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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

I taught a bf class today of 12 lovely clever smart people and NOT ONE of them knew what formula was made of

176 replies

harpsichordcarrier · 13/07/2008 20:31

not single one of them knew that formula is made from cows milk.
in fact they looked very surprised.
and in about four weeks time about half of them will probably give some to their babies.
weird, isn't it?

OP posts:
belgo · 14/07/2008 10:22

I'd never looked at a box of formula milk before having children, as there were no babies in my family, and none of my close friends had babies.

I have to admit, I haven't even read the ingredients on them now, as I've never used formula milk.

lulumama · 14/07/2008 10:25

not had time to read whole thread, a cardinal MN sin, i know... so i will respond to the OP

I am a well educated woman, i formula fed both of my babies,but never actually thought about what formula was made of.. and that if breast is best ( i know we all hate that slogan now!) what was formula?

i did not consider it at all

i am not stupid or neglectful or ignorant, it jsut did not occur to me

had someone , a MW or health visitor or someone actually said, ok, you don't want to breastfeed, lets talk about why, and how we can support you to try...and if you don;t , let's talk about formula... then i would have thought about it and made a more informed choice

it is only since i started doualing and MNetting that i really started to think about breastfeeding and to actually understand the politics of it, and the way breast feeding works

and i do really regret not breast feeding

but i presumed that formula is a perfectly good alternative and that there was no real down sides to formula feeding.

so there you go !

kiskidee · 14/07/2008 10:27

When I was pg, i went to the aisle and read the ingredients out of interest, maybe to refresh my memory. I remember my eyeballs popping at the sheer number of stuff in it.

I can somehow understand if you have never been around a baby before in your life like dh. I still can't see how people draw a conclusion that it is some sort of miracle stuff cooked up entirely by science. I am just wierd. I know.

ExterminAitch · 14/07/2008 10:30

sprogger... i don't know if that's the goal. even if you were asked for the very first time what formula was made of, you'd think that out of a class of 12 smart, educated people, one would have proferred cow's milk as a suggestion.

not that i knew, or thought about it, of course. because we don't tend to talk about these things. that's the goal, surely, just to talk about this stuff more, so that the formula manufacturers don't have the floor to themselves?

kiskidee · 14/07/2008 10:30

"had someone , a MW or health visitor or someone actually said, ok, you don't want to breastfeed, lets talk about why, and how we can support you to try...and if you don;t , let's talk about formula... then i would have thought about it and made a more informed choice"

this sounds quite sensible to you and i, lulumama. however, i am sure that scenarios like this one still make some women say, 'mw/hv rammed bfing down my throat when i was pg and..."

sigh. i don't know what the answer is.

DaddyJ · 14/07/2008 10:33

That's interesting, I learnt something new today.

Until about 2 years and 9 months ago I had absolutely no idea
about anything to do with babies.
Nowadays I am slightly more knowledgable thanks to threads like these.
Thanks, Harpsi.

belgo · 14/07/2008 10:36

I've also learnt things from mumsnet. But probably not enough to justify the amount of time I spend on here

lulumama · 14/07/2008 11:54

i know kiskidee..... but there has to be a sensitive balance, and i think with training, that balance could be attained

there will always be a proprotion of parents who feel that any mention of trying breastfeeding after a preference for formula feeding has been expressed, is actually 'ramming it down your throat', but for the ones like me who could have really benefited from it..... then it is worth it in my opinion

when my DD was born, my mum said, do you want to put her to the breast, i had wanted to breastfeed, i was even wearing a nursing bra under my nightie when i was labouring, yet i did not feel the urge. so the MW said what formula would you like?

however , when my milk came in 3 days later i was desperate to feed her and tried and tried, and could not, and go NO SUPPORT at all from the midwives. not even what helpline number to ring.

so i had this baby in my lap, my big overflowing breasts, DH on the laptop trying to find breastfeeding info and me with the NHS baby book in my hand trying to work out how to feed her

it was an abject failure

oh well..

the best i can do know is to support other women to breastfeed.

youngbutnotdumb · 14/07/2008 12:18

I never actually thought about what was in baby milk TBH. I just had to feed it to my DS and that was that either way he needed it so its probably a good thing I didnt read it Otherwise I may not have fed him it and god knows where hed have ended up PSML.

No seriously though the fact is even though it may be 'chemicals and sugar mixed together with freeze dried cows milk' some children need it so not much can be done about it. What is organic baby milk made of then? Anyone know? I used it and never thought to read it.

tiktok · 14/07/2008 12:24

Organic formula milk is made in the same way, YBND, but the cows the milk comes from are registered as organic livestock.

Organic formula does not have prebiotics because these particular additives can not be produced organically.

youngbutnotdumb · 14/07/2008 12:26

Was looking for organic ingredients and found this wee bit! Bloody vegan babies is that even allowed? I know its freedom of choice but I thought vegan was dangerousn for a baby if not nbeccessary? I think this is shocking.

