Baby Milk Price Hike!

feelinggood_2

winnie81 wrote: »

Since my last 2 were allergic to breast milk what would you of suggested to feed my kids? My babies couldn't tolerate breast milk and ended up very ill and extremely under weight in hospital and it took a long time to feed them with a mix of formulas and in a year my 3rd youngest only gained 8lbs in weight to weigh 14lb at 1yr! (She was a long baby too so should've been a lot more) Should I of continued watching my child become emaciated because "Breast is Best"?
Not everything is as it seems and your statement is really hurtful to those who cannot feed by breast and I am all for choice if someone decided breast isn't for them then so be it they shouldn't be made to feel terrible for it. I agree some give up easily but there is very little help for those struggling - I certainly wasn't helped at all with my first 2 and if i received the help I asked for I could've stuck with it but I was a young mum struggling with feeding and no-one offered help so we switched to forumla. I asked the midwives in hospital, midwives at home and health visitor and no-one helped at all. If people want breast to be more normalised EVERY mum should have one on one time with a specialist feeding nurse after giving birth until they can feed easily so both mum and baby are happy. I doubt anyone could argue breast should be first choice but for many this isn't the case for a wide variety of issues I honestly don't think its all black and white.

I believe that almost all problems can be solved with the right help, support and information. I don't know anything about your situation, so I don't know if your problems could have been resolved. I'd be interested to know more though, what specifically your children were allergic to.

Breastmilk from the mother is the best thing, but I recognise this isn't always an option. Why do we go for formula though, why are milk banks not common place?

xmaslolly76

Maybe its because we as a nation have an affliction to breast milk from other mothers. I know my initial reaction would be Ewww is that safe much like some fathers when they know we taste our own breast milk. As you have stated though that would come from lack of education and knowledge on the subject. Thinking logically though this is a silly reaction as we are quite happy to chuck gallons of cows & goats milk down our throats so why not use another womans breast milk for our babies. Was it not common place a hundred years or so ago to have a wet nurse for a baby who would breast feed the baby in place of the mother.

Wow I started this thread on a bit of rant about the cost of formula milk but it has really made me think about the lack of information and help out there for new mothers with regards to BF. I am still however pro choice and do not think that BF should be preached and that mothers shouldn't be made to feel bad for those choices.

Edit : I never had any help with bubs with breast feeding either winnie Midwives, HV's and nurses would ask what the problem was get me to show them and then ah yes your right he isnt sucking then leave. I would sit there thinking well yeah i told you that how the hell do i get him to suck???

happyfili

Can I just say as a mother, my daughter is now 3 and a half, I so desperately wanted to breast feed, I managed all of 6 days before crumbling and feel dreadful about that.

While I was pregnant I went to all the classes, no-one (health visitors, local nurses, midwives etc) tell you how difficult it is, the pain, the soreness, the desperation when your baby is crying because they aren't getting enough milk.

Powdered milk is a safe option and I don't like the fact that many people feel the need to keep it secret, a hidden and less "better all round" option.

Maybe I caved in too early, but my newborn daughter was distressed, because of the lack of advertising around powdered milk suitable from birth i felt like I was taking an gamble on which one I chose.

Surely the general public deserve to know what is suitable for their baby to drink rather than the shroud of secrecy?

skintchick

happyfili wrote: »

Can I just say as a mother, my daughter is now 3 and a half, I so desperately wanted to breast feed, I managed all of 6 days before crumbling and feel dreadful about that.

While I was pregnant I went to all the classes, no-one (health visitors, local nurses, midwives etc) tell you how difficult it is, the pain, the soreness, the desperation when your baby is crying because they aren't getting enough milk.

Powdered milk is a safe option and I don't like the fact that many people feel the need to keep it secret, a hidden and less "better all round" option.

Maybe I caved in too early, but my newborn daughter was distressed, because of the lack of advertising around powdered milk suitable from birth i felt like I was taking an gamble on which one I chose.

Surely the general public deserve to know what is suitable for their baby to drink rather than the shroud of secrecy?

Of course. But they also deserve to be told the truth: that while it is suitable, and obviously will provide nutrition, it is far inferior to breastmilk and there are defecits (is that the right word? Opposite to benefits) in giving a baby artificial milk rather than natural breastmilk.

I appreciate that women want information, but personally I think that information should be about breastfeeding rather than formulas.

A friend of mine is Swedish and says that 98 per cent of women there breastfeed. Here the numbers are pitiful - less than one per cent of babies are still exclusively breastfed at six months.

We as a country are very weird about feeding babies - we promote formula as the norm, and like hte link Feelie posted says, breastmilk is the norm and we should talk about formula as being the alternative, not the other way round.

Having said that, if women really cannot (rather than will not) BF, like Glam, then they should not feel guilty for feeding formula as clearly, lack of milk banks aside, that is the second best thing that can be given.

But we should be clear that formula really is nowhere near as good as breastmilk, and that most problems with breasfeeding can be addressed with the right support, which currently is not easily available and should be.

