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[...] Will Formula Recall Fuel Breastfeeding Wars? [...]

[...] Will Formula Recall Fuel Breastfeeding Wars? [...]

[...] Will Formula Recall Fuel Breastfeeding Wars? [...]

I’m very pro-breastfeeding, but my baby refuses to nurse whenever there is something more interesting going on, so I bottle feed if I need to feed him when we go out. I got sick of pumping around 8 months and started supplimenting with formula. Had planned to use Earth’s Best organic, but we were in a small town in the midwest and Similac was the only organic option. Since he liked it, we stuck with it. I’m so tired of this breastmilk vs. formula debate. I think it resonable that parents feeding their babies formula should expect it to be safe. I’m just thankful that the recall is for bugs in the formula and not a poison like melemine!

Comments I have to say, in an ideal world, I would hope that all mothers who were able to breastfeed (which would essentially be every woman) would choose to give their baby what they need, which is breastmilk. I find the “choice” to give a baby inferior nutrition to be perplexing. I would love it if our society were redesigned so that parents had the support they needed to make good choices. I don’t want to judge anyone who chooses formula, but I do feel bad that they might have made a different choice if the circumstance were different and they felt like breastfeeding were a more attractive option in their lives.

A formula recall shouldn’t make anyone feel like their posioning their child. At least, not anymore than a recall for eggs, spinach, Kellog’s breakfast cereal, or alfalfa sprouts should; all of those were recalled this summer too.

I am a big advocate of breastfeeding and think that it is the normal and ideal way to feed a baby. HOWEVER, I was curious about the ingredients in formula because at one point someone told me there was corn syrup in it. A typical Similac formula has the following ingredients, none of which I find particularly egregious. Sure, breastmilk from mom is the best and that’s what my kid got, but I am not going to villify someone who gives something that is fine to their kid.

Ingredients:

Similac Advance formula with iron is made with the following ingredients: D Nonfat Milk, Lactose, High Oleic Safflower Oil, Soy Oil, Coconut Oil, Whey Protein Concentrate, Less than 2% of: C. Cohnii Oil, M. Alpina Oil, Potassium Citrate, Calcium Carbonate, Ascorbic Acid, Potassium Chloride, Choline Bitartrate, Magnesium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Taurine, M-Inositol, Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, L-Carnitine, Mixed Tocopherols, Sodium Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Cupric Sulfate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Beta-Carotene, Folic Acid, Manganese Sulfate, Phylloquinone, Biotin, Sodium Selenate, Vitamin D3, Cyanocobalamin and Nucleotides (Adenosine5 -Monophosphate, Cytidine 5-Monophosphate, Disodium Guanosine 5-Monophosphate, Disodium Uridine 5-Monophosphate)

Elena- it’s no big deal- I just didn’t want my body and breasts used in for that function. End of story.
Allsion., I am willing to vntiure that the choice I made to vaccinate my oldest son had more impact on him than the formula vs breastfeeeding. The vaccine DID kill him.
I’m also willing to guess that the place place I chose to raise the kids, the emphasis I put on their educations, the morals and lessons I imparted will have a far greater and lasting impact than the milk they drank for the first 12 months.

Elena – well written! Your final sentence summarizes the thoughts that have been going through my head since I was flamed by a pro-formula person the other day. I too wish that breastfeeding was the norm in our society and that everyone felt that it was the natural & normal thing to do and were supported by others to feel that way. Again, no judgement, just observation here: I feel as though formula moms are so quick to get defensive and complain about the dirty looks they get or comments about how they should be nursing. While I’m sure this does happen occasionally, I can tell you from experience as a mom who has been in both worlds that no one has ever looked at me twice when I whip out a bottle, nor have I ever gotten a negative comment, nor have I ever been asked to bottle feed my baby in the bathroom, nor have I been kicked out of an establishment for bottle feeding. Whereas at least one of these things has happened nearly every time I nurse in public. I know where I come from in the midwest, the majority of people do not support nursing and even if they do, they think it should be done in private or with extreme discression (covered up, etc). Reading the message boards on the Star Tribune website regarding a public nursing story made me want to weep. If people want to feed their babies formula, I’m fine with it. I suppliment with it myself. I just long for a day when more women feel as though nursing is a viable option for them.

I live in the suburbs of DC where people are generally smart and polite, so we don’t really say shit about what other people do (not out loud to their faces anyway). It’s never happened to me and I BFd anytime anywhere.

My opinion (only since you asked) is that all women of any size should feel free to feed their babies however they need to wherever they need to, and anyone who doesn’t like it can look away and keep their mouths shut. People need to grow up. It makes me angry to think of someone giving a woman a hard time for this.

All the nipple Nazis can kiss my wide behind. I am so glad you have the luxury to pump/feed at any hour of the day, or that your milk flows like water out of a tap. Some of us don’t make enough milk and have to supplement with formula, which then messes with the baby, because they get a taste for one and won’t eat the other. And some of us have to go back to work after 6 weeks of maternity leave, and even though some states stipulate we have to be given a space to pump, that doesn’t mean we have the time or are even given ample time. So come off you high horses and just cut it with the holier than though crap. If you see me feeding my baby a bottle in public I dare you to come up and say something.

Here’s a thought…there are countries where bugs (of all kinds!) is a staple in their diet. Here’s another thought…all these boxes of “Tainted” formula will go in the garbage, while third world countries have babies who are starving to death, who would give anything for some bug laiden formula. What a waste.

oh dear….

I think MTs comment is a perfect example of the defensiveness Sarah was talking about. Nipple nazis? Seriously? Not ONE comment here is judging anyone for formula feeding. I think formula is needed mostly because mothers are forced to go back to work or choose to work during their childrens’ infancies. I do believe that there are also mothers who have problems with nursing, but it seems odd to me that half of all women seem to be unable to produce enough milk. I think that might be a false perception born out of a lack of support and education from the medical community. For example, it takes a couple of days sometimes more for most mothers’ milk to come in, and doctors seem really quick to advise supplementing instead of assuring new moms that colostrum is all their babies need for those first few days. I don’t think mothers should be made to feel bad for their choices, but I do think they should get all the information they need to make those choices.

I agree with Micky and even think that somehow these little hen battles are just a way to keep people from actually doing something productive about rights for women and decent human rights in general in this country.

My “oh dear” comment was about sending tainted products to poor people who eat bugs anyway…

ECH, I don’t think sending the “tainted” milk to 3rd world countries would help because most of the issues with “tainted” milk over there is not the formula but access to clean water.

Hmmm… let’s see, so all the breast-feeding crazies are going to breast-feed their children through the kids’ entire life, to make sure that the child at any point ever does not eat anything that could be potentially recalled??
With the various pre and post birth actual abuse problems facing kids, we want to fight over the formula, — brilliant!
And of course, you have to love how people think they have a right to other people’s breasts, and can dictate how they should be used.

Comments
As a mother who breast fed her children for well over a year I have to say that it is a personal decision that no one can make for you. My sister in law chose not to nurse and I was supportive of that decision. Even when so many of her so called breast feeding friends( they nursed their babies for no more than a month) were on her case about not nursing. I made the right decision for my children just as my sister in law made the right decision for hers. Respect is key.