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Infant feeding

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

Breastfeeding slogans - what do people think of ...

36 replies

StealthPolarBear · 12/05/2009 17:46

"Choosing for two"
It was on a (hand printed) poster advertising AN breastfeeding sessions at my GPs.
I like it as it emphasises the importance of choosing the right option for mother and baby but at first I thought it was a bit cryptic.

OP posts:
WhaleOilBeefHooked · 14/05/2009 11:10

Maybe posters with the pros of both ff and bf with the slogan 'The choice is yours'.

Might be too wordy for a poster though (I took note whilst watching The Apprentice!).

WhaleOilBeefHooked · 14/05/2009 11:14

I do know people who cut off their noses to spite their face, yes. I've been guilty of it in the past.

In that case it seems that it will happen however breastfeeding is promoted. How can it be done without people feeling patronised?

BigBellasBeerBelly · 14/05/2009 11:15

The thing is, it's not about offence, for a lot of women that fact that they haven't been able to BF induces an enormous sense of guilt. To then be told they are letting their child down at every turn seems a bit much.

I don't agree that formula should be promoted, I think the advertising does enough of that already.

Simply that a slogan which was encouraging rather than preachy would be better.

KingRolo · 14/05/2009 11:18

Since when has anyone's decision to bf / not bf (or do anything really) been decided by a poster anyway?

WhaleOilBeefHooked · 14/05/2009 11:19

It's difficult to find that balance though, isn't it? It doesn't want to be too wishy-washy and 'meh' regarding breastfeeding, because that's not encouraging to those who do do it.

tiktok · 14/05/2009 11:20

Bella, you say "I didn't say that "people will do the opposite of what they are told" but at 11.02 you said "They want to make their own choice and the more one way is rammed down their throats the more likely they are to think "get stuffed I'm doing my own thing"", and earlier you said "quite a few will do the opposite just as a point of principle. "

!!!

Clearly, your point is that some people will consciously decide not to breastfeed, because they have read/heard somewhere that the message is they 'ought' to breastfeed.

I don't think you are wrong, but I don't think it is as simple as that. People make their own decisions - based on all sorts of things, including what makes them 'feel' normal - and then seek affirmation that they were right to make this decision. When they see a slogan, they may decide it is 'preaching' to them, which they don't like, and this affirms to them they were correct to make their decision as a response to what they claim is having something rammed down their throat.

In smoking, which I am not equating to ff, but which is a useful example as it has seen masses of public health attention, the research shows there is a hard core of smokers who smoke as a sort of rebellious, bonding thing...or at least this feeling prevents them from following strategies to help them give up. They talk about it as a sort of civil rights issue. Indeed, there is some research that shows that this group's determination to smoke is increased by having to huddle in doorways out of the rain, with their fellow smokers...

This does not apply to all smokers, many of whom want to stop and dislike the huddle. But it does apply to some.

So your identification of a sort of rebellious bottle feeder could be correct

tiktok · 14/05/2009 11:27

Following up: one of the main differences between smoking and ff (from the public health point of view) is that it is possible to stop smoking, though difficult. It is not possible to stop ff (barring relactation which is also v. difficult, but in a totally different way) - and so the person who stopped bf regretfully, and who did not really make a 'choice' in favour of formula (which is why I don't like the 'your choice' ideas) can't really do anything about it, and seeks affirmation that she did not do something which means her baby misses out.

BigBellasBeerBelly · 14/05/2009 12:05

whaleoil said to me: "You said people will do the opposite of what they're told and I questioned if it extended to other areas of health advice."

I never said that. It makes it sound as if I think that all people do the opposite of what they are told which is clearly rubbish. I maintain that some people will react against a message they perceive as being rammed down their throats, for various reasons. And not just because they have "rebellious" personalities, there are loads of other reasons.

The problem with the current means of promoting BF is that the people involved in it are often rather zealous, and that turns people off. The slogans etc are preachy.

People simply want to be told the facts, as far as they are known, and the truth about what BF/FF entails, and then to mke their own minds up. I think if it were all a bit less "in your face" and more encouraging than telling, then a better result would be seen.

tiktok · 14/05/2009 12:17

Bella, there's a case for doing no overt promotion of bf at all, in fact - just make sure those who want to do it are given as much skilled help as they need, remove the social and cultural barriers to it, and leave advertising out of it. I think advertising has a role in normalising breastfeeding, which helps remove some of the social and cultural barriers, anyway.

You want people to be 'told the facts' (ie about the health impact, I guess?) and the 'truth' (ie that bf is not necessarily easy?) and then to be left to make their own minds up...but it should not be 'in your face' and you want it not to be 'telling' people (ie telling them the facts) and encouraging them, rather than telling them what to do....all fair enough.

The Big Difficulty is that the 'facts' are not something that are necessarily pleasant for people whose feelings about what they did with their babies are a bit sensitive. The 'facts' can indeed be 'in your face' for some people...I don't know what the answer to keeping everyone happy actually is

DitsyMe · 14/05/2009 19:33

I have just been making a big display board for our BF support group.
I started off with NHS posters and the 'reasons to be proud' etc then decided against it. I didn't think that these posters were going to persuade anyone to breastfeed. What we really need is to hook people in to our group so we can support them. So I went with lots of pictures of tea and cake instead! Bound to appeal to knackered new mums!

DitsyMe · 14/05/2009 19:36

www.onlynatural.org.uk/
I do like the 'do something amazingly normal' posters.

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