Bottle feeding culture in the UK

[TeenyQueen]

This morning I saw a Facebook photo of my former colleague's newborn baby being bottle fed by her older sister (toddler). I suppose it was a cute photo, but I fundamentally disagree with the idea that anyone should be able to bottle feed a baby. What I mean is not just the baby's parents but all sorts of friends and relatives. Isn't infant feeding part of bonding? When did it become a 'thing' for siblings to feed a newborn?

I have three issues with this. 1. Breastfeeding mums are still being told that breastfeeding in public is undesirable and photos of breastfeeding are censored on social media (but it's ok to have pictures of bottle feeding).

1. We seem to be moving away from this idea that feeding a baby is part of social interaction and bonding between the baby and parent.
2. We're teaching young children that bottle feeding is the normal and usual thing to do and breastfeeding is not.

FYI the baby was in a completely wrong position for feeding anyway and didn't look very comfortable.

Any thoughts?

sqirrelfriends I only just realised this thread was still going. I just want to say thank you :)

From me too, @sqirrelfriends

Jesus, 36 pages of the same old breastfeeding v bottle feeding debate.

At least there’s only a few more pages left until it ends....until the next obsessive mum comes along. There’s always another. 🙄

@squirrelfriends but why formula not ideal? Fair enough breast milk is best I've never once denied that. But to say formula is not ideal is also wrong in my opinion. Formula is more than ideal if someone has tried to breastfeed but can't, or for whatever reason doesn't want to so chooses not to.
I knew the benefits of breastfeeding of course I did. But I STILL chose to not even try it simply because i DID NOT WANT TO, regardless of the benefits. Not doing so was ideal for me, my son is fine and if I have more children then I will not be breastfeeding them or even trying it at all. My choice and I'm 100% happy with it.

@happymummy12345 I'm glad it worked out for you. I realise hearing someone calling your choices called not ideal isn't nice but how can something that doesn't provide the benefits of another be ideal in comparison?

Say you have two options:

1. One comes with a reduced risk of SIDS, boosts the gut health, the immune system, helps to reduce PND in some circumstances among many other benefits.

1. The other feeds the child adequately and is a great replacement of the mum can't feed. It's has vitamins and minerals added but no live factors and doesn't provide the health enhancing benefits on number 1.

They're two different things, one is ideal.

Thanks @Leah00 and @Abbccc it's been a frustrating saying the same thing over and over 😂

squirrel at a population level I’d agree with those benefits but taking my DD(4) as my example of a FF child- she didn’t die of sids, I didn’t develop PND (quite the opposite- I felt great when I gave up trying to do something that made me miserable), she’s never had a GI bug and rarely catches anything at all.

So I’d say for me and her FF was ideal and BF was less than ideal. People are allowed for their own personal experiences to go against the general trend and feel their choice was ideal for them and their family- all things considered.

It's interesting how we believe in the risks and benefits of something on population data and other things we don't though.

@TheCatInAHat so formula was ideal for your family because breastfeeding made you miserable. Yeah, I'm your situation, I would protect my MH and switch to formula too. You also tried so your baby got the colostrum which is packed with nutrients.

Jesus, 36 pages of the same old breastfeeding v bottle feeding debate.

This ^

People just aren't going to agree the thread has been going around in circles for god knows how long

Unfortunately some people won’t accept that parents can make the best decision on how to feed their DC’s.

I would still like to know why so many more UK mums can't breast feed or choose not to breast feed compared to mums in other European countries. I don't think they are any different physically or mentally. And, in my opinion, that's why we can say that the UK has a "bottlefeeding culture".

It's interesting how we believe in the risks and benefits of something on population data and other things we don't though.

Exactly. If the attitudes to Covid are anything to go by it seems most people do take seriously overall population risks.

When deciding how to feed DC’s, we only considered what would benefit them/us and the wider population didn’t play any part.

@SnuggyBuggy @Peapod29 agreed, it's almost like when it comes to FF/BF the risks that apply to the population magically don't apply to them or affect their decision making process.

I would still like to know why so many more UK mums can't breast feed or choose not to breast feed compared to mums in other European countries.

This again. There’s plenty of reasons listed on google, or this thread or the many other threads that have been on here over the years. People just refuse to listen or think the reasons aren’t good enough.
For me the reason I chose to FF was simply because I wanted to. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The ‘evidence’ I seen as to the health benefits, wasn’t enough to make me want to BF. If they said BF stopped your child getting diabetes, cancer etc, of course I would have breastfed. Obviously that’s not the case, there are so many things that will impact on future health.
If I had chose to BF, I would have just got on with it though, not been on heat making others feel bad. They have nothing to feel bad for.

@EveryLifeHasASoundtrack a quick google has shown me that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of type1 diabetes in the child and can also protect against many childhood cancers.

I have said it before but this thread isn't here to slate mums who formula feed, it's to explore the cultural reasons that make formula the norm despite the health benefits. I have noticed a lot of mums aren't aware of the full health benefits of breastfeeding, maybe they should be promoted more.

Everyone I know who had DC’s when I had mine and those since, did research and made their own decisions. There is no shortage of material. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know the pros and cons of ff and bf. My DH is a GP so it was easy for me to access information.

@EveryLifeHasASoundtrack BF reduces the risk of childhood cancer, especially leukemia.

a quick google has shown me that breastfeeding can reduce the risk of type1 diabetes in the child and can also protect against many childhood cancers.

‘Can reduce risk’ and ‘can protect’. Exactly. That’s what I read before having my first child. What I meant was if breastfeeding meant that my children would definitely not get these things then of course I would have breastfed. There are so many other factors which contribute to type 1 diabetes and cancer.

My friends child was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Mum was understandably gutted. The child had a virus which the consultant thinks maybe triggered it. They never asked her how she fed her chid as a baby. She bf for 8 months. But it was the virus which was seen to be the main cause, along with genetics.

Leah00

I’m aware. As is everyone else. See my previous post.

I have noticed a lot of mums aren't aware of the full health benefits of breastfeeding, maybe they should be promoted more.

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t know the pros and cons of both bf and ff. Thankfully people can make their own choice though. I think you just find it hard to believe that anyone could look at the information and choose to ff. People are different.

Re cultural expectations in the UK: Whilst I was still pregnant I had several people telling me that I probably wouldn't be able to breastfeed because they themselves hadn't been able to. That's like telling a bride that she's probably going to get divorced before she's even married! This happened repeatedly from loads of different people, colleagues, acquaintances etc. I'd been really excited about breastfeeding my newborn and getting so many negative comments actually made me quite nervous. I had to go through an induction and I was worried about being able to breastfeed after that. I ended up having an emergency c section and I was really unwell immediately afterwards. In spite of all that I was determined to try and my amazing midwife helped DD to latch on for the first time in the recovery room. Had I been less determined people's negative comments might actually have put me off.

@TeenyQueen I had the same from all angles and even heard it from the community midwife, it doesn't help bolster confidence in your abilities, does it?

I also fed my almost 2 year old DS until recently and you wouldn't believe some of the ignorant comments I received after he turned 6 months. It's unsurprising really as it's rarely seen. It's like with car seats, I choose to rear face, and get told I'm being mean, I say "no, it's safer", "no it's not, he can't see anything". You just can't convince everyone even with all with facts and figures in the world.

Whilst I was still pregnant I had several people telling me that I probably wouldn't be able to breastfeed because they themselves hadn't been able to.

Who are these people? You’re surrounding yourself with the wrong people. Normal people don’t pass comment on your choices.