The animal-free baby
According to the Vegan Society,(12) Farley's Soya Formula is the only baby formula available in the UK that is suitable for vegans, as other soya formulas available contain vitamin D3, which is derived from sheep's wool. The Vegan Society provides a useful booklet for parents wanting to give their baby a vegan diet - see Links section for contact details.

PortAndLemon · 14/07/2008 13:00

Chequers, I am perfectly able to believe that you have a different point of view from me. If I didn't think you had a different point of view from me, I wouldn't have responded to your post.

And I don't dispute your right to express it. If I had disputed your right to express it, I would have said so.

But this is Mumsnet Discussions, so I don't think I'm being unreasonable to explain in more detail why I think that no individual class can be identified from the OP, that being how discussions work. If you want a board where everyone posts their opinion individually and it's accepted in reverential silence then I'm sure you'll find one somewhere. But then, if you wanted a board like that you presumably wouldn't have posted criticising the OP in the first place?

In fact, I'm genuinely interested in your reservations.

Would it have been OK if the OP had been in a couple of months and said "A couple of months ago I taught a bf class of lovely clever smart people and NOT ONE of them knew what formula was made of"? Or if after a few classes the OP had been "Over the last few months I've taught a number of bf classes full of lovely clever smart people and NOT ONE of them has known what formula was made of"? Or if the OP had already been sensitive to risks of identification (so say the class actually featured 14 people and took place last Wednesday, and she only said 12 and Saturday to make sure no one would identify the class)? If so (i.e. it's the immediacy of the connection to this one particular class that bothers you) then I can empathise, even though personally I think you're being over-sensitive.

Or is it that you think that not one whisper of what passes at a class like this should ever be discussed at all, no matter at what remove or how anonymously? If so then I'm in far more fundamental disagreement.

littlepinkpixie · 14/07/2008 13:07

Maybe some of the details have been changed to prevent identification. Maybe the class was actually last week?

Chequers · 14/07/2008 13:25

Message withdrawn

Chequers · 14/07/2008 13:31

Message withdrawn

PortAndLemon · 14/07/2008 13:33

Well, I did ask you (respectfully) for more detail on your thoughts. I'm sorry that that is so desperately undermining to your opinion .

And, actually, you are misrepresenting (or possibly misunderstanding) what I was trying to say. But I'll stop trying to explain it further, since that's so disrespectful of me.

Pruners · 14/07/2008 13:37

Message withdrawn

Original poster
harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2008 13:57

ah, sorry missed this.
well as a matter of fact
it wasn't a bf class
it wasn't on Sunday
and it wasn't twelve people
but I do take your point, Chequers, that you might not be happy about me discussing what happens in AN classes. I had changed the circumstances and the details to prevent this.
I think there is nothing in my posts to identify the class or anyone in the class. if you had been in the class then you might recognise it, but I think (on reflection) I was just sharing some general facts rather than anything confidential. I would certainly never share anything that was identifiable, confidential or sensitive and anything that could be linked to a person or a group in particular.
tbh, I think most people of most professions on this board will share something to do with their professional life, whether they are teachers or HR people or nurses or whatever. I think most people will keep the details out, as I did.
and, for the avoidance of doubt, I was not in any respect "pointing nd laughing" or suggesting these people were ignorant. I was reflecting on what it meant for how formula was marketed and sold. most people, even if they intend to bf, will consider formula as an alternative without (it seems) knowing what formula is.

OP posts:
Thisismynewname · 14/07/2008 14:00

Don't really understand the point of the OP, to be honest. It doesn't seem to be serving any point other than to report back on what went on in last night's antenatal class.

There actually isn't any discussion in the OP, which is probably why it comes off as a bit unprofessional. Same old same old on here though, the way things are phrased often leads to arguments discussions.

Personally, if all the people in the class are planning to b/f then I can't see it matters them knowing what's in formula or not. It's not like they have a choice other than forumla if they stop b/fing anyway.

Original poster
harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2008 14:02

pruners - no, I don't think it is that surprising at formula is made of cows milk.
it is surprising that no-one knows what it is made of, and that no-one really seems to question it.
well I think it is interesting anyway....

OP posts:
FioFio · 14/07/2008 14:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2008 14:06

lol
apologies for slapdash OP
Must Try Harder
I just thought I would share something that some other people would find mildly interesting
I had an idea of who those people would be
and maybe a few others.
I wasn't trying to make a Big Point or anything.

OP posts:
Original poster
harpsichordcarrier · 14/07/2008 14:07

no, I don't think it is to do with advertising restrictions.
the formula companies are pretty cagey about supplying information.

OP posts:
FioFio · 14/07/2008 14:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Thisismynewname · 14/07/2008 14:09

But HC - you must know that any thread to do with b/f must involve a Big Point