In need of a rant!!!!!

[Phoenix85]

Well just because you don't believe it doesn't make it not true I'm afraid. The scientific proof is there in abundance, and anecdotal evidence doesn't alter that

They sell it because people buy it, and because if a mum can't breastfeed it's better than the baby starving.

If there was no difference, the WHO and all the other health organisations wouldn't be spending time and money trying to improve breastfeeding rates.

By steadfastly refusing to accept that formula milk increases the risk of poor health outcomes you're undermining breastfeeding and doing a disservice to all those who choose to believe you.

Everyone should make up their own mind on how they parent their baby, but they deserve to have all the facts so that their decision is an informed one.

 

[babyslog]

I dont undermine bf thank you!
I had a hard fucking time trying to bf myself.. Hense moving on to ff! My little boy is a very healthy child and formula has done him zero harm.

And ill be trying bfing again. You've said ppl shouldn't feel bad for chosing which way they decide to feed their child. But i find it offensive that ur basically saying ff is bad! Some do not have the choice.



Your basically EXACTLY what the OP was ranting about ...

 

[CARNAT22]

My FF child is robust, healthy, 50th centile for height and weight, rarely ill. No issues with food, never had antibiotics.

My BF child has a dairy intolerance, has been on antibiotics twice for chest infections (she is 9 months) and she has eczema, so I think it's complete shit that bf'ing means less illnesses. She also struggles to gain weight and is weeny.

I have friends who also have quite sickly kids despite them being ebf [in the interests of balance I also know several healthy bf kids]

Phoenix - the path you are going down is not constructive for the purpose of this thread.

 

[kumber]

I think what Phoenix meant was that bfing provides babies with all of the mother's antibodies, giving them a more robust immune system than ff babies who don't receive those antibodies. The evidence does point to bf babies being healthier because of this but of course that isn't the case for every baby.

I fully agree with where Phoenix is coming from in terms of a severe lack of support for bf mums, I think the lack of support is why so many women struggle.

I have ffd one baby after failing bf at 6 weeks and am successfully bfing #2. I don't find offence in what Phoenix has said, to me it doesn't read as an attack on ff at all.

 

[BunnyN]

Personally I do believe BFing is better for a babies health. I believe the scientific evidence is pretty strong and it just makes sense to me. Formula is highly processed and isnt natural. It isnt ever going to be possible to reproduce breastmilk exactly. That doesnt make it poison or that it shouldnt exist. There ARE babies who's life is saved by formula. I think talking about the facts is quite different than attacking personal choices. I would never talk about a mum ff her baby in a shopping center. That is rude and ignorant and I have no idea about her personal circumstances. In a public forum I think it is good that mums can see both sides and talking about benefits of breastfeeding shouldnt be taken as an attack on those who ff and people are free to disagree without taking it as a personal comment too. There are many reasons to choose ff and in some cases any possible heath benefits might be outweighed by other reasons. Some people are not able to BF. No one should be looked down on or attacked in a personal way for their choices.

My FF child is robust, healthy, 50th centile for height and weight, rarely ill. No issues with food, never had antibiotics.

My BF child has a dairy intolerance, has been on antibiotics twice for chest infections (she is 9 months) and she has eczema, so I think it's complete shit that bf'ing means less illnesses. She also struggles to gain weight and is weeny.

I have friends who also have quite sickly kids despite them being ebf [in the interests of balance I also know several healthy bf kids]

Phoenix - the path you are going down is not constructive for the purpose of this thread.

You tried to feed her formula to suppliment BFing and she refused, which could well be because of the dairy alergy. That is one reason why it is quite hard to gather statistics about the effects of bfing and ff. A lot of factors influence outcomes.

 

[millyb1981]

It infuriates me too that women are judging each other in an already unequal world that does not treat women well as it is. I breast fed, up until 8 weeks when after struggling with a very sick baby in pain and not sleeping he was finally diagnosed with a milk protein allergy. I am allergic to milk too so no matter what I tried to cut out it didn't help him so he had to go on neocate prescribed to him. When people judge without knowing the full story it makes me upset as we had no choice but to formula feed him. X

 

[Colleen1988]

my baby has been ff since he was 3 week old, I couldn't Breast feed anymore because I was so unwell and on medications that could be harmful to baby, I was devastated but my LO is now 12 week old, he hasn't been poorly once, he's the perfect weight and formula is giving him everything he needs so I won't be made to feel guilty that he's not getting breast milk!! Good for you if you are lucky enough to be able to breast feed, next time these "judgemental people" might not be so lucky and wil have to eat some humble pie it's awful that we live in a world where people think it's ok to judge others! we are all doing our best xxx

 

[lisa1985]

I know a mum who breastfed her daughter, the little girl is now 5 and is ill constantly, throat infections, flu, colds, in and out of a&e and constantly and on antibiotics etc! Also my cousin had a very traumatic birth and ended up in intensive care for over a week after the birth of her boy, this meant she could not BF, he is now a healthy 1 year old who has been FF.

We should not be on here judging each other, it is really unfair, some women really struggle to bf for various reasons. I am going to try breastfeeding, but I also have an underactive thyroid which can affect your milk supply, so if my supply is not good then I will have to FF, I will not be made to feel guilty for that if it is the case and would not appreciate it if people looked down their noses if I gave baby a bottle, especially if they don't know the reasons why I am not BF.

 

[CARNAT22]

This thread wasn't designed to be pro-bf'ing, which is why I objected when it started to follow that narrative. A few people - who had been unsuccessful with breastfeeding - had posted and thus the whole "well breast is actually better" felt like a bit of a dig to me. The horse has already bolted for a lot of people so what is the point of telling them breast is best?

