Could somebody please explain to me why the promotion of FF would be such a bad thing?

[conniedescending]

because as long as they don't say or imply its better than BF then I can't really see the problem? Or why we have to get hysterical about how other people feed their babies?

maybe if FF was made out to be not such a bad thing then there would be more mothers actually bf'ing for longer and with subsequent children as they could be supported by mixed feeding their children.

Exactly Tiktok! Does anyone know (out of interest) what the figures are re the number of babies who die every year, in the UK are (due to being ff)???

Is that a serious question k999? Or are you being overdramatic for argument's sake? Because it isn't a very helpful argument.

Health outcomes are not only about death.

I agree Sabire. In no way am I a supermum but I bf my 9 babies without any outside help. It can be done and I'm grateful for the help that I received from a great m/w with my first baby during first week postpartum. That set me up for bf-ing the rest.

Just saw the title and was intrigued, could this thread be about Florence and Fred, Fred Flintsone, or even the Foo Fighters - you see, my days of BF and FF were soooo long again I've forgotten the acronym. However, just one for the road - breast is best

9 babies??

Years ago, long before I was a Mum myself, I one girl confided in me that she gave her baby another scoop of ff milk than was recommended to help her daughter 'catch up' on her development - she was prem. I wish now I'd said something but at the time I rememeber thinking how stupid she was. I admit I was a snob at the time and was being a Smug Non-Parent .

K999 - I do have access to some statistics about the increased risks of SIDS and other deaths but tbh I am not sure if that information is particularly helpful in this context.
mortality is, clearly, not the only risk to take into account from a public health perspective

I didnt realise I was arguing. I thought I was on a public forum debating an issue. I am asking a question. If anyone knows the answer then I would like to know. No need to get upset.

FWIW the government and the 'health policy' need to address why women dont bf.....there are many but perhaps the first thing the English Parliament could do would be to follow the Scottish Parliaments stance.......

hmm... at ohtobe20again...a wee wind up there I think

wrt to bf in public......oops pressed the button too quickly!

There are no figures in the UK for mortality due to ff, K999, but formula feeding increases the risk of cot death (not a direct cause, but a factor) - see another couple of threads in this folder, which discuss the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths recent statement on this.

There is a big US study which calculates the number of extra infant deaths there are because of formula feeding

www.nih.gov/news/pr/may2004/niehs-02.htm

There is a lot of UK information on morbidity (illness) which is increased in proportion to formula feeding - the more formula, the greater the risk. You can search in the archives here, or look at this paper pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/119/4/e837?etoc for an example of a study which shows the risk of hospitalisation increases for ff babies, also after controlling for social and envirnnmental factors.

K999 I asked the same question in a different thread I wouldnt even bother ull just get shot down!

examination of available evidence showing increased death rates for formula fed babies against bf babies

Gosh, I will look at that link. I did not know that ff was responsible (sorry a factor) in SIDS!! I should really keep up to date with the latest research...sometimes there is so much of it and it always seems to change!!

YBND well I think you were proved wrong there then

K999 - very little of this is new, and the links between increased illness and increased mortality are well-established and go back decades...newer stuff just confirms it, develops it, and gives up to date stats. You don't need to worry about research changing, or keeping up

I am willing to bet that when it was suggested you switched to formula, no one told you about the risks, and did not give you alternatives, like working on the breastfeeding to make it work better for you and your baby.

Most mothers simply don't know the full story.

there are studies identifying ff as an increased risk factor for SIDS dating back to the early 90s (1992 and 1993) at least - maybe before, but this is the earliest study I have looked at

I don't think of argument as a pejorative term k999

Link, please, to where you were shot down, YBND....

"There are no figures in the UK for mortality due to ff,"

In the MIDIRS Informed Choice leaflet ("Breastfeeding or Bottlefeeding?") there's a calculation that 100 preterm babies die every year from necrotising enterocolitis who wouldn't have died if they'd been given breastmilk.

Of course mortality statistics don't take into account deaths related to diabetes, obesity and heart disease many years down the line (mentioning this as they are all believed to be more common in adults ff as babies).

and ybnd, remember to include the bit where you launched yourself onto the thread in an insulting and incoherent manner...

I was strongly advised to switch to soya formula as dd2 was lactose intolerant. But I am glad that I bf longer with her than I did with dd1 (she had a tongue tie and it was pretty damn impossible)

LOL me do a link don't think so...
And wasnt talking about this morning a few months ago under a different name hence the ame change as wasVERY big 'debate' with another MNer wh has since changed name too I think

sabire - good call, I forgot about the NEC study.

K999 - I wonder if you were wrongly informed? It is occasionally necessary - very, very occasionally necessary - for a badly affected lactose intolerant baby to switch to soya formula for a while, but honestly this is so rare, I have never come across it directly (only heard of a few cases). This sort of lactose intol. is caused by a bad attack of gastro-enteritis, and it is temporary.

Congenital lactose intolerance - the sort babies are born with - is exceedingly rare, and means the baby cannot digest breastmilk at all and it is spotted in the first days/weeks of life as the baby becomes very ill. These babies do need a lactose free formula.

If you go back nto the thread this morningthink u'll find I apologised about that. BTW. So lets just be grown ups and drop it shall we?

That is what I was advised by my doctor (and another)doctor....you say you've not come across it personally....are you a doctor? If you are, in your opinion was I given bad advice??