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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Do most people know what's in formula?

24 replies

nightcircus · 14/10/2013 16:07

When I had DS1 I decided to breastfeed him. My Mum had fed me, I heard all the benefits and luckily for me I found it easy (but tiring) and DS gained weight really well.

MIL nagged and nagged about weaning onto a bottle do others could feed. I didn't.
Mentioned using follow on milk several times- I didn't.

DS2 also breastfed and grew well at 91st for height amd weight- MIL didn't nag to move onto bottles this time. When weaning emerged that DS is cows milk intolerant. MIL suggested formula and was genuinely surprised that it contained cow's milk!! (I know you can get special formula but still breastdeeding so not needed)

So it got me thinking, how many people choose formula without knowing what's in it? It really is clever marketing to call it 'formula'. I think MIL does view it as superior all while not really thinking about what it is.

I'm not anti formula BTW!

OP posts:

Rooble · 14/10/2013 16:23

I thought the brand name Cow and Gate was a bit of a giveaway.

Gileswithachainsaw · 14/10/2013 16:26

I thought it was obvious to most people tbh that aside from infasoy it was cows milk based

Not sure a thread that could lead to posters listing all the rest of the "dodgy" stuff is helpful tbh.

FuckyNellItsHalloween · 14/10/2013 16:29

No but then I am an avid avoider of ingredient lists. Especially chocolate.

Original poster

nightcircus · 14/10/2013 16:30

Yeah I'd thought cow and gate was a giveaway too. I'm not intending this to be a list of all that is wrong with formula.

Just aghast that after nagging/undermining me so much she didn't know what was in what she was suggesting.
Not sure if this is just her or her generation (had children in 60s and 70s)

OP posts:

FuckyNellItsHalloween · 14/10/2013 16:31

Plus if you dont like the ingredients and cant breastfeed you're fucked really aren't you? So step away from the small print. It's like the daily mail, you never read anything good

HarderToKidnap · 14/10/2013 16:32

I'm a midwife. Have met plenty of women who think formula is dehydrated breast milk powder type thing, and were unaware it was cows milk based. Once, memorably, a vet (although I suppose they might make dried milk powders from other species for her patients).

I don't think anything specific needs to be done about it though. It's clear on the ingredients list.

abigboydidit · 14/10/2013 16:48

I read the ingredients and tasted it before giving it to DCs. Was surprised at the mention of fish but otherwise was pretty much as I expected. Find it odd people would think it didn't contain milk. DD seems to love the stuff every bit as much as she loved my breast milk anyway

Poppet45 · 14/10/2013 19:32

I remember an admittedly not too bright sil was convinced it was dried human milk... She was 7 mths pregnant and also thought sids only happened in cots. I sooo wanted to ask her if she'd ever seen a job ad for lactating women for formula companies and did she think the factory was abit like the Matrix but with medela pumps...

delasi · 14/10/2013 21:01

I sooo wanted to ask her if she'd ever seen a job ad for lactating women for formula companies and did she think the factory was abit like the Matrix but with medela pumps...

Poppet This has brightened up my evening

On the original point, plenty of people eat or serve foods and drinks without really knowing what is in them, it's a wider issue of not being aware of what we consume and something that a lot of campaigners are trying to encourage to change - and which I believe is indeed slowly changing. I remember when Sunny Delight was considered healthy by a lot of people!

However like another poster said, it's a bit different for formula - if you can't breastfeed, what choice do you have? Fwiw, I compared all of the ingredients of first infant milk and follow on formula before deciding whether to switch from the former to the latter. That way I felt I could make an informed choice. However I'm not surprised that most people don't do that.

NomDeClavier · 14/10/2013 21:07

I do worry that some people make an uninformed choice to use formula rather than breastfeed, and part of that comes from comments which make me pretty certain they think it's human and not cow's milk! But these same people wouldn't consider using donor milk so maybe they do know what formula is.

