i want to ask a question, but i think it might get a bit het up, but going to anyway... is that bad?

[starlover]

i know i know i am a fool... but this is kind of bugging me...

i know that formula milk is not allowed to be promoted. and i am fine with that.
and i know they are not allowed to sell it at reduced prices... again, ok with that.

BUT... why can i not use my boots points to pay for my formula?
I am going to buy it anyway. and it's so infuriating when i have tons of points but can' use them to get just one free tin of the stuff.
I realise i am talking from the pov of someone who already uses it, rather than someone expecting a baby whihc perhaps makes a difference...

but, would people really choose formula over breastefeding just because they could use their boots points? surely those kind of people would not bother much with breastfeeding anyway? or is that too much of an assumption?

it just seems unfair that having had to give up breastfeeding... as many of you know not through lack of trying!
that i can't even get ANY perks such as a free tin now and then...

i dunno,.. it kind of bugs me

Message withdrawn

Boots Points are a promotion so you can't use them for formula .. because that would be promoting formula which is not allowed

I'm sure I'll get shot down in flames, but can't see what the big deal is in terms of promoting formula. For some people it's a choice. For some people they have no choice. So what?

yeah i guess so. i don't see it as promoting it myself because they aren't offering a specific brand. and as long as they didn't say

"come and use your points to buy formula"

then what's the problem.
as i said though, maybe i am just biased... after all i'll be buying the damn stuff anyway. and at £6.99 a pop i could do with a discount now and then! lol

Using your Boots card would presumably count as selling it at a reduced price. And as you can get other things free with your card, then surely it all amounts to the same thing? £XX free shopping is £XX free shopping, and still takes the same amount of money from your bill whether you spend it on formula or something else.

Can you earn points for buying formula or not?

no you can't earn points either. although i do agree that that is more of a promotion than being able to spend it on formula

Exactly dhw. Why don't they just bloody ban it, if it is so bad. Noone chooses formula because it is cheaper. When I was trying desperately to bf I would not have been swayed by Cow&Gate on special offer. I didn't even realise you were not allowed to discount it, mil bought me a load at XMAS time on special offer. I expect there were a lot of people switching over to formula that night.

I THINK it is because they are worried that people might get encouraged into buying formula because they see it as cheap, and then if the price goes back up / offere ends, they don't have enough money to continue.

I think it is because this is what happened with nestle on the developing world: they gave out loads of free / cheap samples, parents started to use it, their milk suply diminished and then people couldn't afford to continue the high cost, and babies ended up being underfed.

Not really quite the same here, though.

Also - I think there are regulations about certain foods that shops can use as promotion offers, and I think milk is one - I may be wrong. But you never see the equivalent of the 4p can of beans in milk, do you?

ditto windermere! i struggled with breastfeeding for ages, as many on here will testify!
it killed me when i finally had to call it a day. so for ME even if they were giving the stuff away i wouldn't have wanted it!

i honestly can't see that anyone would choose to bottlefeed simply because they could earn points on formula... surely you'd rather just save your money in the first place?

i don't know. i do realise that it is because of a blanket ban on "promotion"... but it seems a bit silly when people will be buying it regardless!

I think overall cost is sometimes a consideration in choosing to b/f (for people who do have a choice) - just as the cost of disposables is a factor for some people, regardless of how they feel about the ecological aspect.

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but breastfeeding is free! so if people were concerned about the price surely they would want to b/f?

i do know what you mean about nestle with their milk in 3rd world countries though... makes me seethe
but i would HOPE that over here people are better educated.
even those who don't look into it themselves are sutrely advised in hospital that breast is best?

no..imean 4p off when it is fairly expensive anyway doesn't really matter for much..how odd!
I understand not being able to get reward scheme points for tobacco and such but this just doesn't make sense.

i guess so.

actually i'll be investigating whether or not sainsburys etc will let me have money off/earn nectar poitns on formula... will update next week probably! lol

I really felt that breast is best was rammed down my throat by NCT classes, midwife, society. Really bugged me. I bottle fed after 5 weeks of degrading and painful and upsetting expressing! Wouldn't hesitate to bottle feed again. Just can't get excited about breast feeding in any way. I hated it, my son hated it. Bottle was best in my case.

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We get cheeper formula from our baby clinic, I pay £4.25 for a tin of SMA white. But the government is stopping cheeper milk at the end of this month. I think nearly £7 for a tin is outrageous!!

hmm that's a point about income support.

i don't want to make assumptions here... but would you agree that a lot of very young (teenage) mums are more likely to bottle feed? and also, that a lot of them are going to be on income support?
I KNOW that this does not apply to all teenage mums btw...
but imagine you are a teenager, you don't have a job, you've broken up with your boyfriend and you have a choice of breastfeeding, or bottle feeding for free
i reckon most of them woul;d bottle feed, and part of that is because the formula is free witht he milk tokens

i am trying to resist typing but cant help it!!!
If you cant dont want to whatever breast feed then dont you want info on formula?

Cut short..phone rang!!!!

info like what?

i had to stop b/f for a variety of reasons.
and as such ds HAD to have formula... what additional info did i need?
we tried every single one on the market before finding one that didn't make him sick/constipated.

so whatever info i would have read i would have ended up with this particular brand because it suits him

mumtosomeone - i totally agree. Can't understand the hoo-ha about advertising formula. What is the big deal? So what if people bottle feed.

i don't have a problem with saying it is "close to breastmilk"
because it is. it is the closest thing you will get to breastmilk... so what is the problem with that?

sorry, that was just a random thought thrown in!