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Infant feeding

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Original poster

Has anyone heard the new Boots ad on the radio for nipple cream?

29 replies

suzi2 · 27/04/2007 11:00

Basically, it's a woman trying to breastfeed and thinking to herself "my nipple hurts" so tries the other side and it's sore too. Then makes a joke that she wishes she had a third nipple. Boots voice then says that Boots have put 150 year experience in developing their nipple cream for soothing sore, cracked nipples. And then the 'slogan' of "solving everyday problems" or something like that.

I'm a bit about it. I just feel that it's reinforcing the common misconceptions that breastfeeding hurts and causes sore, cracked nipples. And that can be fixed by a magic cream. Whilst I know many women do get sore, it isn't that way for everyone.

Anyway, I want to write to them but I'm not sure which dept I should write to... anyone else planning a letter?

OP posts:
EllieKthePA · 27/04/2007 11:03

tbh i think it's a good thing. i gave up bf the first time at 8 weeks, i had no idea there were creams to help

this time i have more knowledge and hope to continue longer.

MrsBadger · 27/04/2007 11:05

TBH the fact that they've got a bf woman on the radio and not a 'Boots - for all your from-4-months jarred food / follow-on formula / growing-up milk needs' ad is a huge step in the right direction.

And if someone hears it and gets nipple cream rather than stopping bf then isn't that a good thing?

Let's face it, bf does hurt and cause sore cracked nipples - it's my impression that lots of people stop because of pain etc in the early days rather than finding suppoprt and solutions for it...

mumto3girls · 27/04/2007 11:06

i think it's a good thing to advertise it. Even this one advert could make people understand it may not be easy, but other people have experienced it too - so many that there are specific creams out there to help.

Why pretend it's all so easy? I had a gaping, bleeding crack in my right nipple that even my MW winced at...but it didn't make me stop bf'ing.

Marina · 27/04/2007 11:09

I'm with the others suzi - I think it is a very positive step to have products that can help women keep b/f, advertised on radio, tbh.
I was a happy extended b/f for a total of SIX years of my life but I still had nasty problems with cracked nipples when both dcs were newborns, and found the smell of Kamillosan stomach-churning, unfortunately.

casbie · 27/04/2007 11:21

but creams if applied to cracked sore nipples, can actually disrupt breastfeeding!

if applied to heavily, breast will be to slippery to latch baby on.

also, creams will not make boobs heal quicker - only letting them get fresh air and dry out will do that.

complain, complain, but Boots are there to sell stuff.

ouch though, cracked and bleeding nipples f*ing hurt!

mumto3girls · 27/04/2007 11:33

Of course boots are there to sell stuff, and i wish all women would have the support of a MW like mine. She knew I had two badly cracked nipples and asked me to show her how the baby latched on, so I did..and she helped me adjust her so she had more of the areola in her mouth. Only as I was tucking my boob away did she say..'hang on you're wimping out on me that wasn;t the worst cracked one was it?' I glumly agreed I'd tried to get away with hiding that one and she made me a cup of tea and said 'let's sit here and keep trying until you're comfortable doing it that side too...'

without that help that day I think i may have given up ( and i never used any cream!!)

mosschops30 · 27/04/2007 11:39

oh get a grip, havent you got something else to fill your day with (like mnet )

some women do get sore nipples and some dont, in fact its a shock to a lot of women just how painful it is (i.e. me!)

alice40 · 31/05/2007 18:32

Hey Suzi2 - Im with you on this one, off course its ok to advertise nipple cream, but just not like this. Contrary to other posts, breastfeeding will not hurt your nipples if its being done correctly, and a quick session with a breastfeeding counsellor or MW will do more than any nipple cream can. The paper advert for this cream is even worse, it shows a cartoon mother in agony with a baby chomping at her nipple - hardly a promotion for those first time mums thinking of breastfeeding. Its such a shame that breastfeeding cant be shown in a more positive light - if more mums were encouraged to try it - we would be a healthier nation. You can email the CEO of boots on this link www.alliance-boots.com/main.asp?pid=1554- hundreds of others have done so already. Don't be put off by people laughing off this topic as silly, its the little digs at breastfeeding that need to stop in order to get the message across. Good luck.

Snaf · 31/05/2007 18:41

Not a bad idea in principle.

Shame the print ad shows a cartoon of the baby sucking on her nipple and pulling it out until it's about a foot long

Shame that nowhere in the ad could they find the room to mention that the major cause of sore nipples is poor positioning and attachment, so sort that and - most of the time - you've sorted the nipple soreness.