But then I would never say 'do you know what's in it?'

delilah89 · 26/10/2013 21:55

I'm a mum of a breastfed 1 year old and I have to admit I didn't realise Formula was cow's milk til HV said it in passing a month ago. I have read up on it and know all the arguments for and against, but have never bought it -- still, was shocked I hadn't thought what was actually in it. I think I probably thought it was soy protiens and other things ...a bit like readybrek! (what an idiot)

lottieandmia · 26/10/2013 22:00

Odd that people don't realise it's based on cow's milk. What else could it be based on?

TravelinColour · 26/10/2013 22:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Trills · 26/10/2013 22:09

I don't have children but I would have assumed that it was cow's milk with added extras, and that those extra were likely to be animal-based (so not suitable for strict vegans or vegetarians).

I would imagine that. anyone who took the time to think "I wonder what's in this?" would come to the same conclusion, and would look for ingredients lists if they were vegan/vegetarian.

The people you are worried abut are not those who don't know what's in it but those who have never thought about what's in it.

yellowsnownoteatwillyou · 26/10/2013 22:17

My dh had this exact argument with a woman (who has a child)at his work. He was making a joke that he wanted to let ds taste a teeny bit of cream from a cake as ds was liking his lips staring at him when he was eating it. She went on a huge rant about you shouldn't give them dairy, ds was breast fed and is now formula fed. So dh said well he drinks formula so he already has dairy.
She called him an idiot and he shouldn't be so stupid as of course it's not cows milk, she also told him that hungry baby milk would be the best thing for ds at 12 weeks.
Even thou he sleeps thru the night and eats fine.

mrsmartin1984 · 26/10/2013 22:30

I don't think most people do. And I don't think enough is done to find out by most people. Look at the levels of aluminium.

No formulas are vegan/ veggie. And they are based on cows milk but doesn't really resemble it afterwards

JiltedJohnsJulie · 26/10/2013 22:59

Quite from an colleague "well its just as good as bfing isn't it, otherwise they wouldn't be able to sell it..."

Primrose123 · 26/10/2013 23:20

I wanted to BF, but couldn't, so I FF. I always thought formula was mainly cows' milk, I couldn't imagine what else it could be!

Out of interest, does anyone know why babies can't just have ordinary cows' milk as opposed to formula milk?

Bubbles1066 · 27/10/2013 07:50

I think a lot of the confusion comes from the idea that we are told not to give babies cows milk to drink until 12 months - they must have formula or breast milk. Therefore a distinction is made between cows milk and formula and they are seen as different as formula is safe for babies and cows milk isn't. Formula is based on cows milk but my understanding is formula is skimmed cows milk, with all the fat and proteins removed, then the proteins added back in again in the same ratio as breast milk, vegetable oils added to replace the fat, the salt removed, extra sugars added, a vitamin and mineral mix added, then probiotics, fish oils etc added. So it's very loosely based on cows milk but it's a bit of a hybrid. What you don't want is people thinking oh it's just cows milk, I'll just save money and give the baby that as this would be very bad for babies health.

AnyFuckerReporting · 27/10/2013 07:59

Another here who thought the "Cow and Gate" connection would make it pretty obvious.

notso · 27/10/2013 08:24

Thinking about it I know far more about what formula milk is made of than I do about what my breast milk is made of. All of my 4 DC have had both at some point.
I can understand why people think formula is dairy free because like Bubbles says we are told not to give cows milk to drink before 1 and yet formula can be used from birth.

MortifiedAnyFuckerAdams · 27/10/2013 08:28

I dont need to know whats in formula. All i need to know is that it is a safe option for those who cant / wont bf.

I feel lucky to live in a part of the world where there is an alternative.

notso · 27/10/2013 08:28

Everyone who is saying they knew because of the brand Cow and Gate, do you all think it's made of Gates as well?!

Workberk · 27/10/2013 10:33

I know quite a few people, some FFing, who seemed surprised when I mentioned it was made of cows milk. In that it just hasn't occurred to them.

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