Here’s Some Formula Just In Case
Categories: Activism, Breastfeeding, Early Childhood, Health, Parenting, Postnatal
“Here’s Some Formula Just In Case.”Why not just say, “Good luck with that.”?
Receiving formula from your pediatrician “just in case”,is like getting the card to a good divorce lawyer from the person who married you and your spouse to each other. Imagine…
The Pastor, Priest, Universal Life ChurchPriestess that married you and your beloved says:
“I know you are planning on staying married forever but, not everyone makes it. I mean one-third of new marriages among younger people will end in divorce within 10 years and 43 percent within 15 years. So, good luck and take this card, this guy is a great divorce lawyer, you know, just in case. Good luck!” What would you say to that?
How Free Formula Undermines Moms Best Intentions
Photo Credit: Fellowship of the Fathers
According to new study released in the American Journal of Public Health passing out diaper bags with free formula in them does in fact have a pretty significant impact on both the duration a mother breastfeeds and the exclusivity.
The Study Says. . .
“Approximately 67% of mothers who initiated breastfeeding out of the hospital had received the bags with free formula in them. Of those who received the bags they were more likely to stop breastfeeding before 10 weeks. Also they were more likely to not breastfeed exclusively but instead give filler bottles. The study concludes that providing formula for new mothers at hospitals is a definitive marketing ploy and that it definitely has an impact on the duration that a mother breastfeeds and the exclusivity with which she breastfeeds.”
Even the CDC reports:
“Although approximately 80% of women in the United States indicate before delivery that they intend to breastfeed, and 75% initiate breastfeeding, at 1 week half of women have already given their infant formula, and only 31% are breastfeeding to any extent at 9 months.” If women want to breastfeed their babies but are often unable to do what they have chosen, something is impeding their autonomy – and it is not the recommendation to breastfeed. Rather, it’s the obstacles they encounter in attempting to fulfill those intentions, including the obstacles created by formula marketing, that hinder women’s choices.
So Why isn’t Anyone Saying Something About It?
They are. Many groups like CitizenVox, banthebags.org, Baby Milk Action, Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition,are standing up to these corporations and speaking out. So is anyone listening? Well, yes as a matter of fact they are. There are many hospitals now that are baby friendly. Is it enough? No. There’s a HUGE chunk of the US that just doesn’t “get” it. 
Then, What Can We Do?
Educate. Share with friends and family the benefits of breastfeeding. Offer support to loved ones BEFORE they start breastfeeding. Approach your local hospitals as concerned citizens let them know you want them to become Baby Friendly. Get familiar with resources (see below) that can help new mamas and share away! We live in an amazing time in history where one’s opinion carries KLOUT. Use it, leverage it. Mamas, we have more power than you know! 
Change Your Mindset
You know you want to nurse right? Then go into it with the same mindset you would when you get married. I mean, imagine if the one of the vows you exchanged was, “I’m gonna give this a shot.” You wouldn’t right? The best way to avoid what Best for Babes calls Booby Traps (Booby Traps are pitfalls that new moms fall in; lack of education, lack of support, etc.) is to get educated. Yes only 25% of babes are breastfed exclusively for 6 months in the US. Can this change? Yes. Yes it can, maybe. Let’s work hard for the future health of our children, just in case.
RESOURCES: Websites :Best For Babes, Kelly Mom, La Leche League,
Facebook Pages:The Leaky Boob, Hey facebook, breastfeeding is not obscene,
Interactive INternet TV Show all about Breatfeeding: LACTATION NATION
Did we forget any ? PLEASE leave a comment with more resources
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LOVE this post – LOVE it! You perfectly captured why it’s not a service but a not-so-subtle undermining of women to give out samples. Bravo!
i would just pump a few bottles and then feed baby btoeltd breastmilk at night. formula will keep your baby alive but it is not healthy for a baby, so if you can breastfeed and get away from it stay away from it, besides your milk tastes good and formula is gross so the chances your baby will take formula at night aren’t very good. I will tell you though that it is really easy to snuggle baby in bed and lay your boob out and the baby will learn to latch on by itself and you can just roll over and switch when your other breast gets heavy. It is so easy. I have done this with 4 children and no one has ever had to get up with the baby. Once the baby doesnt need to eat at night, we put the baby to bed it his/her own crib. Daddy can take his turn feeding breastmilk out of a bottle during the day and I think that you will find that if you do NOT supplement with a bottle that you will have plenty of milk, however, if you supplement you will start having problems keeping up, especially in the beginning. Dr.s and WIC dont suggest you pump until baby is 6weeks old and your milk supply have been established. If you need more information, check out, Lalecheleague.org. Goodluck and Congratulations on choosing the best for your baby!
