Baby Food (SMA, Cow and Gate etc)

jellyhead

some of us are fully informed, choose to breastfeed but are unable to do so for reasons beyond our control. having the 'bottlefeeding is evil' attitude voiced so frequently really doesn't do much for the self esteem. i've cried enough over my malfunctioning breasts, enough is enough, it's time to stop feeling like an inadequate failure and get on with parenting, hopefully without the postnatal depression that so often accompanies being told how much damage you're doing to the poor bottle-fed child.

suekjw

Well said Jellyhead.

No-one is disagreeing that 'Breast is Best' but for one reason or another many women have had real problems trying to breast feed. I had my guilt trip thanks, I don't need anyone else adding to that.

dora37

suekjw wrote:

Well said Jellyhead. No-one is disagreeing that 'Breast is Best' but for one reason or another many women have had real problems trying to breast feed. I had my guilt trip thanks, I don't need anyone else adding to that.

The assumption that we have all just 'chosen' to bottle feed is frankly bloody rude!

Having said that, people who do choose to bottle feed should not be made to feel they come from the dark side!

I bottle fed all 3 of my children. All three (4,11,14) are bright,healthy,well mannered,fun loving,intelligent children who eat a wide range of healthy food. Eldest two are in the seniors and are in top sets in English and Maths. 11 year old has been labelled 'gifted and talented'.

The whole point of my post is to show that to have healthy,well rounded,well behavoured children is about many many different factors - not just whether they were breast fed or bottle fed.

I did not breast feed as I was not going to be pressured into something I did not feel comfortable with and I certainly do not feel one bit guilty. As they say the proof is in the pudding and my children have done me proud, however some of that is because of the hard work me and hubby have put in along the way!

callansdad

Very good points, but if anyone wants to know i have spied that Asda had buy 2 tins of milk (not sure what kind) for £9, and my local Co-op had buy 2 tins of SMA Progress for £9 too.

suekjw

dora37 wrote:

Having said that, people who do choose to bottle feed should not be made to feel they come from the dark side!

Dora - of course they shouldn't! I was just so angry by that other comment I just posted straight away, showing my support for waht Jellyhead had said! TBH, no1 I felt guilty, No2 , I just knew straight away it wasn't going to work for me. I didn't tell anyone I wasn't going to breastfeed until I was out of the hospital, because I was worried about the 'breast police'!

I think the important thing is that just because someone chooses to bottle feed it doesn't mean they love their bundle any less than someone who chooses to breastfeed!

Ooh, offers on SMA Progress, better get down to the Co-op!

tray_3

I totally understand women who try and give up, there are so many reasons and often it's their health visitor that should be feeling guilty. I've met so many who haven't a clue what they are talking about. Then you have the books with very bad advice like scheduled feeds (and babies ahve been hospitalised thanks to that dangerous practise).
I just don't feel many women are told of the risks, they are improving things and now you have sign a form here to say you understand what could happen regarding enterobacter sakazakii..i certainly wasn't told when I had my eldest and I'm rather cross about that as he was weaned at only 5 months and I knew no better. I was only 20 and never seen anyone breastfeed other than myself so had nobody to ask about such things! HV was full of rubbish and I gave up. I don't feel guilty though, just cross with the health professionals for it was their paid job to help support and educate new mums.
I'm also lazy and couldn't be bothered with all that getting up in the night and washing bottles! Just seems so inconvenient. I walk everywhere and there's nowhere to heat a bottle along the way if my baby got hungry!

Sarahsaver

hey i looked in thinking this thread was about baby food, not milk :rolleyes:
ah well, anyway IMHO jars of food are over processed over priced kak. Make your own. How cheap is a potato? My kids were weaned on hm baby food, rice, mashed spud, mashed veg, lentils etc. Of course I used the freebie jars from the bounty pack but baby food is a rip off.
Just in case anyone asks I breastfed all of mine but only for a month, they all had jaundice and it cleared up as soon as I put them on the bottle. A supportive husband would have helped, but such is life.

Spendless

How old is your eldest Tray? AFAIK advice to wean at 6 months only changed in last couple of years. My youngest is 2.5. Prior to this it was 4 months and not long before that it was 3 months. A friend of mine with a 2 year gap between hers, got told at wean eldest at 3 months and youngest at 4 months. It had changed in short space of time. TBH I really struggled getting to 16 weeks with mine, they were showing all the signs, making movements with their tongue, waking up when they used to sleep thru.

suekjw-I had a similar experience with my 2, but once the MW (both my own and the hospital ones) knew that my mind was made up with 2nd they didn't pressurise me.

suekjw

Spendless wrote:

suekjw-I had a similar experience with my 2, but once the MW (both my own and the hospital ones) knew that my mind was made up with 2nd they didn't pressurise me.

I felt pressurised with No1, but once I had made my mind up, my own MW was very supprotive. I had a nasty experience breastfeeding that I won't mention on here! No 2, I just felt I had to get out of the hospital before I could give up. It was probably me being neurotic - but hey, that's me all over lol!

jellyhead

there are ways around heating up bottles when you're out. for long days out we take a flask of boiling water, you can get flasks designed to fit a bottle into the lid for heating up. if you're taking made-up milk from the fridge you can use a therma-bag or insulated bottle carrier to keep it cold until needed, or you can just carry a bottle of boiled water cooled to room temp and add the powder and shake, or use a carton of ready made formula. you can buy containers for transporting the powder, you just measure the powder out into the container, they have a pouring hole so you just pour out what's in the compartment for one feed, my containers hold 3 feeds worth (3 compartments, totally separate so there's no measuring each time). i've also got powder containers that fit inside the bottle so you just take your bottle of water and add the powder when needed. lots of babies take their milk at room temp but as i said i take a flask to warm it up, that's because my baby needs colief drops in his milk, you have to warm it to body temp then add the drops and wait for half an hour. alternatively i can make up a bottle using the colief, put it in the fridge to cool, keep it insulated until needed then warm it up using the flask. if i was breastfeeding he would still need the colief drops and i'd still be lugging bottles around because you have to add it to some expressed milk then feed it to baby.

i appreciate that it's easier to simply stick baby onto the breast wherever you are but not in my case, he's lactose intolerant.

i must say i had all the support and information i could possibly need to help with breastfeeding. the NCT helpline was fab. my breasts just don't work, it's not through lack of information or support - i do not produce milk. not all babies can suck either, tongue tied babies find breastfeeding very difficult even when nipple shields are used. it's not always a 'choice' to bottlefeed but even if it is, like a midwife said to me in hospital feeding your baby is a small part of raising the child. some women just hate the idea of breastfeeding, so if they're forced into it the baby will pick up on their tension. happy mum equals happy baby. i had one comment 'oh aren't you breastfeeding?' from a mum who smoked. lots of factors affect how healthy and happy a baby is - if you smoke, drink or use drugs in pregnancy, smoke around babies, use too much childcare, give too much sugar, don't brush toddlers teeth, if you use a non-spill cup, whether you use calpol during teething or not, washable or disposable nappies, allowing sweets and chocolate, not enough fruit and veg, not enough love or attention, the list could go on and on. i loved the midwife for saying that - i'm a good mum, i just don't breastfeed.