Naughty SMA

[showtunesgirl]

info.babymilkaction.org/wyethroadshow

Cartons are indeed easier to use when out.

mm - I didn't mean 'lie to mums and paint a rosy picture' I was saying if you don't want to bf sitting in a support group listening to mums cry about how painful bfing is isn't going to change your mind any time soon is it? Not if your baby feeding experiences leading up to that point are very different.

And would ffing feeding mums want to sit and listen to a mum crying about having to give formula and how much of a failure that made them feel (true incident not made up for rhetoric)?

"sitting in a support group listening to mums cry about how painful bfing is isn't going to change your mind any time soon is it?"

I've already explained how the MW who did pretty much that changed my mind about trying!

give people some credit TruthSweet, BFing mums and FF mums COULD support eachother in a feeding group, knowing the what about can go wrong with BFing CAN demystify it and convince you to give it a go..

But it's one thing to hear that it's going to be 1-2 hourly feeds not 3-4 hourly ones, that you may well have sore nipples or engorgement or problems latching and it's another to see it.

And yes they can support each other - I have supported friends who have ff/mix fed/bf but a friend who was desperately trying to get back from mix feeding to ebf couldn't turn to other friends as they were ffing and she didn't feel comfortable asking them for tips on how to increase supply or ways to encourage baby to latch.

Does that make sense? Infant feeding choices/needs make mums feel hyper-sensitive about what they have done/had to do on all sides.

Our local NCT group seem to have got it mostly right, in that they have a bumps & babies coffee morning in a hall with a BF support group in the side room - mums in the main hall BF and FF alongside each other while chatting. Good for the mums to be to see a positive view of BF. Anyone who wants advice/support pops into the side room to chat with the trained counsellors. Only thing you won't get, though, are any questions about how to FF answered.

women4scotsindy.com/2012/06/05/21st-century-pressure-on-new-mums/

Interesting reading, squidge, particularly for me the weaning part. I weaned DD1 between 3 & 4 months, as that was recommended in the early 90s. DD2 was 4 months - the idea of waiting until 6 months was coming in but not really established yet. By DD3 I believed the whole, "you must wait until 6 months" so held out - she is by far the pickiest of the 3. When I did introduce solids she had absolutely no interest in trying any food other than bread. I managed to give a few mouthsful of pureed food, but not much more. She still eats like a sparrow at age 4 - at least she will eat some veg and most fruit, but other than that the only things she will eat are toast, marmite sandwiches, roast meat, sausages and chicken nuggets. Everything else is "yuk" after one taste. Might be coincidence, or might be due to my doggedly insisting on waiting until the 6 months deadline.

Without going back through the thread, the poster who said that lots of Mums really want to BF but aren't able to, but how many Mums do you know who really wanted to FF and weren't able to? Hit the nail on the head for me.

There IS information out there on formula feeding. Plus, lets face it, it's pretty easy. Make up milk as per instructions on tin (where they also helpfully give guidelines as to how much you need) and give the bottle to your baby. no problems with latch, no thrush, no mastitis, no problems with feeding if your baby has a tongue tie etc etc.

Whenever I've attended to get my DD weighed, there are always several HV's there, any of whom would (and do) give Mums advice on formula feeding. sadly, their knowledge of BF is lacking.

Midori I found FFing really hard, I really wanted to do it but was scared and made to feel guilty and failed the first time I tried to switch (DS v sick on ampimal and I didn't know at the time that it contained ingredients that other first formula didn't so thought I had to go back to BFing, which I did, later found out that other formulas were fine for him), once you've done it there's still loads of other things to worry about like changing advice about storage and making it up.. whether to give water etc etc.. then there's weight gain, growth spurts, all sorts of things toworry about it

Monkeymoma, I have FF. After 'failing' to breastfeed my first three DC. I was 19 when I had my first and didn't have any problems getting any information about how to FF, although my HV's/midwives never told me you could mix feed, just agreed I should swap to FF. I personally found FF very easy.

BF on the other hand, not so easy and it is only because I took it upon myself to get my own information and support that I am still breastfeeding this baby.

its good that you found it easy

I didn't, friends of mine didn't, people who wanted to switch from BFing to mix feeding failed at it so had to exclusive FF, there was so much conflicting advice about storage and everyone seemed to be doing something different when it came to out and about feeds... All I could seem to get info on was how to exclusive FF if bottles were made up at home.. but they don't last.. so what if you have to go out for more than a couple of hours?

This thread is now going round and round in circles monkeymoma. I'm sorry that you found it difficult getting advice but others have said they found it ok or not ok and that all babies are different which is why mix feeding is so individual. In fact I would say that ALL feeding is individual to each child whether EBF, FF or mixed.

It sounds to me like you actually need to start a different thread regarding the problems you have had.

Well, perhaps some common sense comes into it...

well it will go round in circles when the very people who are against these roadshows also wont acknowledge that some FFing mums will go because they feel they aren't getting enough info and support elsewhere wont it?

I don't think that whole cohorts that got it "wrong" because new guidelines hadn't filtered down yet lack common sense!

But I don't think that people go to the roadshows to get advice rather that they might be able to get something "free" which is the whole problem. These roadshows AREN'T free and the price of them is being funded by the high formula price.

I think the problem really is that the roadshows are not advice they are marketing.

Yes there should be proper advice about feeding babies but this not best left to companies who will make money out of the "advice" they give.

Yes it is marketing. But I don't care. The anti-advertising laws are paternalistic. Give us the information about all the options and let us decide what's best. We would do better to spend more money regulating what goes into formula than policing advertising.

"Give us the information about all the options and let us decide what's best."

How does advertising and unethical marketing help ensure that???

I love it when advertising is presented as giving us choice...

:o

It is normal to FF if you cannot BF. FFers should not be made to feel like freaks.
The support for BF is brilliant but as soon as you start FF, the help disappears. I can understand the NHS wanting to encourage BF, but it is bitterly disappointing if it doesn't work out and guilt about FF / denial of its existence does not help.

Well said BlackSwan: if a baby is losing too much weight they could die, or end up in hospital-sometimes ff can save lives too.