Oooops, but then you wouldn't need to buy the cream, would you?

mawbroon · 31/05/2007 19:24

Where can we see the print ad?

determination · 31/05/2007 21:10

Its a terrible advert and would actually put a new mum off breastfeeding completely never mind buying the stupid bloody product too.

PinkTulips · 31/05/2007 21:15

tbh, lansinoh is probably the only reason i was able to keep breastfeeding dd and if i hadn't had a fab PHN who sent dp out to get it for me as i was in agony my bf her might have stopped at 2 days old.

it does bloody hurt for some of us, right latch or not if the babys mouth isn't big enough or they have a baracudda latch and feed 24/7 you do get very sore.

i think alot of women give up when it starts to hurt as they're made to believe that's not supposed to happen at all and they musn't be able to bf

bloody brilliant that they advertise bf-ing imo!

Cascara · 31/05/2007 21:36

Oh the old tired nipples can't possibly get hurt if you're doing it right. Well I was doing it right and mine still became incredibly painful and bleeding and nipple cream was a godsend.

islandofsodor · 31/05/2007 22:59

Someone from the NCT has complained to the advertising standards people on the grounds that the ad is misleading due to the fact that nipple cream will not solve the problem of sore nipples or words to that effect.

Lansinoh is marketed as a way to help promote moist wound healing whilst the underlying attachment problems are dealt with.

And fantastic stuff it is too!!!!!

islandofsodor · 31/05/2007 23:01

Nipples don't get sore if the attachment is correct, however some babies take a while before they are able to attach correctly, often there is something a skilled bfc can do to alter things but sometimes it is just a case of wait for baby to grow/open mouth wider or whatever.

Cascara · 01/06/2007 08:45

"Nipples don't get sore if the attachment is correct"

"but sometimes it is just a case of wait for baby to grow/open mouth wider or whatever."

Therefore even if attachment is as correct as it possibly can be it is still because the attachment is wrong even though there is nothing at all that can be done about it?! So basically bollocks to those mothers, especially if they are ignorant about nipple cream which could actually help??

trice · 01/06/2007 09:07

IME the first six weeks of breastfeeding are agonising. Lanisoh is a godsend. I think a bit of a disclaimer about latching problems and the ads would be fine.

alice40 · 01/06/2007 14:41

No one is arguing (that I can see) that there is no place for nipple cream in the market - the probelm stems from the way it is being marketed - advetising that breastfeeding hurts (which is does not for a majority of women) will have the effect of putting off women from even trying - this is a huge problem with this advert - yet another dig at breastfeeding from big companies who make so much money from cream / formula etc.....

PinkTulips · 01/06/2007 20:45

actually alice i think you'll find that for the majority of women it does

whether due to bad latch, incorrect positioning, a baby that feed to fast and hard it does cause at least some pain to the vast majority of women who do it.

fannyannie · 01/06/2007 20:51

well if I didn't already know about cream for sore nipples I'd be mighty relieved to hear this ad.

DS3 now just over a week old, breastfed, (I breastfed DS1 for 14 months too - so have some idea what's 'right' and whats 'wrong' in tersm of latch) but I still have sore nipples.

He's got a tiny little mouth which he just can't seem to open far enough (yet) to get a completely pain free latch. He's improved the last 2 or 3 days, but the soreness from the 1st 5 days is still there.

Infact I wince everytime he goes to latch onto my R breast as it's so sore.........but thankfully the Lansinoh is helping a bit.

PinkTulips · 01/06/2007 20:53

that was me with ds last year fanny, i knew his latch was off but there was very little he or i could do about it as he just didn't have a big enough mouth yet.

is he fabulous in every way though? (can't believe he's a week old already )

fannyannie · 01/06/2007 20:55

PT - he's wonderful - even though sleeping on his own is still a bit of an issue (we're slowly moving from only sleeping in my or DH's arms to sleeping bundled up in a blanket in the chair downstairs LOL)....nighttime he's in bed with me until we've cracked the carrycot/cot.

PinkTulips · 01/06/2007 21:02

ds started off very clingy too. i let him sleep in my arms or on the couch next to me in the evenings and brought him to bed with me... after he got through the 2 month growth spurt he settled a bit and started being happy enough to go down in his cot... it certainly didn't affect his ability to settle himself by giving in to him for a couple of months.

are the other ds's still pleased or getting a bit jealous now the novelty's worn off?

fannyannie · 01/06/2007 21:03

DS1 is still completely chuffed to bits - we've made a big thing of him being a big brother TWICE over now. DS2 adjusting as well as can be expected for a 3yr old that teeters along the cheeky/naughty line most of the time LOL.

PinkTulips · 01/06/2007 21:10

bless i'm all broody for a third now too

(sorry for the hijack suzi)

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