[...] Study Shows How Free Formula Affects Breastfeeding Rates – Strollerderby – A new study of Canadian women reveals that new moms sent home from the hospital with free samples of formula are less likely to exclusively breastfeed. [...]

I’m so confused by all this. To me, you breastfeed unless you’re sick or have some problem. I am always surprised to hear about people who formula feed so I don’t think its viewed as “not normal” to breastfeed. Now, exclusively, maybe…or only from the breast, even in public, or for an extended time, that’s all considered “weird”. I def. think there needs to be WAY more education about BFing.

We got the magical Similac bag – ours contained the ready to use uber expensive type of formula plus nips for it, coupons galore for all things for mom and baby, a breastfeeding book, nursing pads, and nip cream. I also received in the mail, over the course of my child’s first year, something on the order of six cans (half sized) of both Similac and Enfamil, along with coupons.
Did I use it myself? No. My family raises “titty babies” (as another poster so humorously expressed and I’ve since co-opted the phrase!), no formula. Its just what we do. I’ve been exposed to it since I was little, I had a ton of support from my husband AND my family (side note: we will just not go there about my ILs thank you) AND my bosses (in regards to my “as many as you need pump breaks” and the setting up of my nursing room in the office). I was also lucky that EVERY new mom where I delivered saw a LC within an hour of giving birth. That was their “policy”. You had to sign off on a ton of paperwork if you wanted formula supplementation or straight up formula.
The samples? They were not wasted. I do know that not everyone is successful for whatever societal/social or medical reason. The coupons weren’t wasted either.

I *did* keep the one kind of formula I would have used had I “had to” in the house til I was certain that “I can do this, and not only can I do this, I have a couple days pumped supply in the freezer”.

Isn’t this really old news? I thought that the effect of free formula samples on breastfeeding was already known, which is why many hospitals no longer send new moms home with sample/gift bags from formula companies.

@Samantha (and anyone else who thinks this is a good idea, I do)- Medela (the pump folks) advertise an 800 number…
I can’t find the 800 # that is on the magnet on my fridge, BUT their website does help you find a local BF specialist http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/bnn (Yeah, I know. Maybe for future use?)
Also – if you have Humana for health insurance, sign up for Humana Beginnings! Its free, you have “your” nurse who you talk to roughly once a week, then you get assigned “your” LC once you’ve given birth if you opt to BF. I know its not the same as in-person, but its another source if its what you have available to you.

I was discouraged by doctors and nurses to formula-feed. However, everyone else kept singnig formula into my ears constantly. People drove me nuts… whenever they heard I was exclusively breastfeeding, they went on to explain the dangers of not giving my baby formula. One of the dangers was that breastmilk was going to dry up at one point in the future (and I won’t know when), and when it does, the baby will refuse formula, and go hungry and starve and fall ill. And, knowing that I was going back to work and planning to leave expressed breastmilk for the baby during the few hours I worked, I thought what if I don’t have enough breastmilk to leave for the baby. So, I took people’s advise and tried to get him used to formula.

The end result is that my baby no longer takes the breast. He has grown a severe aversion to breast. He likes expressed breastmilk, but who can pump 12 times a day? And, I so miss the time we spent together when I used to breastfeed him. When you breastfeed, you really bond with your baby. I felt needed, and I felt a connection with him. Now, I feel like he’s not getting to bond with me in the same way. It breaks my heart. He was a very content kid before starting formula. Ever since starting formula, he’s been really fussy, extremely gassy (to the point of crying for 7 hours), severely consttipated (cried for 5 hours in pain before he could let it out tonight), and he’s mostly on formula now because I don’t get to pump in time, and my supply is diminishing.

While I am very happy with the fact that hospital doctors and nurses really discouraged me from formula feeding, I am regretful that I took my friends’ and mother’s advise and formula fed my baby. It breaks my heart that he’s not getting the nutrition he deserves.

When my daughter was born, we were given formula and even really pushed to give my baby some because “she needs more than what you’re giving her,” while still at the hospital. She never had a problem with breastfeeding until I caved and let a nurse take her away and give her a bottle. After that, as soon as the next feeding, she had latch problems that we struggled with for the first few weeks. We were given a bunch of “just in case” formula samples too, but after that nightmare I just left them sitting on the hospital room table when we checked out. I’m forever thankful we did.

I gave birth at a military hospital in Idaho. They had the free bag and the nurse told me to throw it away. My son had no problems and I wanted to nurse him. We got home and had some issues. But my husband said, its only one more day until you get a follow up app with the LC and you’ll be fine. ah ha… I was. Still nursing a 14 month old boy. I pump at work (thanks to the AFI, they have to let me) and nurse at home. I donate extra to a mom who had twins prematurely and life worked out. I am really glad I listened to that nurse. (who btw, was male)

I gave birth in PA, and everyone in the hospital was focused on breastfeeding. Lactation consultants, nurses, the doctors (both OB and pediatrician). The hospital had rooming-in and no option of a nighttime nursery. I always planned to breastfeed exclusively. But I didn’t like the way I felt bullied into breastfeeding in the hospital. I had a complicated delivery in which my blood pressure dropped so low I almost died– followed by a c-section. I was so exhausted and in so much pain. I remember asking the nurse if someone could just hold my son so that I could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Her reply was that they would need to wake me so he could breastfeed– even though he was waking every 2- 2 1/2 hours and nursing for 30-45 minutes at a time. I asked if they could just feed him a bottle of formula so I could sleep and recover. They made me feel like that would be a horrible thing since it could cause nipple confusion. So even though I was in no condition to breastfeed, I did it.

I understand that nipple confusion is a bad thing, but I felt (and still believe) that the first priority should be taking care of the mother. Would it be better for my son to have breastmilk or for him to have a healthy mother? Is it fair to guilt trip a new mom who is asking/begging for some help? By the time I left the hospital, I was extremely sleep deprived and already showing symptoms of PPD. I really feel like the insistence on breastfeeding at all costs in the hospital increased the severity of my PPD symptoms and the speed of its onset.