I had a lot of issues with feeding my baby - thrush, engorgement, blocked ducts - and many a night in the early days sat crying in the dark because I couldn't get her to feed. But we made six months exclusively breastfeeding, and I'm still feeding her now as she is weaning at nearly 7 months. I now plan to feed for at least a year.

But I'd have given up in the early weeks had I not been so determined to BF and the reason I was so determined was because I knew the truth about formula and didn;t want my baby having it, ever.

Formula is far too muc of an easy option for women who want to go out, who want to be able to drink, who want someone else to feed the baby, etc., etc., but I also accept that for some women (and IMo it is a very very few women) breastfeeding is not possible. But I think many women who say they couldn;t do it simply didn;t get hte right help and supprt, which is not entirely their fault, but they should at least be honest about it.

*gets tin hat*

I genuinely do not mean to offend anyone with this post, but I will undoubtedly have done so as it's such an emotional subject. So sorry in advance.

happyfili

skintchick wrote: »

Of course. But they also deserve to be told the truth: that while it is suitable, and obviously will provide nutrition, it is far inferior to breastmilk and there are defecits (is that the right word? Opposite to benefits) in giving a baby artificial milk rather than natural breastmilk.

I appreciate that women want information, but personally I think that information should be about breastfeeding rather than formulas.

A friend of mine is Swedish and says that 98 per cent of women there breastfeed. Here the numbers are pitiful - less than one per cent of babies are still exclusively breastfed at six months.

We as a country are very weird about feeding babies - we promote formula as the norm, and like hte link Feelie posted says, breastmilk is the norm and we should talk about formula as being the alternative, not the other way round.

Having said that, if women really cannot (rather than will not) BF, like Glam, then they should not feel guilty for feeding formula as clearly, lack of milk banks aside, that is the second best thing that can be given.

But we should be clear that formula really is nowhere near as good as breastmilk, and that most problems with breasfeeding can be addressed with the right support, which currently is not easily available and should be.

I had a lot of issues with feeding my baby - thrush, engorgement, blocked ducts - and many a night in the early days sat crying in the dark because I couldn't get her to feed. But we made six months exclusively breastfeeding, and I'm still feeding her now as she is weaning at nearly 7 months. I now plan to feed for at least a year.

But I'd have given up in the early weeks had I not been so determined to BF and the reason I was so determined was because I knew the truth about formula and didn;t want my baby having it, ever.

Formula is far too muc of an easy option for women who want to go out, who want to be able to drink, who want someone else to feed the baby, etc., etc., but I also accept that for some women (and IMo it is a very very few women) breastfeeding is not possible. But I think many women who say they couldn;t do it simply didn;t get hte right help and supprt, which is not entirely their fault, but they should at least be honest about it.

*gets tin hat*

I genuinely do not mean to offend anyone with this post, but I will undoubtedly have done so as it's such an emotional subject. So sorry in advance.

Hi, I agree completely with what you are saying, and also disagree too...I was told breastfeeding was the best and natural etc etc and which is why I did it...my little girl was latched onto my nipples for most of the first week :rotfl:

What i didn't like was the a) lack of information about the problems that I expect a lot of mothers come across whilst trying to breastfeed. It may be natural but it doesn't make it easy.

b) because the government support breastfeeding (which I agree with) why do they ban the promotion of alternatives? According to your statistics only 1% of 6 month year old babies are breastfed, yet there is no information (as in official info) available to them? isn't that frightening?

c) Being a first time mother you are full of guilt about everything you do anyway...whether it be you had a 4 vodka and cokes when you were 3 weeks gone and had no idea you are preggers...shouldn't we support our mothers rather than make them feel guilty all the time and make information available to them?

Just a few thoughts

MrsTinks

skintchick wrote: »

A friend of mine is Swedish and says that 98 per cent of women there breastfeed.

Really? Because as a dane who's lived in Norway and worked in Sweden I can assure you I saw just as many women formula feeding when I was working there as I do here... But if you can find some official statistics on it I'm all eyes

Then again Norway, Denmark and Sweden also have a far superiod maternity pay system (12 months full pay) but a harsher unemployment system. There is also a 54% income tax in Denmark to pay for that...
Yes women are women but you're comparing apples and pears on this one.

I have to say that I disagree thoroughly about "almost all BFing problems can be resolved with the right help". Sorry but no. What right help would have helped me keep my daughter from trying to forcibly remove my nipple from my breast whenever I fed her???
Feely I'm glad that with a lot of support from on here and your mum and your HV you managed to get Toby to breast feed - I cheered for you that day I truely did! - but please do not try and patronise those of us who had to stop for emotional, physical, medical or whatever reason was important enough for us to have to give up or give up trying to breastfeed our children! Ofcourse we know breast is best - I think all bar those who should honestly have been made to take an IQ test before being allowed to procreate know that breast is best. HOWEVER not all mums can for whatever reason to her cope with breast feeding. There are a few who choose not to for the wrong reasons (don't want saggy boobs, think it's gross etc) but I think I have yet to actually meet a mum in the flesh who didn't feel like a failure to one level or another for having to give up. I've yet to meet one of those who did it for selfish reasons although I have heard of them. So... majority to me seem to have gone that route because of circumstance, not because it was easiest.