Don’t forget BreastfeedingUSA.org !!!
There are many other times when the father and baby can bond. Believe me NOBODY is bodinng 3am in the morning. 3am in the morning is when you’re hoping and praying the baby goes to sleep so you can get some rest! I’ve heard at night is the most crucial time for you’re milk supply. If you really want him to do the feedings why don’t you pump some breast milk and he can feed a bottle in the morning and the bottle before bed. There’s no reason to use formula if you really plan on breastfeeding. Babys don’t stay satisfied longer on formula. During the first few weeks I bottle fed a couple of times a day. I still wasn’t really sure of what I was doing and the pain was pretty intense. So I really know first hand that formula doesn’t really keep them asleep too much longer. Either way they’re going to have to be fed several times throughout the night.Also when I told my nurse about it she told me that I didn’t need to be substituting with formula- that it could potentialy hurt my supply and that I was all the baby needed.
Just so you know, according to the CDC only 14.8% of babies are exclusively BFd at 6 months. 25% is the 2020 healthy people objective. 44% are breastfed at all at 6 months.
I agree with this. I think a doctor’s note should be required in order to buy formula! If there was more support for breastfeeding I think more women would do it, and those who are doing it would have the support they need when things get hard or confusing and they want to give up. I didn’t want to breastfeeding my first baby… I thought it was gross, I’d never seen it, and I’d never realized that it was so much better than formula. I tried it though, thanks to a nurse who pretty much just put my son on my after he was born and told me to try. It wasn’t at all like I had imagined… I only lasted two weeks but if I’d had support I might still be breastfeeding him now. I am actually breastfeeding my 3 month old still – I could never regret it! It’s amazing. I wish I had had the support to do the best thing the first time around.
I wouldn’t reomcmend doing formula breastmilk. At least not until you get breastfeeding going successfully, including your milk supply. I wanted to breastfeed 100%, went to the class, read the books, etc. My son was born 4 weeks early and was 5 lb 14 oz when we brought him home. I was so freaked out about him gaining weight I started supplementing. Big mistake. In the beginning when breastfeeding is tough, just giving the baby formula is SO much easier. But it screws up everything you are doing. My son didn’t want to latch on after sucking a bottle and pumping was so difficult. Every time the baby eats you have to pump. It already takes forever for them to eat, then you are pumping after that and then by the time you are done it is time to start feeding them again! LOL! Just take it from me, I regret it and wish I would have NEVER supplemented. My son ended up having a milk issue anyway and had to go on hypoallergenic. But sometimes I think if I would have stuck to it, he wouldn’t have had to. Just give it a try at least for the first 6 weeks or so. Also, my son didn’t sleep longer than 4 hours at a stretch until 8 months. So it didn’t really matter. He ate every 2-3 hours on formula for the first few months.
i totally agree! i think formula handed out to everyone is a bad idea. but hey, it isn’t about what is good for babies and mamas it is all about money.
i don’t think formula should be by prescription, but i do think you shouldn’t get it in the hospital if you have already said you want to breastfeed. it isn’t like you can hop over to walmart (open 24hrs a day) and get some if you need it.
There was a new mom complaining about this VERY thing at a La Leche meeting recently. She said the nurse at her recent well visit said, “Oh, you’re breastfeeding? That is so great. But it’s okay if you can’t do it, or if you don’t want to anymore.” An older woman across the room replied, “When I was living in Ireland, the nurses wouldn’t let you quit! They made you stick it out, saying thins like, ‘it will be hard, but you can do it.Woman have been breastfeeding forever. If breastfeeding didn’t work, we wouldn’t have survived,’ and took every opportunity to help women possible.” Thanks for this post Gena.
Babies do eat less frequently when they are foumrla fed, because it takes them longer to digest foumrla. Because their stomaches are not designed to digest foumrla. It’s simply not as good for babies, whatever people say.If you want your husband to feed at night, why not pump breastmilk? If you foumrla feed at night, it will significantly decrease your milk production and you may not be able to breastfeed as long as you want to. Plus if you do this early on your baby may have nipple confusion. Even better, why not cosleep with your child. He or she can breastfeed at night without waking you or your husband and have ideal nutrition.Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
What I don’t get is why people think formula feeding is easier. Breastfeeding is much more convenient! Sure, the first few weeks are frustrating, but then the worst is over and the rest is great!