s/o BFing and formula pushing
stever
member
As I said in the previous thread, I BF'd despite having formula pushed at the hospital(which is a very pro-BFing hospital, BTW) and the BFing clinic.
I supplemented with formula for a month because a: DS lost a bit more weight than they liked(he was actually in normal range), and b: I liked the idea of DH helping out in the middle of the night.
At DS's 2 month check-up the pedi said, "so I assume you're EFF now," and when I said, "no, we actually stopped supplementing and EBF now," he was absolutely shocked. He said that once people start supplementing it's a total slippery slope and EFF, or at least mostly FF with a little BF, is a virtual certainty. He congratulated me and sent us on our way.
I'm all for FF if it's right for your family, but the promoting of formula by hospitals, while helpful in some cases, IS a racket.
::steps off soap box::
And I apologize if this makes no sense. I have a cold and am woozy.
Re: s/o BFing and formula pushing
i agree.
establishing a good bf supply is hard enough under the best of circumstances, and supplementing with formula can certainly throw a wrench in the mix ... so even if a woman intends to BF, it is quite possible that if she supplements with formula (that the hospital gave her without telling her how it could affect her supply) the next thing you know she has to EFF and the formula company has another customer.
I don't believe formula is poison or evil, their marketing departments however...... Let's face it, they don't make money when women choose BFing. So for all their talk about promoting BFing, their true goal is formula feeding. If providing incentives to hospitals to push formula on new mothers didn't work to get a good percentage of women to choose FF, they wouldn't spend so much money on it.
yeah.. a "BF supportive" hospital I had DD at was pushing formula on me about 12 hours after she was born. Hello?!?!? Its half colostrum at this point still usually, so why would you tell me she "has to eat?" Oh, because she isnt gaining wt when its been less than a day since she came out? oh, because she only weighs 5pounds so any wt loss is horrible, thats what the brown fat layer is for? Oh wait! I know! because you have shelf loads of this stuff in storage from the represetatives and were told to push it. duh.
Thank you for convencing a FTM to give her newborn formula, that gave her explosive butt. For giving us the formula that is most commonly associated with tummy problems, the formula my Pediatrician ( new one later ) told me sucked for babies with sensative tummys. And for starting a cycle that caused me to never produce enough BM.
BLARG! Sorry, touchy subject for me.
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I'm not a fan of hospitals handing out samples to all moms.If a woman says in the hospital that she plans to ff than sure load her up. But to me it's a mixed message to say it's best to bf and by the way here is some similac.
Breastfeeding is hard enough and it's so common for women to doubt themselves in the first weeks. I know I did.
I agree 100%
I would also like to add that giving that baby the bottles nipple early on causes nipple confusion so now you've mad it harder for the LO to latch. Thanks for adding to moms discomfort and frustration!!!!
I also feel like more OB's should ask if the mother is going to bf and if the mother says yes the OB makes sure that mother is informed!