It WAS very childish of me, but I got a dig in at some Formula companies today......

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Got sent a market research survey today asking me my opinions on formula milk.

So i gave them.....

What makes NDM 'evil'???

What made NDM 'evil'?? Ermm how about the high levels of salt that caused hypernatraemia (sp)?? - something which even the sacred BMA recognises (since I found the information in one of their articles............)

Interesting that it was in 1986 that WHO declared follow on milks "not nessecary".........now I'm not saying that they are nessecary - I don't personally think they are (never used them even for my bottlefed DS) however it's a long time ago - and things do change..

BAdger, you can also change breastmilk by changing the morther's diet. IE. many breastfeed babies who suffer from eczema are sometimes benefitted by their mums eating less milk products :)

Breastfed all of mine and I do have to say they've not had some of the awful things that their bottle-fed peers have had (hides behind chair) ... they have had a few tummy bugs but its always been something that the whole family has had ... certainly no feeding probs with breastmilk - just wanted tiktok's take on this.

Highlander - the study did look at variables that you mention and adjusted accordingly.

Must get off Mumsnet and take the kids out - they are climbing the walls.. :)

would be great if all parents could get the info & support they need.

wonder how much cash would be saved by giving every mum a bf supporter - just think how kids would benefit with less health probs later - plus mums happier as could bf as they wanted. If a mum didn't want to bf then she should get help & info as well.

Mine have had 3 tummy bugs between them - 2 that DS1 - breastfed - had (one as a little baby pre=weaning) and 2 that they both got last year (both well past weaning stage at the age).

Something I'm very pleased about - as I Hated cleaning up D+V from around the house LOL.

hmm, yes, but would eczema in a bf baby be called a Feeding Problem, or just eczema? not making my point v clear but think you have the gist .

I think that it won't harm to get midwives and HV, who would care for mum and baby in the early days after birth, trained as breastfeeding counselors, it would be cheaper in the long run too.

I've got to go out too.

But firste: since when did advertising equate to information? All I can see advertising achieving would be each brand saying how much better than their competitors they were, and implying their equivalence to breastmilk.
Giving unbiased information I would have no problem with.

Hmm...I said I would shut up.

But....yes, Eulalia, there are very rare metabolic disorders where babies don't thrive on breastmilk and need special treatment.

The rashes and minor problems you list may be attributed to sensitivity to something the mother has eaten but it's hard to prove this without proper controlled testing. There is an old study linking colicky behaviour to cows milk in the mother's diet.

Highlander, the Dundee study is large and well-respected. It can't account for every mouthful of other foods the child has, but it does record general diet.

lorre - I don't think there is anything on this thread that belittles the strong feelings of disappointment mothers may have when they stop breastfeeding because it has not worked out for them. Those feelings are real and may be quite raw for a time. That's why it's not just for babies' sakes that support and info about infant feeding is important - mothers' feelings count, too. What do you want people to do? Never discuss it? Wouldn't it be fairer to the people who do want to talk about it to simply avoid reading the threads?

interesting point mrs badger - if a pre-weaning, breatfed baby has eczema surely it's something it was born with rather than something caused by the way it was fed??

would they actually be any worse (with their eczema) drinking a soya based formula milk rather than having breastmilk from a mother who's had to radically alter her own diet?? I'm not saying that any other health benifits wouldn't be gained from gettig the breastmilk - but surely if eczema is already present - then it's already present - regardless of how the baby is then fed???

Badger, eczema is called eczema independantly of the baby being breastfeed or not.

HRH pleeeeaaaaaseeee don't start me in soya formulas and allergies...

I have to confess - re feelings - that for a short time I felt awful about it. But after a couple of weeks the I realised the only reason I felt so awful about it was because I'd had drummed into me things such as

"substandard"

"sickly babies"

"health problems"

"best for baby (and in some cases I'd heard "Best for mum" too)"

etc etc - and I'd got it in my head that if I stopped breastfeeding I would be a failure - that's what I'd heard "if you fail at breastfeeding". People expected me to be disappointed and upset.

Thankgod it only took a good friend of mine with a DD 10 weeks older than DS2 (and who was exclusively breastfeeding her) to point out to me that it didn't matter as long as DS2 and I were happy and he was thriving (which he was - and still is).

I had to bottlefeed my ds as i had pnd and a serious lack of support from my HV and MiL. Both told me i couldn't do it and no matter how hard i tried i just couldn't produce the milk.

Reading some of these threads it seems (IMO) some of those that managed to bf think they are holier than thou and mothers like me are actually 2nd rate giving our children 2nd rate nutrition.

Which of course i'm not. Have a happy, healthy 3yo.

There. Said it.Will go and get on with my work.

Sorry I think people have misread me. I wasn't talking about eczema specifically. Was asking if more bottle fed babies had tummy probs, ie vomited more often and also probs wiht constipation, diarrohea etc and if switching brands made any difference. Presumably parents are experiencing some sort of problem hence their desire to change brands. Do these different brands make any difference or is it just the fact that formula (regardless of brand or type) doesn't really agree with a lot of babies.

am going out.. honest....

I wasn't being specific re eczema initially either, it's just the way the convo's gone...

Ah yes HRH, but according to moondog, the generalisation that Happy Mum = Happy Baby is the mantra of the mindless.

P.S. I personally believe that as a happy mum is an asset to a baby's well-being it is important to consider the mum's emotional needs as part of the equation in making a decision on lots of things.

I with you there NS on your last paragraph

Tiktok, you're a wonder, you know that?
You manage to be informative, interesting, controversial sometimes, and always polite and never undermining.
Your attitude should be an example to others.

Eulalia, don't know if this would answer your question but here it goes. DS is allergic to milk and its products, but, there is only one milk derivate DS is OK with, which is casein. The only formula I found that is based in casein is Aptamil. It would have been great if instead of going the trial and error route the GP could have pointed us in that direction. It would have saved us months of misery if things would have been that way, and most importantly DS would have never developed a soya allergy, an ongoing problem that prevent us from using processed food, ie. bread

'I wonder if many 'feeding problems' in ff babies are random ailments that affect bf babies too.'

Absa-bloody-lutely

'I b/fed then used jars on both of mine '

I formula fed and never used jars - are we even

GDG - I'm completely even

DS1 - breastfed - then weaned onto jars

DS2 - bottlefed - then weaned straight onto homecooked food

I haven't read this thread so apologies if anyone has already said this elsewhere... do any of you watch GMTV?? If so, how many of you have noticed that their weather is now sponsered by NESTLE!!!!!!!!