I think that MWs and HVs are right to promote breasfeeding - I think it should be encouraged at all oppertunerties and I hope one day that all the hang ups of our culture vanish so that BFing mums don't get stared at or even asked to leave cafe's etc - and likewise I lookforward to the day when it's not breastfeeding cafe's but "mums and dads cafe" where both parents are welcomed and formula feeding mums aren't made to feel like devils spawn for not breast feeding.

So in short... good on you for breast feeding, very happy for you, please stop trying to tell those of us who couldn't carry on that "with the right help you could have" because you're not helping even if (and I truely don't think so) you may be right.

emlou2009

feelinggood wrote: »

I believe that almost all problems can be solved with the right help, support and information. I don't know anything about your situation, so I don't know if your problems could have been resolved. I'd be interested to know more though, what specifically your children were allergic to.

Breastmilk from the mother is the best thing, but I recognise this isn't always an option. Why do we go for formula though, why are milk banks not common place?

We have had this conversation recently on the parent thread. You believe that it was best to torture yourself through the months of expressing, and the people around you that constantly worried about what you were putting yourself through, and have your friends and family genuinely worried for your state of mind while they watched you battle on. On the parent thread, we all read your posts day in, day out, detailing how depressed you were, how much of a toll the expressing was taking on you, you debating giving up.

When other people (like myself) say "breastfeeding didnt work for us so we switched to formula. I wish I could have breastfed but it wasnt to be", I wish you could accept that this is genuinely what they mean! We dont sit up all night every night wishing that it had worked, we simply get on with it and move on with our lives. I would never have put myself and my family through what you did as I feel that it is far more detrimental to a baby to have a miserable mother, attached to a pump all day every day, working spreadsheets on milk consumption, researching ways to up milk supply, not sleeping due to pumping in the middle of the night, than it is to simply relax and give them a bit of formula!
When I look back at the first three weeks of my sons life, which is how long I breastfed him for, I look back and shudder, because I remember the agony, how upset he got when he wouldnt latch on, my OH worrying that I wasnt going to cope properly and was spiralling into depression because I was hating every second of it. Wanting any visitors to go away in case he needed to feed, cos I didnt want them to have to watch him crying so hard at me as soon as I tried to get him to latch on.
I honestly wish I could look back and remember cuddling my baby boy and giving him a bottle instead. So, while I say I wish I could have breastfed but never mind, I do actually mean it, I didnt need or want any "help", and I know for a fact I'm not the only one.

Dont get me wrong, I applaud you and Toby for actually getting it to work, and I see why you feel it was such an achievement for you. But please remember that just because you managed to come through to the end and be breastfeeding at the end of it, the battle just isnt worth it for most of us. We would rather just enjoy our babies than stress out over it all! But this doesnt mean we should have to pay £8-£9 a week or more just to nourish them, when we could be paying half the price and have the formula companies still making a profit off us from that!

pigpen

RoxieW wrote: »

To turn 'breast police' seems abit spiteful pigpen - what difference does it make to you how others feed their babies?

Hardly spiteful.. it is against the law like I already stated.. I didn't have to point that out to the store manager I could have contacted trading standards and provided photographic evidence and they would have been prosecuted.. I did the store a favour!

so many people breastfeed in other European countries because hospitals do not provide free milk, nor do they ram a bottle in the mothers hand the second things look a bit like needing work.. formula is also in many of these countries more expensive than it is here.. midwives here have next to no training in breastfeeding which is disgusting so they know very little about positioning or supply/demand or anything else..

I think more education for midwives about how to breastfeed and more patience in helping the mothers who want to breastfeed to succeed would be a better for these families and possibly decrease the cost of formula as the demand would drop so they'd have to encourage more mothers to buy it and the only reasonable way is to reduce the cost.

emlou2009

I forgot to say - I purposefully didnt click that link because I already knew what it would say, and I didnt want to read another page of breastfeeding propaganda trying to tell me I give my baby poison every day!

DevilsAdvocate1

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

I understand it is a cost we all have to pay JHD and i will pay it my baby gets what he needs regardless of cost. The point i was making is why do the government insist on making a hard time even harder just because they believe that every woman should breastfeed we are meant to live in a world of choice not a police state :-)

But its not the government who chooses the RRP, its the company who makes the formula. And at the end of the day they make the formula to make a profit. They could choose to make the RRP lower, but they know that once someone is formula feeding they are unlikely to change brands. Just like when you are on a motorway and end up having to use an overpriced service station because there is nothing else available.

I often wonder how much it costs to make formual when you consider how much cow's milk costs.

Its not the breastfeeding mum's fault, its not the government's fault, its the formula companies who determine the price.

D.