Mumsnet undermining breastfeeding again.

[Redebs]

Just read the Mumsnet article on caring for newborn babies. It's sponsored by a bottle manufacturer.

Much of it is misinformation that will seriously interfere with mothers' success with breastfeeding. For example trying to get a feeding routine for a two month old baby. This is totally against normal practice for on demand breastfeeding.

Anyone aiming for regular naps will be seriously frustrated and will think there is something wrong with them and their baby. Night feeding is treated as if it's a massive burden that should be shared by using a bottle.The massively negative impact of inaccurate information and expectations is aimed at discouraging breastfeeding.

There's a 'helpful' link to another article on 'combination feeding' aka introducing formula, along with references to a whole lot of bottle feeding products you should buy.

The WHO condemns companies that use misinformation and pressure on mothers not to breastfeed. While it may be subtly disguised, that is exactly what articles like this are doing.

And for money.

There can be articles about BOTH forms of feeding!
The point is that these articles were disguised advertising written by bottle and formula manufacturers
I agree OP and encouraging a routine for a newborn baby is setting a new mother up for failure and will make establishing breast feeding much more difficult.

One quote or paragraph where there is evidence of this?
just one!!!!

What’s wrong with formula makers advertising their formula????? Those who don’t want or need it won’t be interested anyway so who cares.

There are adverts for viagra everywhere but maybe I should blame you wives for not trying hard enough to sort that issue out and again you don’t buy viagra unless you have a need for it 😂

Of even one person had come in to ask me some feeding questions after my second baby was born (3 year gap, had forgotten it all), I wouldn't have made mistakes that would have caused me to stop being able to feed, even though I worked so hard at it (tongue tie, bad feeder, desperate struggles once supply dropped and anxiety dropped in). Nothing to do with promoting formula - I wanted to breastfeed, no support.

Sorry you didn’t get support you needed. There’s usually loads from midwives for those who want to bf too. Hope it all ended up ok in the end. X

I wasn't able to breastfeed despite trying and having lots of help from midwives and lactation consultants. Instead I expressed my breast milk so I also needed to navigate bottles, teats, sterilising etc. So it's not just about formula feeding.
And when I did eventually combi feed it's not as simple as "all formula is the same", "just read the instructions". I had to learn about different types and brands of formula, paced feeding, different teats, different makes of bottle, anti colic designs, sterilisation methods, how to prepare a bottle safely. It's much harder than people realise!

Here are two screenshots which are doing a fairly good job of undermining breastfeeding, I’d say. One suggesting night feeds are awful (I actually quite liked the 3am boxset marathons) and the other suggesting that mothers need £215 bottle sets to get through the night. I found expressing to be frustrating and exhausting so I gave up on it. There’s no reference anywhere in this article to the fact that some mothers simply can’t express a lot of milk but that that doesn’t mean you’re not making enough. Or that if you try and express too soon you could interfere with supply.

I agree OP. People who haven’t read The Politics of Breastfeeding should at least read it and consider the arguments before defending articles like this.

And on a societal level, formula isn’t “perfectly safe”. Babies fed formula have higher incidences of diarrhoea and vomiting viruses, ear infections and increased risk of childhood obesity. Women who don’t breastfeed have higher risk of breast cancer. Formula also has a significant carbon and ecological footprint. On an individual level the risks are small, but that doesn’t eliminate them. Of course there is a place for formula but it’s not an equal choice to BF and we should be able to discuss that calmly without being accused of “guilt-tripping” women who don’t BF.

All this thread has done is put people off breastfeeding even further!

The nastiness towards formula feeding has been a lot less on this thread than some I've read....and that's heartwarming to read!

I know right!
Fortunately we eventually trusted our instincts, ignored all the EBFing obsessed midwives and lactation consultant, DH ran out and got some formula and fed her. DD was readmitted a few hours later after a weight check revealed how poorly she was. If she hadn't had that formula when she did she'd have been in brain damage territory, if not even worse. It's likely that one bottle of formula saved her life.

She's now a thriving child who seems to have a lot less time off school through illness than her EBF friends and relatives

Oh, and my milk eventually came in at eight weeks post-partum. It would have been handy to know this was a possibility in advance and that formula can be life saving!

Women who don’t breastfeed have higher risk of breast cancer.

Your risk goes from what, to what?

Not in my experience it doesn’t. Enjoy breastfeeding your baby and watching box sets and stop preaching crap about immunity that’s so minor:)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36164270/

Have a read of this. There are loads of studies, do some Googling.

I worry about how some posters such as@Tygertiger would respond if their own daughter or DIL chose it to breastfeed.

Horribly I imagine

It’s miniscule and irrelevant isn’t it

Chose NOT to breastfeed

Then you have surely ruined your child’s life they will never succeed and will be permanently ill! 😂

The risk drops from 12.5% to 12%. It's tiny. That's in women under 35 who BF for at least six months.

Funnily enough BFing promotion omitted to mention the actual figures. I just hope all the women who left the BFing antenatal class convinced they wouldn't get breast cancer if they BF don't turn down future mammograms...

Meh, I think the pressure is much stronger the other way.

Oh have a day off. As someone who tried and failed to breastfeed I fully support any advertisement that makes women feel less shit about it.

They would disown them and sever that perfect bond they created exclusively breastfeeding I imagine (that they would never have got with a bottle lol)

Wow, what a lovely attempt to shame someone you’ve never met.

Not my baby, not my business. As it happens, given that she saw me feed younger siblings and has seen her aunties and cousins do the same, she regards BF as the norm. Seeing other women breastfeeding is known to be an effective way of increasing rates amongst women, so I would be surprised if she didn’t. But obviously it’ll be her choice and I can’t even get outraged at your shaming efforts as there’s not a chance I’d behave that way, so it doesn’t feel a remotely credible slur to hurl. Sorry, try harder next time. 😆

She may want to but be unable to but great to hear you will support her with bottle formula feeding if needed:)

Aren’t you the poster on another thread where a mother asked about brands of formula who hijacked it and started ranting about how much breastfeeding was better and taking issue with the phrase ‘fed is best’ @Redebs ? It’s none of your business what decisions other mothers make about feeding their babies. Stop pushing your agenda at women here. I don’t know why you think you are the only one capable of reading an article and not being influenced by it or knowing about breastfeeding benefits so you just HAVE to come on here and inform the stupid women who don’t know any better 🙄

So @Tygertiger

If your daughter said she wasn’t going to breastfeed.

You wouldn’t passionately confront her with all you’ve outlined here and beg her to read that breastfeeding book?

I breastfed. If my dd came to me and said she didn’t want to even try, I’d ask if she’s read about the colostrum benefits and whether she’d like to talk about why, but if she said “nope”, then I’d hug and no further mention