Leave us bottle feeders alone!
Fri, 2007-07-06 15:03
Moms who breastfeed get support everywhere. You all have lots of places to go on the web to talk amongst yourself about how bad we formula feeders are. Why do you have to tear down a place that is providing some level of support to those of us who don't see formula as rat poison like you do? Those of us who, like me, have had to return to work and don't have the luxury of being home with our babies all the time to nurse them at will? I am so tired of being made to feel like a bad mom because I have bottle fed. Why can't we all just respect each other as women who make hard choices every day as parents? Do you all REALLY care about my children's future weight and IQ? Well, I do, and I carefully looked at all of the information before deciding to use formula. I know they will turn out just fine no matter what you try and make me believe. My choice is my choice, not yours.
Fri, 2007-07-06 17:55
#2
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
momofboyz, if you read most of the posts on this forum and most of the comments on this formula-funded website's blog, you will see that no one is saying formula feeders are bad, no one is saying that formula is rat poison, no one is trying to make you or anyone else feel like a bad mom, no one is being disrespectful of your choices, and no one is trying to make you believe that your children won't turn out just fine.
Directly or indirectly, the ideas in your post come out of formula ads. You're putting the formula industry's words into our mouths, and the stuff you are saying about breastfeeding advocates is simply untrue.
We ARE, however, here to speak out loudly against the deceitful and harmful marketing strategies of the formula industry. That's all this website is: a marketing ploy, paid for by the formula industry, designed to protect their profit margin.
If you want to stick around and discuss that issue, please do so! I don't think anyone here will be interested in debating breast vs. bottle for you. That's not really what this website is about, and that's not what I'm here for. Let's talk about formula marketing in hospitals.
Sat, 2007-07-07 08:58
#3
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
Thank you for your replies. This issue is very sensitive, isn't it, and it's easy to get fired up! So let me strike a tone that is more conductive to a productive dialogue. I guess what I don't understand is why breastfeeding moms who take their views to the point of advocacy can't respect that there are women who can't breastfeed for 12 months exclusively for lots of good reasons like illnesses, medications, going back to work after only 6 weeks. And I don't see the harm in us receiving some information (as long as it is accurate and balanced) when we have our babies about breastfeeding AND formula feeding as healthy choices, no matter where the information comes from. Formula companies wouldn't be allowed to pass out information in hospitals that isn't accurate. I don't get why you are opposed to women getting information. How is that ever a bad thing? We fought for years and years to prove that we women are smart enough to hold our own in this country, in the workplace, in the voting booth, in our marriages, so it just feels like you are advocating for a giant step backwards by saying we shouldn't get information on formula feeding when we have babies.
Sat, 2007-07-07 09:49
#4
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
It is not that we shouldn't get info on formula-feeding when we give birth... it is that the hospitals should not give out samples from formula companies as "free gifts" to every new mom. The hospitals get paid to hand these out - they are getting paid to hand out a product that the companies hope will cause more moms to have to buy their product. They know that supplementing with formula in the early days will, in many cases, cause a mother to "need" more of their product. It is unethical. It is the job of a hospital to advocate for health - and the healthiest thing is for a baby to be breastfed, even in most cases of maternal illness or when the mother is on medications (see http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=65&Itemid=94 and http://www.parentingweb.com/lounge/newman/nm_stillbf.htm). So the hospital should not be doing marketing for a product (for which they receive money in return for handing it out!) that is less healthy than breastmilk. It is like a doctor telling you, "Well, here are two drugs to treat your symptoms, but one is less healthy. I am going to give you samples of it anyway, since I get paid to do so." That's just wrong from an ethical standpoint.
Hospitals would still have formula on hand for certain situations and emergencies... say a mother were to die during childbirth. It is rare, but it still happens. Of course, we'd want them to have formula in their supplies to use in this situation. Or, if a mother specifically requested formula - they'd have it to give her. but these products would just be part of their medical supplies - not a sample that they are paid to hand out to all new mothers. Info from the formula companies tends to not be well-balanced. they legally have to say "breast is best," but they don't go on as to what that really means. The formula literature would lead one to believe that formula is "just as good," which is not accurate info. In many cases, it implies that supplementing is something that "all mothers do" at some point - like it is virtually impossible to never use any formula. Marketing is never 100% balanced, because they are trying to get people to buy their product - in trying to sell your product, you have to try to make it look better, easier, etc.
