Article/Facebook Convo on Similac Recall (long)
becki777
member
One of my FB friends posted this article, with the following response to it.
"First of all, all women can breastfeed, with the exception of a very
tiny minority. It is extremely rare for a woman to truly not be able to
make enough milk to feed her child. For women having suppl...y
issues, getting proper support (lactation consultant, breast pump,
taking fenugreek, and just plain old encouragement) can be key in
turning that experience around.
Therefore, almost all women
that formula feed are making a choice to do so, for various reasons,
some more valid than others. If a child has some kind of lactose
intolerance or allergy, you don't really have any choice but to turn to
a soy based formula. Most parents just assume (wrongly) that formula
manufacturers would not put anything in baby formula that could harm a
child, which of course is incorrect. I think it's important that
parents be aware of what they are feeding their child, just like a
breastfeeding mom will be sure not to take certain drugs or drink
excessive amounts because it could harm her child through her milk,
they need to be equally aware of what is in formula.
By the way, you can make homemade baby formula. The ingredients are inexpensive, and it is much healthier for baby."
This is how I responded. Her attitude about it makes me feel awful!
"That article makes me sick, it is extremely biased and not constructive
at all. I was lucky enough to breastfeed Caleb for 15 months, but we
had to supplement with formula because I could not freeze my breast
milk. You do NOT understand how...
hard breastfeeding is until you have that experience, and I think its
awful you are judging moms who choose (or have to) use formula. Yes I
agree that formula should be regulated and parents should read the
labels, but I know plenty of formula fed babies who are happy, healthy,
smart and not fat from all the supposed sugar. This recall was
extremely unfortunate, but I hate that people have turned into a reason
for judging other women. If Pepsi was recalled for a similar issue,
would you react the same way?"
Caleb is 3!
101 in 1001
Re: Article/Facebook Convo on Similac Recall (long)
Well, even though I think the term "nutritionally abusive" is absurd, I do agree that the ingredients in Similac are disturbing. We avoid HFCS and corn syrup solids (pretty much all forms of corn syrup) as much as possible. I'd have a big issue feeding my child something with those ingredients. I imagine if I had to forumula feed, I'd end up finding an organic formula or maybe even making my own.
I think the way your friend phrased her comment was thoughtless, and she probably should've just kept it to herself anyway. But I do agree that parents probably assume that the ingredients in formula are the best ingredients they could be, and that may not be true. Of course, that might depend on one's perspective of corn syrups, genetically modified ingredients, etc... .but if a person IS concerned about those things, then they might have to do some shopping around to find a baby formula.
ETA: This topic made me curious, and I found this article on Dr. Sears: https://www.askdrsears.com/html/0/T000100.asp It looks like it might be very helpful for someone who is starting to FF.
Blog
I am currently reading a book called Unbuttoned. It is well worth the read. The Wake County library system has it. It is all about this issue.
I highly recommend it.