Comments on: Baby Formula Bottles Often Toxic

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:04:02 +0000

TwinMama, Yr sarcasm & accusation that I was being judgemental is unfair. I was stating facts & describing a culture that does not truly support breastfeeding. In no way was I pointing the finger at mother’s who try & don’t succeed. U did an admirable job of preparing for yr babies. Nursing twins is never easy, nursing one can be difficult but so is parenting! U entirely missed the points I was making. Professionals with no training, direct marketing of formula, social attitudes abt women’s bodies and more contribute to the low breastfeeding rates in the US. I specifically said that mothers should NOT feel guilty if they are unable to breastfeed. Guess you misssed that part. Giving lip service doesn’t help anyone - it has to be backed up by knowledge. When a mom asks me for breastfeeding help I give her information & support. I offer suggestions, I don’t give advice & I refer her to other professionals who know something, if necessary.
U r right that I am frustrated & angry because nothing has changed in 25 years - I’m still dealing with moms who have been given the same bad advice (like nipple shields), old wives tales etc. If the medical community really believed bf made a diff there would be some improvement over time. Sadly, that has not happened. I am sorry if you misunderstood my comments.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 15:22:29 +0000

To Word Star, and Susanne

Thank you for your feedback

Have a pleasant day!

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Sat, 14 Jun 2008 19:48:00 +0000

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By: Corinne

Corinne — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:35:58 +0000

AMEN Twin Mama!! Thank you for putting so eloquently what all of us well intentioned, educated, and empowered women feel when we read posts like Carrie’s and Jessica’s. I went to the holitistc earth mother lactation specialist before and after my baby was hopitalized for issues stemming from the nutrtition I was unsuccessful at providing by breastfeeding and I still did not succeed. What a guilt trip we give ourselves when we are unable to breastfeed!!

By: TwinMama

TwinMama — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:53:01 +0000

CARRIE -
The useful information your 2 cents carries (pun intended) is truly eclipsed by your judgmental overtone. I am a massage therapist and have 8 month old twin boys. I did SO much planning and research for my pregnancy, birth and postnatal experience, that my doula PRAISED and THANKED me for teaching her things even SHE didn’t know - she actually wanted me to consider becoming a doula. I had my husband’s support, read more books on twinw/multiples than the average romance-novel junkie goes through in a year, met with Certified Lactation Consultants, followed ALL their advice, ate hearty, organically prepared meals, consumed milk-producing teas and supplements, pumped in-between feedings (WITH meditation) and I STILL had a hard time producing enough milk to nurse EVERY time either, or BOTH were crying to be fed.

Now, I’m not saying there were not situational factors that contributed to my fluctuating milk supply, but I’m SO tired of people - ESPECIALLY women professionally trained in the field, i.e. that SHOULD know better - speaking as if women have this primal gene to breastfeed embedded in us and all we have to do is follow these SIMPLE steps to tap into it. You would service the empowerment of women more by providing compassion, support and resources, rather than the bitter after-taste of frustration, anger, and judgment you displayed above..

TO JOSHUA and ALL MOTHERS and their SUPPORT PEOPLE: There are resources out there. Educate yourself. There are beautifully healthy alternatives to man-made formulas that will give your little one/s the next best thing to the breast that is NOT mad by man. I have been making my own formula with fresh goats milk from a local supplier. With a little research, you’ll see there are suppliers in/around where you live and you may not even know it! The Weston A. Price Foundation is a good place to start. Check out their website and their section on baby formula: http://www.westonaprice.org/children/recipes.html.