So, I do not think that hospitals should be untrained on formula feeding - if you decide you are not going to breastfeed, and you are quite sure even after hearing the facts about it, then I think it would be fine for a well-informed nurse to provide info on how to prepare and give a bottle of formula. As for deciding the right type of formula to use, well, that goes along with marketing. I wouldn't want a doctor who is paid by a formula company to advise me on what type of formula to use - how would I know he's not just recommending it because he gets paid to do so? I would, instead, do some research on the different types and then maybe discuss my reasons with the doctor and come to a decision that way. But when there is money involved, it is hard to get fair and accurate info on the different brands of formula. Many people believe the store brands to be just as good - but these brands are not handed out in the hospital and therefore, people tend to stick with the name brands that were given to them in the hospital because their doctor tells them not to switch.
If the information given in hospitals recommends both breastfeeding an formula feeding as "healthy choices," then it is not accurate. It is accurate to say, "Breastfeeding is the standard - the most healthy way - to feed a baby. Formula is still healthy in that babies do grow and thrive on it, but it is not as healthy as breastfeeding for these reasons: ..." It would then go on to list how formula is less healthy, statistically speaking.
So, this isn't about withholding information - that is what this site would like you to believe, as they say things like we want to "ban the bottle" and other such nonsense - it is about getting the samples out of the hospitals, because it has been shown that they are not in the best interest of health, and they contribute in some cases to breastfeeding difficulties and the early end of breastfeeding.
Honestly, we aren't entitled to get *any* information - we should always be responsible for ourselves and ask and do research - in my case, I had to ask to see the lactation specialists after giving birth, but I didn't have to ask at all to get *two* sample formula bags brought to my room. The samples bags didn't even come with information - just coupons and a small can of formula.
The other thing is that if mothers want to get free formula samples, they can write to the companies to request them. they are quite eager to mail them out - I got two boxes from them getting my name from a maternity store. I do not want samples banned completely - just to be removed from the hospitals as something to hand out to anyone who has a baby.
Sat, 2007-07-07 14:33
#5
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
momofboyz wrote:
Thank you for your replies. This issue is very sensitive, isn't it, and it's easy to get fired up! So let me strike a tone that is more conductive to a productive dialogue.
Yay! Thanks -- I love it that so many posters here are willing to discuss the issues with civility as well as passion.
Quote:
I guess what I don't understand is why breastfeeding moms who take their views to the point of advocacy can't respect that there are women who can't breastfeed for 12 months exclusively for lots of good reasons like illnesses, medications, going back to work after only 6 weeks.
This is a generalization, and in my experience, it is mostly untrue. Breastfeeding advocates do understand that breastfeeding doesn't always work, and we also understand that mothers deserve respect and support for their infant feeding choices. I personally don't waste energy thinking about which reasons for not breastfeeding are "good reason" or "bad reasons." If a mother doesn't want to breastfeed, that is her right and is no skin off my nose. I don't need to know her reasons, much less judge their worthiness.
What we do as breastfeeding advocates is to identify obstacles that interfere with successful breastfeeding, and to work to remove those obstacles. One big obstacle is the marketing of formula in hospitals. That's the target of the Ban the Bags campaign (www.banthebags.org). And that campaign is the target of this formula-funded website. Please don't be fooled into believing that this website exists to support formula-feeding moms or to protect their rights. This website is an over-the-top PR stunt, an attempt to manipulate the public discussion about the issue of formula marketing in hospitals. They're blowing smoke in your eyes and hoping you'll like it.
Quote:
And I don't see the harm in us receiving some information (as long as it is accurate and balanced) when we have our babies about breastfeeding AND formula feeding as healthy choices, no matter where the information comes from. Formula companies wouldn't be allowed to pass out information in hospitals that isn't accurate.
Well, this is where you're wrong. Formula companies are allowed to hand out information in hospitals that isn't accurate -- or balanced. Everything -- EVERYTHING -- that a corporation puts out there about its products is, essentially, advertising. It's not designed to be balanced or fully truthful or objective. It's designed to sell more of its product.
Do formula-feeding mothers need and deserve accurate information about how to feed formula most safely? Absolutely. Are they getting it from formula-company literature? Not so much. The "information" handed out by formula companies tends to play up the safety and downplay the risks of their product. This same "information" also does its darnedest to imply that breastfeeding isn't all that great, isn't all that vital. Where they can get away with it, the formula companies spread outright misinformation about breastfeeding (like a page on this very website that recommends binding "aching breasts" with ace bandages -- a recipe for plugged ducts, mastitis, and early weaning!) Also, a big part of their "information" is visual and subtle -- for example, photographs of mothers breastfeeding often show their left hand with no wedding ring, while the formula-feeding mothers are wearing big ol' diamond rings on that fourth finger. The implication is that breastfeeding is, literally, illegitimate, while formula-feeding is respectable.
