Making fully informed decisions
Sun, 2007-06-24 20:37
We should ALL be friendly to ALL women regardless of how they feed their babies. Baby Friendly is Mother Friendly and mothers should not fight mothers. It's a good tactic though when exploited by those with infant formula interests at heart. But surely this is not the real point here? Company tactics are not about informing mothers about all the choices available when bottle-feeding so they can make an informed decision but about getting them to choose that particular company's product above all the others on the market. For completely unbiased information - it HAS to come from someone not working for these companies who after all are trying to make healthy profits on an ongoing basis for their shareholders. Health workers should get on board here and start giving up to date, safe, accurate advice to women who bottle-feed. The alternative is information from very biased companies. Not a good option and designed to keep this battle ongoing on the companies terms.
Supportive companies who are committed to giving out accurate information about products could also tell us a little more about their ingredients perhaps? Where do they all come from? What about really long term testing - as long as babies tend to be on the product perhaps? Can you be sure there are no genetically engineered ingredients in these products because babies brains are very vulnerable? Why is microencapsulated tuna oil an ingredient in some products? Why is algae an ingredient? Should babies be getting homogenised products? Why do some products designed for new babies contain the harder to digest protein [casein] at levels of 80% when breast milk has around 10% at the beginning of lactation? This casein is responsible for the morbidity called constipation. There are multiple questions to ask.
Here's an example - Are the formula companies actively and loudly supporting/promoting the latest World Health Organisation recommendations for the preparation of infant formula which are based around making formula SAFER for babies because the unsterile powder may be contaminated by a nasty bug called Enterobacter Sakazakii? Boiing water to at least 70 degrees and making up a bottle within 30 minutes of that temperature is recommended. Have you all seen this yet on a company web site or a tin of powder? I hope it's there soon, because after all these companies have breastfeeding and bottle-feeding mothers, families and babies best interests at heart. They've told us that many times...
Carolinjun
Wed, 2007-06-27 00:45
#2
Making fully informed decisions
I agree, carolinjun. Here's another poorly-publicized fact about formula:
Many stores (especially the huge warehouse and big-box discount stores) have to regularly spray their aisles with pesticides, to keep down the cockroaches etc.
This means that many formula cans are coated with pesticide residue at the point of purchase.
This means that, to prevent pesticide getting into the formula, parents should be careful to wash the cans with soap and water before opening.
I've never seen this included in the preparation instructions on a formula can -- have you?
Wed, 2010-03-31 14:34
#3
Making fully informed decisions
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Thu, 2010-05-06 08:08
#4
Making fully informed decisions
great job by all...really an informative posts....every mom should be aware of that........thankx for shairing.buy zhu zhu pets
It's true. Formula companies present themselves as concerned about the health of these infants... but they don't detail the many steps that should be taken in order to properly and safely prepare their product. Who would want to go through all of those steps?! Formula would hardly seem easier if women did these things to ensure it's safety.
What's also upsetting is that these formula manufacturers don't really have babies best interests at heart. If they did they would not send tired new mothers free samples of formula in the mail at key moments in their infant's early life. It's a trap. They prey on women who are sleep deprived and sometimes having early breastfeeding difficulties. They claim that formula is pretty much just as good as breat milk... but it's FAR from it. Sure, a baby can survive on it... but thriving is another story. It's all about money. And A LOT of women fall for it... and then justify it.