is supposed to give you then?

Your first sentence doesn't even make any sense and you are talking total shite to say that all ff babies are being harmed. It simply isn't true. None of the stats bear this out in anyway.

I was in the same position as TopKnob,Twins born 10 weeks early ,struggled to keep up bf and switched to formula. I have 3 children who have thrived even though I sucummbed to the evils of formula. Believe me when my babies were in NICU, I was more scared that I would not be taking them home than worrying about the 'apparent' risks of ff!!

of course there are huge benefits in breastfeeding, and risk in not breastfeeding - but I don't see that it would do anyone any good to have it shoved in their face (such as the smoking adverts are) that they are actively harming their baby by FF.

Like you gaelicsheep - I knew full well the BF was a the superior way to feed my DS's (and if I'm honest while I was busy exclusively breastfeeding DS1 I was very judgemental towards FFing mums ), I knew that by FFing (thankfully not in anything like the circumstances that 4madboys encountered) and I knew there were risks associated with not breastfeeding - in some caes with compelling evidence to prove it.

I did NOT need it shoving in my face in literature, posters etc - as it would probably have finished me off too.

And I absolutely have no beef with women who decide from the off that they will not bf, they will have their reasons which are not for me to judge

Well that is a lovely link, NOT.

Mums who cannot feed their babies, should not have their noses rubbed into it.

Promote BF by all means but NOT by slapping those Mums who cannot, in the face.

If someone would like to tell me I have harmed by babies by giving them formula, I would like to give them a facial reconstruction.

FWIW, I think the best message of all would be one that emphasises that every drop of breastmilk that a baby gets is a brilliant thing. It is proven that there is a dose effect in many of the benefits (you see, there's me saying it - it is neater if nothing else). It does not in fact have to be all or nothing. Some is most definitely better than none. I think this message would make breastfeeding a lot less daunting prospect for a lot of women.

Who are these people who have the time and energy to obsess about the choices other women make? It's absolutely ridiculous.

ok -what I mean in last post was huge benefits in breastfeeding when compared to formula feeding. Not that by nature BF has huge benefits ^^^what gaelic said in her 21,32 post^^

you havent answered my question leonie? what was i supposed to do, continue suffering psychosis, hallucinating and harming myself and continue bfeeding or save my sanity by using formula? like i said WHO are YOU to judge and say someone has a 'poor excuse' for not bfeeding?

gaelic I get what you're saying. had to think about it for a while to understand the distinction, but yes, you're right. the risks are associated with not bf. if you can't/choose not to bf, formula is the best substitute you can get.

Obviously it's a miracle I lasted until 21 with the start in life the woman I never bonded properly with gave me. Don't I get a sainthood or an appearance on Oprah for my amazing story of survival in the face of great adversity?

But I'll still need counselling to try and get over the fact that I didn't smell as good as the breastfed babies.

I felt so pressured to BF my second child, after being looked down on by all these Mother Earth types, having failed with my first baby. That I actually made my child ill.

We nearly lost her. :(

I wish I had just gone with my gut instinct that BF was not for me and not tried and tried and tried. All the hype about doing harm by not breastfeeding, can actually do harm in itself. Some need to stop for their mental health or physical health.

Pro choice!

except the reality is that using a 'wet nurse' or donated milk are not possible leonie and you know that.

and you still havent answered my question!

steamedqueen - exactly, you have much more to worry about than some judgemental person giving you flak for ff your baby - at the advice of the scbu !

How are your babies now? xx

I notice Leonie has not commented on what we have said !

Oh yes, the joy if expressing every feed and being tied to the house all day every day - I remember it very well, it did wonders for my mental health as you can imagine?

No, of course leonie hasn't replied to anything you've asked because it doesn't fit her neat stereotypes.

"It is the biological norm to feed a human baby human milk. Anything else is not what is intended, now how the system is designed, and will cause harm."

will cause harm? every time? for every baby ? what a ridicolous statement

nah. it doesn't

but 'will cause harm' - as a blanket statement

some babies might be harmed, possibly more likely without access to clean water, sterile equipmnet etc

i aslo accept some babies get very sick or die due to bacteria in formula

I ff both my babies but i support other women to breastfeed or if they ff, how to do so safely

encouraging women to breastfeed is positive and good thing to do, but sometimes you need to take a step back and look at how you are doing so and if in fact you are bieng counterproductive

Oh really, where are all these wet nurses?

ah but knitting you shouldnt think of your mental health, that is a 'poor excuse' for not bfeeding!

Leonie, neither of the other two options you are referring to are viable on a large scale. For the vast majority of women who end up not breastfeeding, formula IS the only alternative. You know that as well as I do.