Accurate, reliable, balanced information about formula feeding should come from a source that does not stand to profit by convincing mothers to formula-feed. It's that simple. Nobody profits from breastfeeding! There are many excellent and reliable sources of good information about breastfeeding, but they don't have even a fraction of the marketing budget that the formula industry has, and so women who want to breastfeed very often end up relying on the very people who stand to profit if they fail at it. Do you see the problems here?
Quote:
I don't get why you are opposed to women getting information. How is that ever a bad thing? We fought for years and years to prove that we women are smart enough to hold our own in this country, in the workplace, in the voting booth, in our marriages, so it just feels like you are advocating for a giant step backwards by saying we shouldn't get information on formula feeding when we have babies.
I think I answered this above -- I do want women to have access to accurate information about formula feeding if that's how they choose to feed their babies. I don't think that information can ever come from corporations that SELL formula. And I feel strongly that hospitals have NO RIGHT to take money from a corporation to help market its product to patients.
I will also just add, as Erin explained above, that formula samples are a whole other ball of wax. A sample is not information. It's a sample. Sending new breastfeeding mothers home with formula samples that have the stamp of approval from her healthcare providers is a sneaky form of sabotage. Even one or two early supplemental feeds can disrupt breastfeeding in several ways. A certain percent of those breastfeeding mothers will reach for that hospital-provided formula sample at 3 a.m. to quiet a fussy newborn, and quite often this turns out to be the beginning of the end of the breastfeeding relationship those mothers CHOSE and INTENDED and HOPED FOR. Those marketing bags interfere with successful breastfeeding.
Sat, 2007-12-01 14:37
#6
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
Wow! What a lot of great points in this thread! Kudos to all posters!
Sat, 2009-02-07 21:39
#7
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
We cannot blame those mothers who bottle feed their babies because they may have reasons for that.For me it is better to breastfeed but what if the mother has a work to fulfill.
Sun, 2009-06-14 22:54
#8
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
I guess so.Most moms sacrifice to bottlefeed their babies because of work even it's not a good feeling for them to leave the nutrients in certain milks.Most of my friends working outside home is using bottlefeed to support their children.
Wed, 2010-03-31 14:38
#9
Leave us bottle feeders alone!
it is better to breastfeed but what if the mother has a work to fulfill.but no one can blame those mothers who bottle feed their babies because they may have reasons for that.Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster Chunk - White
Momofboyz,
My intention (and I don't think it is the intention of most posters here) is not to tear down formula-feeding, nor do we think formula is "rat poison." I urge you to read some of the posts here and see that most of them are just honest discussion, talking about facts, about society, and not about judging individuals who use formula. Also, this website was not intended to be a place for formula feeding moms to find support... it was designed to protest against removing the formula companies' influence from hospitals.
You are not a "bad mom," and you don't have to feel like one. If somebody actually thinks that solely based on bottlefeeding, then that is their problem. If you know you are a good mom, then that is what matters. I do not think there are many posters here who actually want to just insult moms who formula-feed. Pro-breastfeeders are posting here because we want to see facts rather than misinformation spread about breastfeeding, and we want the formula companies to stop trying to use our health care system to sell their products to people at a vulnerable time.
We have a lot of online support for breastfeeding, but in real life (which is the best kind of support), I get the opposite. I never see anyone breastfeeding around me... maybe two or three moms nursing newborns over the past two years. Everywhere I go in this area, people are bottlefeeding. We have one small La Leche League group that is 30 minutes from me, and other than that, you have to drive over an hour to get to one. My pediatrician told me "it's just fine if you want to use formula" with no other info given, and she first suggested switching to formula rather than evaluating other ways to fix a problem (and the problem was fixed without formula, too). So no, I don't get plenty of support outside the Web, but the bigger issue is that women who are "on the fence" or who may not have researched as much on their own get little support. They often get misinformation, myths, and bad advice. Support for new moms through education in hospitals and from other health care people is sorely lacking - at least in this area of the country.
I do take a little offense when you call staying home with my children a "luxury." It makes us sound as if we are just rolling in money, so I can stay home, no big deal. Truthfully, my family makes sacrifices so that I can stay home. We don't have cable TV, we don't go out to eat often, we take inexpensive and infrequent vacations, we have never (and probably never will) owned a new car, and many other things. It is a sacrifice for many moms to stay home, *not* a luxury. I also understand that some moms *have* to work and that it does not provide a "life of luxury." It can go both ways.