Baby milk firms to drop nutrition claims

[Nip]

here

I guess those who bf this is a good thing, but i didnt bf and this now makes me feel like cack!

You were let down by the people who should have been there to support you. That's not your fault and you have no reason to feel guilty although I see how you mean that you can still feel guilty despite this.

despite all that, given the choice if i do have another LO i will still try to bf and when i was pg i attended a 6w bf course whisch was great, they showed me how to latch on etc and i know that a lot of areas dont have this kind of support, but i think bubble made the best point about having a new mum on soaps bf-ing. i remember on emmerdale a teenage mum bfing straight after giving birth and thinking "thats how its done, it looks so natural" and if this was shown more the breast is beat message would reach a much wider audience and be seen as a more socially acceptable choice

Lissie - you may find it easier second time around. I ff my son after failing at BF. The usual stuff. I can honestly say I've never felt guilty about it. Did I do the best thing? No. Should I have kept going? Perhaps. In fact, yes. But this is all with hindsight. At the time I thought I was doing all I could. This was 7 years ago. I know lots of ppl will say there was enough info available even then and all you had to do was read it, access it etc etc, but I didn't and that's that. I did the best I could with the info I had. In fact I thought I was being kind, loving and gentle and not hurting him by trying to BF him when he was very bruised and poorly after the birth. I thought it was better for him to have the gentler sucking from a bottle because he so obviously couldn't BF (which I'd read was harder, and that's why they don't turn back to the breast after bottles). I thought it was better I stopped trying to "force" my breast on him in a separate room in the house when I could join in the Xmas festivities with the rest of the family, bottle in hand. Etc. DD was in SCBU and after 2 weeks of tube-feeding and bottles I could get back to exclusively breastfeeding her. I'm still BF her at 2 years (trying to stop). The difference was better info & support this time round. Excuse the epic, just wanted to put another view from a ff/bf mum. IRL I don't really see any difference in strangers' behaviour now than when I had DS. I think ppl are much more polite IRL than have a go at you. Don't take with you IRL any negative feelings you may feel on internet sites.

tbh i was also told the all or nothing bf theory. and had i known that i could have tried again in a week or so (i still produced milk 2m later)then i would have, so yes, more info does need to be there.

Interesting article Moondog, I think we agree on may of the same points, I just find it unhelpful for the mums not able to BF and also for the people trying to educate mums when people are so militant about the subject.

I still think Bubble's idea of getting BF into mainstream shows would be a lot more helpful, we need to get rid of society's view of BF so that new mums don't feel embarressed when out in public.

I would have loved someone to come up to me and tell me to feed my babies in the loo or similar, maybe they never did as they knew what they would get!

Well, if I'd read that article at the time when I was struggling to continue with breastfeeding and having to admit defeat, it would have just about pushed me over the edge (and I was pretty close to the edge already). Contamination with glass, heavy metals, 8 times the risk of lymphoma? - oh for god's sake!

That article suggests that formula is actively dangerous in itself, rather than just that babies miss out on breastfeeding. I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. If that's the case, why are we not allowed to give pure cow's milk as a main drink until 12 months. Very, very few women are still breastfeeding between 6 and 12 months. Are we all poisoning our babies? Because if that's the case, surely the guidance would be that pure cow's milk is better than formula?

You're allowed to do what you like Twinkle.

OK, I know I'm allowed to, but I'm told it's not advisable, and I do tend to listen to and act on the guidance when I can.

And that is the whole point of the article,the fact that contrary to popular belief,formula does indeed seem to be.........not a really great thing to give to your baby.

Why has it not been banned then? Or made prescription only (which I think it probably should be incidentally). And as I said, why is pure cow's milk said to be worse - this is of particular interest to me at the moment as DS is 7.5 months and I hate having to carry on giving him formula, especially having now read that article. It sounds like it's actually bad for him, while the government guidance says he should be having around 20oz of it a day? What do I believe?!

\link\www.childthai.org/ciec/c011.htm\More worrying reading}

I'd give cows' milk at that age.
At least it's not processed.

More worrying reading

I'm still confused though Moondog. Even that article says that use of cow's milk isn't recommended until baby is 1 year old.

I'm not reading it at all after looking at all these posts.
I have been BF on demand for five months and the only thing that keeps me sane is giving DD a bottle of Aptimal at midnight so I can have 6 hours sleep.

Yes,I know.
I am just talking about what I would do though,with no serious data to back up my views.

If you are not b/feeding,I recognise the need for formula obviously at such a young age but post 6 months,the issue of whether it should be formula,follow-on formula or cows' milk seems a little contentious.

I take it you know that follow on milk was only invented as a way of circumventing laws on advertising formula?

Moondog - I do have to ask though. Do you seriously believe that formula companies are deliberately marketing a product that they know to be dangerous?

Pinkchuchi - sounds like you're a freak of nature, being able to give a bottle of formula a day and not have your milk dry up.

nobody has yet offered an alternative to bm! if you cant bf what do you do in order to feed your child?

sorry that shouldve been another alternative to bm

I don't think they are deliberately out to poison babies,no.I am not as mad and paranoid as that.

However,in light of the huge amounts of money there are to be made in this field,then I know that they are unscrupulous about obscuring the truth re the hazards associated with formula feeding.

It is a really hard thing to have to face,the realisation that these people don't actually care about what is best for your babies,despite the touchy feely marketing,the free gifts,the phone lines,the glossy brochures.

Let me do you a link to Baby Milk Action,who campaign against the above.
Again,i am sorry to say,it makes for very scarey reading.

X posted Moondog. I don't give follow-on milk, I'm still using normal formula. Although I have heard that follow-on milk is cheaper so I'm wondering if I should try it given our current circumstances. But I find it hard to believe that DS needs all the extra stuff that's in the follow-on milk as he wouldn't get it from breastmilk and he's having a good, varied diet. Interesting to hear your views on the cow's milk issue.

Baby Milk Action

ffs! so its ok to follow the WHO guidelines to the letter on weaning, but not when it comes to ff v..... what exactly? cows milk?
what about the allergies that you are trying to avoid by weaning late?

not aimed at anyone in particular, just shocked at sensationalist propaganda!

I know there have been other threads on this, but can I just clarify - is it just the low iron levels that make cow's milk unsuitable as a main drink for the under one's. Because the same applies to breastmilk surely?

its the risk of allergies see here and according to this cows milk contains too much salt

Ah thanks Lissielou - that makes sense to me now.