Bunny, Bee is a bottle refuser. She wouldn't / wont take expressed milk so she wasn't just refusing formula (She was offered formula sporadically between days 3-10 when I couldn't feed her properly due to bleeding nipples. She was also offered expressed milk which she also refused. So it was still mainly milk from the source!)

 

[BunnyN]

This thread wasn't designed to be pro-bf'ing, which is why I objected when it started to follow that narrative. A few people - who had been unsuccessful with breastfeeding - had posted and thus the whole "well breast is actually better" felt like a bit of a dig to me. The horse has already bolted for a lot of people so what is the point of telling them breast is best?

Bunny, Bee is a bottle refuser. She wouldn't / wont take expressed milk so she wasn't just refusing formula (She was offered formula sporadically between days 3-10 when I couldn't feed her properly due to bleeding nipples. She was also offered expressed milk which she also refused. So it was still mainly milk from the source!)

Ah sorry, I didnt realise. Its pretty common for babies with CMPA to refuse formula. Still if she had been ff it would likely have made her a much sicker baby until she was put on a special formula. You cant really compare individual cases to proove that formula or breast are better. I have known sickly breast fed babies and sickly ff ones. It is true though that just because a baby is BF or FF it isnt automatically going to make them healthy or sickly.

I totally agree with the original poster that judgement about others choices is rude and uncalled for. Unfortunatly it is a subject that tends to make people over sensitive and defensive of there own choices. Sometimes comments that are not meant to be personal are taken the wrong way by those on both sides of the issue. It could be taken as offensive to tell someone who ff "breast is best" but it can also be hurtful to someone who stuggles to overcome the hurdles of BFing that ff would have been just as good. I think the only reason the benefits of BFing came up was that there were some pretty strong comments about BFing not being better in any way which opens the conversation to people talking about their opinion of the benefits. Thinking that there are benefits to BFing isnt the same as looking down on someone who doesnt BF. I think it should be about information and support being available to every one no matter what their choices.

 

[Pumpkin9]

Just to chip in, there is a recent article that now suggests that bfing has no impact on a child being less likely to get allergies and eczema etc if ebf compared with a formula fed child.

The article was in the telegraph - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mo...tches-of-breast-milk-are-wrong-after-all.html

While I have know doubt that breast is best, I think it is attitudes like "well there are a lot of studies that say it" that cause the issue in the first place of people judging other people as not everyone has read all the medical evidence about either side and rather than thinking now about what the reason may have been to feed one way or another people just instantly judge based on what they have been told.

As someone has already said as long as a baby is fed the 'how' doesn't matter.

 

[BunnyN]

If thats the study I think it is I did read it myself. It was interesting but it was quite specific and had questionable ways of gathering data and 200 isnt really enough to be a serious study. That article from the telegraph is over sensationalizing the results a bit. It gave interesting theories to be looked into but imo wasnt really enough to disprove the findings of other more complete studies. Mums like me who have allergies in the family have been being told to breastfeed as a way to reduce allergies for years so that is going to cause more allergy prone children to be breastfed which can cause a unbalanced result. Some studies are funded by formula companies which makes me question that the results can be unbiased. Its also true that pro breastfeeding people can latch onto 'facts' that dont have a lot of evidence to back them up. It is fustrating that there are not more large, well done studies to give women real facts.

 

[Nutsyputs]

I have 2 children both breastfed. My son has exzema, looking increasing like he's probably got asthma and when he was a baby also had every bug going. He struggled to gain weigh at various points whilst feeding him (although the was still on the 50-75 centile). My daughter on the other had should be the poster child for breastfeeding! I think she's had one cold in 5 months, has followed her centile line perfectly. Slept through from 11 weeks (although is awake tonight! son never did and rarely does now at 2.5!).
How can studies really be that effective when are so many variables. There isn't anyway of knowing how baby would have reacted had they been fed the other way. I believe breast is best. But not because there's been studies done but because it's what our bodies where designed to do. I don't judge people for how the feed their babies. It's a personal choice. I said this in another thread (also about feeding!). Surely if the mum is doing what she feels best for her child that's the righ thing to do. I think this is always going to be an emotive subject unfortunately. Going slightly off subject I do feel people's attuides in regards to breastfeeding need to change especially when people try and sexualise it.

 

[tinkerbell13]

Im probably going to get criticised for saying this but....formula is absolutely fantastic and has saved so many children's lives BUT IS a substitute for breast milk and no matter how you look at isn't on par with breast milk (this isn't my opinion, this is FACT). With that said it is truly a personal choice whether or not you breastfeed and no one should be criticised for their choice. What gets me though is the lack of support / understanding that results in mothers stopping breastfeeding early on , example not understanding growth spurts (that it is normal for baby to cluster feed for days at a time and this does not mean your milk isn't satisfying baby) or not getting support from day 1 at hospital with breastfeeding due to the midwives lack of understanding or if they just can't be bothered to help and it's easier to give formula. Also breastfeeding REDUCES the risk of illnesses it doesn't eliminate them, if you've got allergies anyway there is more of a chance that baby will have.
I'm a trained bf peer supporter and although many don't agree / like what Phoenix said it is true.
My son has had formula and breast milk so I can see both sides here and I personally think that if you breastfeed for 1 day, or 1 week or a year well done but at the same time if you don't / didn't breastfeed don't beat your self up over it and ignore any criticism that may come your way as it's no one elses business !