Love to you All

By: Carrie

Carrie — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:14:49 +0000

Statistically, less than 1% of women worldwide are truly physically unable to breastfeed. This is a FACT - I know this because I have been a breastfeeding consultant for over 20 years. How do you think humans survived over the ages without formula??
The reasons many women in the US “cannot” breastfeed is because of:
1) cultural bias against breastfeeding. our culture is obsessed with breasts as sexual objects, not as organs whose major purpose is to feed baby, We are MAMMALS which means FIRST & FOREMOST that we nurse our young, also that we are warm blooded and have hair!
2) the medical community who know virtually nothing about the mechanics of breastfeeding. They get hardly any training on this subject in medical school. Yes it is possible to nurse twins, even triplets but you need someone to help you who knows what they are doing! There are books on the market about nursing multiples. You knew you were having twins before they were born, you should have done your homework, contacted a Certified Lactation Consultant or La Leche League. Grow up already- parenting is a tough job & you need to educate yourself! I have spent virtually the last 20 years cleaning up the messes made by obs, pediatricians and nurses who don’t know what they are doing. Many women have been helped who would otherwise have quit breastfeeding. If they weren’t so busy with baby they should be filing malpractice suits against these incompitents!
3) inappropriate marketing of breastmilk substitutes (formula) Our country, thanks to Pres. Regan, (as great as he was) was one of the only countries to not adopt the World Health Organization’s International Code on the marketing of breastmilk substitutes. Since Regan was a business friendly president, and the US worships the god of Free Enterprise, the Code was not accepted because it would require the restriction of formula marketing, eg no commercials, magazine ads etc. So our country’s bias toward profit won over the health & welfare of our children. Isn’t that a comforting thought?!
4) psychological reasons. Some women are very uncomfortable with their bodies. Breastfeeding is a very intense, intimate experience. If a woman has experienced sexual abuse this may be a factor in her inability to breastfeed. If a woman has these concerns she should consult a professional who can help her resolve these issues before she gives birth. Still, this does not mean she “can’t” physically breastfeed - she WILL produce milk.
There are many more reasons why women “can’t” breastfeed that have nothing to do with a woman’s body to produce milk. Sometimes there’s a problem with the baby that may or may not be resolved. For example VERY rarely, a baby will have an enzyme deficiency & will need to be on special formual. Nevertheless, I know countless women of premies who pumped their milk until baby was healthy enough to nurse. It CAN be done.
For further information check out WHO, La Leche League, Nestle boycott (wait till you see what they do to contribute to the killing of 4000 babies worldwide every day! It’s TRUE! The reason Nestle is targeted is because they are the worst offenders. Wyeth comes in a close 2nd.) & PLEASE don’t say I’m trying to make you feel guilty! YOU are NOT the one to feel guilty - the guilty ones are all of the above. You have not been given adequate information or support or ENPOWERMENT in a bottle feeding culture. You have been duped and should be fighting angry with those who “helped” you. Get mad, get information and confront your health professionals who told you you “couldn’t” breastfeed!!

By: Emily

Emily — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:13:29 +0000

Here is a link I recently received for BPA free baby bottles
http://safemama.com/2007/11/22/bpa-free-bottle-and-sippy-cup-cheat-sheet/

I haven’t explored the site yet but there might be some helpful info for BPA free formula too.
Good luck!

By: Lucy

Lucy — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:41:11 +0000

I am really bothered by people who think that almost everyone can breastfeed. There are so many complications out there, you would not believe some of the uphill battles that many women fight. Me for example I have a hormone imbalance that prevents me from doing things like getting pregnant and breastfeeding on my own. We worked very hard to get pregnant and did. Then when it came time for me to breastfeed my body resorted back to the hormone imbalance and I was unable to breastfeed. My baby was starving and losing weight by the day. We HAD to use formula. Please research your facts before you come on here and make comments to hurt people’s feelings that have no control over their bodies. Not to mention the people who chose formula. There is nothing wrong with that!!!!

What is wrong is that you people are sitting here telling us how horrible we are for not brestfeeding instead of answering the question…what to the LOVING mothers who only want the best for their babies do now? If someone could be useful with that…I would greatly appreciate it. Because obviously I have no other choice, but to feed my baby from a bottle. Where do you find glass bottles or ones that do not have this BPA? But thanks to all of you who try to make me feel like less of a mother because I could not breastfeed my baby. You are really super in my book!!!!

By: Toxicology Agency Finds Smoke but No Fire with Bisphenol-A - NEWS.Tuls.Net

Toxicology Agency Finds Smoke but No Fire with Bisphenol-A - NEWS.Tuls.Net — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:17:21 +0000

[...] Similar News:U.S. News & World Report: Study of Chemical in Plastic Bottles Raises AlarmMedHeadlines: Baby Formula Bottles Often Toxic [...]

By: Cheree

Cheree — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:42:14 +0000

You know I read what Mrs Jessica had to say.
“Your baby was meant to drink breast milk not baby formula and not cow’s milk.”
I was one of the unlucky ones that had a little girl 3 months early. I was not able to produce breast milk because she was so early. I had to give her formula after formula, but all she did was upchuck it. We had to put her on pideasure to help her gain weight. She is now a healthy happy 2 year old.
I feel like this world tries to come up with quick easy things for us to use because we are all so busy with our lives that we dont have the time to care for ourselves like we sould. It doesnt matter what we eat, drink, eat out of, or what we do from day to day. We are all digesting, breathing and living in a pool toxic chemicals.
It is so said that this is what our world has come to. You would think that our government would do something to help, since it involves them too.