What to do with formula samples? - Page 6

[Momtwice]

http://www.compleatmother.com/study.htm

[supervee]

Hey! No hijacking my thread to get all snarky on either side of the fence!

[mommytolittlelilly]

I'm "responding" in a new thread under BF advocacy.

[~Megan~]

Let's remember to keep this post within the limits of the UA. Attacking, name calling, etc is not allowed.

[annettemarie]

I'm not trying to be adversarial, but I don't see where this is being done. Could you PM me if any of my posts have crossed the line?

[stafl]

Originally Posted by mommytolittlelilly

And I can't disagree with you more. I think women are smart enough to make their own decisions about whether or not they want to breastfeed, and how far they can and want to go to make that happen.

hm... since you quoted my post, in which I related my own PERSONAL experience with formula supplementation sabotaging my breastfeeding relationship with my first daughter, I suppose I should respond. Who are you to tell me my experience is not valid? I know many women who have experienced something very similar to what I did, but none of them were able to continue trying to make breastfeeding work, and their babies ended up on formula 100%. That is indeed what the goal is when formula companies hand out samples and freebies. They bank on our failure to breastfeed. They take great steps to see that we cannot nurse our babies. I was relating my PERSONAL story of how formula nearly put an effective end to nursing! That ONE bottle of formula I gave DD, that I was sent home with from the hospital, caused severe difficulties, on top of the problems we were already having that had not been diagnosed or even hinted at. With ONE bottle of formula, my baby no longer could latch on to nurse. That, coupled with her tongue tie and weak suck meant she wasn't gaining enough weight. That, coupled with the problems we were having, meant that my supply plummetted (AFTER GIVING HER ONE 3 oz BOTTLE OF FORMULA). The drop in my supply meant that I *had* to give her more formula, or watch her slowly starve to death. You didn't have that same experience, okay, fine. But I did, and lots of other women did, too. And that is what the formula companies want to happen, it only benefits them when breastfeeding fails. I couldn't have wanted to nurse my baby more than I did, and it was only through sheer stubbornness that I managed to make it work. I'm not the only one, or they wouldn't still be giving out those samples. It works. It's effective. It's very powerful marketing ploy to get people to buy their formula. They wouldn't do it (give away samples and freebies) if it didn't profit them somehow.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by stafl

hm... since you quoted my post, in which I related my own PERSONAL experience with formula supplementation sabotaging my breastfeeding relationship with my first daughter, I suppose I should respond.

I'm glad you shared your story here, and I am happy that you were able to work it out.

[Zamber]

Just wanted to talk about a small, minor situation I had with formula samples. Both my best friend and Mom signed me up for free samples even though I told them I had made up my mind that I was going to breastfeed. However, my Mom told me "I couldn't do it, so you probably won't be able to". When I asked why they couldn't breastfeed, they both said "I tried, and I just couldn't". I don't know, it kind of hurt my feelings to have almost no confidence in my abilities or desires. My mother nagged me to give birth in a hospital so that I could get the free diaper bag and samples (thank god I gave birth at home! : ), which I thought was a little rediculous. Toward the end of my pregnancy, I threw out the two cans of powdered formula I ended up with (at the time I felt guilty for wasting food). It's a good thing I did. Being new to breastfeeding with almost no support (except my dh ), exhausted, worried, frustrated, I ALMOST gave up and went to go make a bottle for ds. When I realized the formula wasn't there, it hit me - "What the heck am I doing?". It reminded me of why I was breastfeeding to begin with, and renewed my determination to continue. I now have a wonderful breastfeeding relationship with my wonderful healthy son, and I now don't care what my family/friends think. They don't know what they are missing!!!

[girlndocs]

I don't understand how anyone could be unclear on the effect formula marketing, including and especially samples, has on breastfeeding relationships. Formula companies spend big bucks on this stuff. They hire consultants and plan huge campaigns. They're savvy businesses, not morons: why would they spend that money if they didn't know it worked?

[mommytolittlelilly]

Originally Posted by stafl

hm... since you quoted my post, in which I related my own PERSONAL experience with formula supplementation sabotaging my breastfeeding relationship with my first daughter, I suppose I should respond. Who are you to tell me my experience is not valid? I know many women who have experienced something very similar to what I did, but none of them were able to continue trying to make breastfeeding work, and their babies ended up on formula 100%. That is indeed what the goal is when formula companies hand out samples and freebies. They bank on our failure to breastfeed. They take great steps to see that we cannot nurse our babies. I was relating my PERSONAL story of how formula nearly put an effective end to nursing! That ONE bottle of formula I gave DD, that I was sent home with from the hospital, caused severe difficulties, on top of the problems we were already having that had not been diagnosed or even hinted at. With ONE bottle of formula, my baby no longer could latch on to nurse. That, coupled with her tongue tie and weak suck meant she wasn't gaining enough weight. That, coupled with the problems we were having, meant that my supply plummetted (AFTER GIVING HER ONE 3 oz BOTTLE OF FORMULA). The drop in my supply meant that I *had* to give her more formula, or watch her slowly starve to death. You didn't have that same experience, okay, fine. But I did, and lots of other women did, too. And that is what the formula companies want to happen, it only benefits them when breastfeeding fails. I couldn't have wanted to nurse my baby more than I did, and it was only through sheer stubbornness that I managed to make it work. I'm not the only one, or they wouldn't still be giving out those samples. It works. It's effective. It's very powerful marketing ploy to get people to buy their formula. They wouldn't do it (give away samples and freebies) if it didn't profit them somehow.

Just wanted to say that I had no intention of saying that your PERSONAL experience was not valid. If you took that way, I'm very sorry. My quote actually refers to how far women *CAN* as well as, *want* to make a BF reationship work. I was also relating my PERSONAL experience here, and I guess I kind of felt attacked about why I wanted to get as many formula samples as possible. I still think women should have choices about what they want to do in terms of BF, FF, or both, but it seems that's not what this thread was supposed to be about.

I'm sure the F companies schemes must have success in undermining BF or it wouldn't work. I'm not sure that I was really saying that? When it was brought up, I did want to make it clear that there are lots of reasons for BF relationships to be undermined. What I originally wanted to say was that I think it's really misguided and not constructive to the "cause" to throw formula away or give it to animals, when moms who are ALREADY FF are in need of it.

I'm sorry we can't have a discussion without rubbing each other the wrong way! It just keeps happening.

[Ellien C]

Getting back to the OP - I felt pretty good about donating my extra samples to a foodbank specifically for HIV positive people.

[Momtwice]

I think it's really misguided and not constructive to the "cause" to throw formula away or give it to animals, when moms who are ALREADY FF are in need of it.

I see your POV. But to me, it was an act of empowerment to leave the formula in the hospital room. It made me feel strong and empowered to breastfeed exclusively, when previously I had supplemented without fulling understanding the impact of supplementing, destroying my first breastfeeding relationship.

I donate both food and time to hunger causes, but if I were to have another baby, I would not allow formula in my house to possibly damage my child's health unless it were required in an emergency. (And in my family, we tend to have those illnesses and side effects that formula can cause....ear infections, food allergies, etc.) And I would throw samples away with a clear conscience, instead of waiting until I could bring it to a charity, because in the meantime its presence in the cupboard might cause me to give in one tough night and use it.

I understand you feeling attacked. I felt attacked by you as well, and what's worse I felt my children were being attacked, in a way, if you can see what I mean by what I wrote in the previous paragraph.